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Ask HN: Favorite/Classic HN threads of all time

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite/Classic HN threads of all time

#11

Post by capableweb »

jpgvm wrote: post #2

Probably still ranks #1 in ultimate HN comebacks: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079

Lurking in a sibling thread is Colin speaking with Drew Houston (of Dropbox fame):

> we're in a similar space -- http://www.getdropbox.com (and part of the yc summer 07 program)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35088

In an alternative universe, Colin joined Dropbox and their UI would have been much more hardcore with better the whole product having better support for other OSes than just Windows and macOS!

Re: Ask HN: Favorite/Classic HN threads of all time

#13

Post by scrollaway »

542458 wrote: post #5

The Dropbox launch post is a great example of why you shouldn’t take (particularly dismissive) comments here too seriously. (This isn’t to dunk on any of the contributors there - but just a reminder that we’re all fallible and have biases) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 On that note, PG coining “middlebrow dismissal” isn’t a very elaborate comment, but is a term that has entered a few people’s lexicon. htt…

The parent comment is the one coining the term, not pg.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4726218

Re: Ask HN: Favorite/Classic HN threads of all time

#15

Post by soneca »

larrykubin wrote: post #6

I was going to post this standalone, but will post it here. I was recently reading the Hacker News initial reaction to Facebook acquiring Instagram in 2012: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3817840 One of the commenters says it will be the equivalent to Google buying YouTube. To which another commenter replies "bookmark this comment, see you in 2022". And here we are: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3818055

Such confidence while having no way to know if they would be right (because, no matter the arguments, they were trying to predict the future).

Re: Ask HN: Favorite/Classic HN threads of all time

#16

Post by PragmaticPulp »

542458 wrote: post #5

The Dropbox launch post is a great example of why you shouldn’t take (particularly dismissive) comments here too seriously. (This isn’t to dunk on any of the contributors there - but just a reminder that we’re all fallible and have biases) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 On that note, PG coining “middlebrow dismissal” isn’t a very elaborate comment, but is a term that has entered a few people’s lexicon. htt…

> The Dropbox launch post is a great example of why you shouldn’t take (particularly dismissive) comments here too seriously

This mentality is still thriving on HN

Just yesterday someone complained that Clearview AI would only honor removal requests for California or EU residents.

So of course someone responded that they should just buy some property in California, establish residency, and then they’d be able to complete the request.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite/Classic HN threads of all time

#19

Post by throwaway990dv »

soneca wrote: post #15
larrykubin wrote: post #6

I was going to post this standalone, but will post it here. I was recently reading the Hacker News initial reaction to Facebook acquiring Instagram in 2012: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3817840 One of the commenters says it will be the equivalent to Google buying YouTube. To which another commenter replies "bookmark this comment, see you in 2022". And here we are: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3818055

Such confidence while having no way to know if they would be right (because, no matter the arguments, they were trying to predict the future).

If they were wrong, the comment would have continued rotting away unnoticed. But they got lucky and were right -- confirmation bias is a wonderful thing.
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