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I usually don't reply, but your comment seems heartfelt. 1. If you want to be offended, be offended. Can't help that. My statement was full of qualitative gene

I usually don't reply, but your comment seems heartfelt. 1. If you want to be offended, be offended. Can't help that. My statement was full of qualitative generalizations. Nobody meant you in particular, but you're welcome to feel that way if you like. 2. I never said HN was useless or should be avoided. In fact, I feel just the opposite: I like coming here and posting and commenting. Too much, in fact. 3. Things have good qualities and they have bad qualities. Simply because I like coming here doesn't make HN good, and simply because it has bad qualities doesn't make it not worth visiting. Look, I'm just calling it as I see it. I've spent a lot of time here - some useful and some wasted. I've thought long and hard about the role of technology and online communities in my life. These are the conclusions I've reached. As I said, this entire question is a value judgment about personal opinion. I like ice cream but parts of this ice cream suck. You love ice cream and love everything about this ice cream. It's silly to get emotional about discussions like this -- they are simply opinion questions. Thanks for your comment. Sorry if it rubbed you the wrong way. I should have been more diplomatic, but it's how I feel. ADD: "nearly meaningless and diluted forum where inane wannabes try to sell stuff to each other" -- I did not say this, and this is not how I feel. I simply said that participating in the community, where people find things of interest and share them can become something you do all of the time instead of doing something useful with your life. HN is not meaningless and does not exist to sell things to people, although it does look a bit like a platform for YC PR, which is fine with me. If you're interested in more of my premise, here you go: http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2009/02/technology_is_h.php http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2009/02/technology_is...

Udo 14y ago
Thanks for taking the time to reply. > Nobody meant you in particular, but you're welcome to feel that way if you like. I know you didn't mean me in particular. I was merely trying to show you that you're not just attacking a faceless mass of people or some abstract phenomenon. Whether intentional or not, you are attacking people for participating in this forum. > You love ice cream and love everything about this ice cream. This is a gross mischaracterization of my point, and I think you know it. >"nearly meaningless and diluted forum where inane wannabes try to sell stuff to each other" -- I did not say this, and this is not how I feel. I must admit you got a bit of flak there as a (perceived) representative of a larger group. But for what it's worth, I do believe humility is healthy in discussions. That's probably what rubbed me the wrong way, and it still does with your answer as well. It's easy to misunderstand tone in written communications, so please understand that I'm not saying this in an emotional, vindictive way. >If you're interested in more of my premise [...] I think I remember that article, but I'll be reading it again. Thanks!

Udo 14y ago

Thanks for taking the time to reply. > Nobody meant you in particular, but you're welcome to feel that way if you like. I know you didn't mean me in particular. I was merely trying to show you that you're not just attacking a faceless mass of people or some abstract phenomenon. Whether intentional or not, you are attacking people for participating in this forum. > You love ice cream and love everything about this ice cream. This is a gross mischaracterization of my point, and I think you know it. >"nearly meaningless and diluted forum where inane wannabes try to sell stuff to each other" -- I did not say this, and this is not how I feel. I must admit you got a bit of flak there as a (perceived) representative of a larger group. But for what it's worth, I do believe humility is healthy in discussions. That's probably what rubbed me the wrong way, and it still does with your answer as well. It's easy to misunderstand tone in written communications, so please understand that I'm not saying this in an emotional, vindictive way. >If you're interested in more of my premise [...] I think I remember that article, but I'll be reading it again. Thanks!