4 ms·

If we're talking business ideas, then I think it should be "Reddit Gold" but for Hacker News. Because: Why not? I'm not paying for Reddit, but I most certainly

by akie 12y ago

If we're talking business ideas, then I think it should be "Reddit Gold" but for Hacker News. Because: Why not? I'm not paying for Reddit, but I most certainly would for Hacker News. It's a crucial news source for me, more important than any other, and I'm very (very) willing to pay for it. If it keeps their servers up and the downtime low, and it gives them time to develop new things (such as a proper mobile version, or a non-table-based design), or time to fix the "Unknown or expired link" bug... then why not? Is there any reason to run this site like it's 1999?

jacquesm 12y ago
Throwing more money at the problem is likely not going to make a big difference but I do appreciate your willingness to put your money in. Most people that bitch about free services only bitch that they'll leave if they don't get what they want when they want it, very few of them offer to pull their wallet to help solve the problem. So kudos!
- akie 12y ago
  Well, adding a monetary component into the mix would achieve two things: 1. HackerNews would have more resources to do maintenance and development on the site. Both of which are relatively necessary: There's a lot of low-hanging fruit. 2. It would create an incentive to improve the service and prevent downtime. Would they really put the site down for multiple hours during (European) office hours if they had quite a few paying customers? Primarily, though, I think it boils down to the fact that Hacker News was originally run as a service towards the YC alumni, and that it serves that purpose very well as it is - and as a result, product development has stalled. The original author (PG, the product owner) is busy doing other things, and has employed other people to run the show. Truth is, Hacker News has outgrown its original audience (YC alumni) and would be ready for some changes or improvements. Nothing major, because it's great as it is, but it could use some bug fixing, or maybe getting the HTML and CSS up to date, or a mobile version, finally fixing that stupid 'up' arrow... I could go on. I care about Hacker News, and I want it to improve and to be available permanently, and most certainly not be offline when I wake up and am ready for my 21st century equivalent of the morning newspaper. That's why I wrote that angry message, and that's why I'm offering to pay to help achieve that.

by akie 12y ago

jacquesm 12y ago

Throwing more money at the problem is likely not going to make a big difference but I do appreciate your willingness to put your money in. Most people that bitch about free services only bitch that they'll leave if they don't get what they want when they want it, very few of them offer to pull their wallet to help solve the problem. So kudos!

akie 12y ago
Well, adding a monetary component into the mix would achieve two things: 1. HackerNews would have more resources to do maintenance and development on the site. Both of which are relatively necessary: There's a lot of low-hanging fruit. 2. It would create an incentive to improve the service and prevent downtime. Would they really put the site down for multiple hours during (European) office hours if they had quite a few paying customers? Primarily, though, I think it boils down to the fact that Hacker News was originally run as a service towards the YC alumni, and that it serves that purpose very well as it is - and as a result, product development has stalled. The original author (PG, the product owner) is busy doing other things, and has employed other people to run the show. Truth is, Hacker News has outgrown its original audience (YC alumni) and would be ready for some changes or improvements. Nothing major, because it's great as it is, but it could use some bug fixing, or maybe getting the HTML and CSS up to date, or a mobile version, finally fixing that stupid 'up' arrow... I could go on. I care about Hacker News, and I want it to improve and to be available permanently, and most certainly not be offline when I wake up and am ready for my 21st century equivalent of the morning newspaper. That's why I wrote that angry message, and that's why I'm offering to pay to help achieve that.