Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What Coke Contains

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 142 posts

Re: What Coke Contains

#21

Post by gambiting »

k33 wrote: post #13

eh, I just don't feel like the writer understands or cares to explain how that whole process is actually detrimental to the world despite the fact that it "unites" it. Coke is just addictive sugar water that does nothing for anyone. When has coke given you something other than diabetes? Kevin Ashton fails at pointing out the impact of this collaboration. Couldn't all of these talented people that made such a sophisti…

Look at yourself - you belong to the elite of our species. You are educated enough to know how to read and write. You are fortunate enough to have a computer,and be connected to the internet. You are fortunate enough to speak one of the most widely used languages in the world. This all implies that you are at the top of our evolutionary ladder.

And yet with all this power in your hands, and with the limited time we have in our lives, you decide to go on Hacker News and comment how other people are not doing useful things? Even though for many people the process of making coke is literally the only way they can survive, and yet, they are the ones not doing anything useful? I think you are being naively idealistic at the very best, and just a hypocrite at the worst.

Re: What Coke Contains

#22

Post by goostavos »

k33 wrote: post #13

eh, I just don't feel like the writer understands or cares to explain how that whole process is actually detrimental to the world despite the fact that it "unites" it. Coke is just addictive sugar water that does nothing for anyone. When has coke given you something other than diabetes? Kevin Ashton fails at pointing out the impact of this collaboration. Couldn't all of these talented people that made such a sophisti…

I've never understood this line of thinking. In fact, it feels a bit arbitrary, because your line of thinking can apply to literally anything -- there's no clear cut off point for "useful." By your logic, should we also hold chefs in a low regard. When has their food ever done anything other than make us fat? What about art? Pretty useless. Those people should become engineers and actually contribute something?

you personally don't find a coke to be useful. However, it is a product that brings many people happiness. That actuall seems pretty useful to me.

Further, you completely missed all of the engineering. the modern soda can, the aluminum milling processes, all the high tech tool chains, those happened as a side effect of the mass production of the product you dislike.

Re: What Coke Contains

#23

Post by jechen »

Curious as to why there's no mention of the secret formula, since the author is wrong about kola nut being an ingredient of the syrup: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/pr2001447 (from the Coca-Cola wiki page), which interestingly is a component in many purported recipes.

It's also interesting to see a picture of a glass bottle coke when the American product rarely exists in such form. I've sworn off the HFCS version after discovering the Mexican recipe with cane sugar - it tastes so much better and comes in a glass bottle. When I was in Tijuana for a Startup Weekend, that's all they served.

Re: What Coke Contains

#24

Post by DigitalSea »

jscheel wrote: post #9

Ok, bit of a bragging moment here: my grandpa, with two other gentlemen, created the process for machining seamless cans that is described here. Before them, cans had a lead seam in them. They discovered that you could draw down the aluminum and stretch it to form cans in one piece. He also invented the process for creating the bottom of soda cans, and his friend invented the modern tab on the top of soda cans.

Wow that's awesome. We live in a society where one person takes credit for something and in this case a Coke can is comprised of many inventions as are many things. You never hear about the guy who helped shape the process of creating the bottom of soda cans or the tab on them. I wonder who invented that piece of plastic that holds store bought bread together?

Re: What Coke Contains

#25

Post by derekp7 »

largesse wrote: post #16
rlu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll go ahead and ask how pencils are made.

DO NOT CLICK THIS YOU WILL GET VERY EXCITED!! http://www.pencilpages.com/articles/make.htm

I've actually got an educational kit floating around somewhere that looks like that, from when my Mom worked at an office supply business. It was called "How a Ticonderoga Pencil is made kit", and has the raw parts from each step of the pencil making process. I'll see if I can dig it up and post pictures.

Re: What Coke Contains

#26

Post by 6cxs2hd6 »

k33 wrote: post #13

eh, I just don't feel like the writer understands or cares to explain how that whole process is actually detrimental to the world despite the fact that it "unites" it. Coke is just addictive sugar water that does nothing for anyone. When has coke given you something other than diabetes? Kevin Ashton fails at pointing out the impact of this collaboration. Couldn't all of these talented people that made such a sophisti…

> Coke is just addictive sugar water

It would be somewhat healthier if it actually contained sugar (as opposed to high fructose corn syrup).

Re: What Coke Contains

#28

Post by maxerickson »

jechen wrote: post #23

Curious as to why there's no mention of the secret formula, since the author is wrong about kola nut being an ingredient of the syrup: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/pr2001447 (from the Coca-Cola wiki page), which interestingly is a component in many purported recipes. It's also interesting to see a picture of a glass bottle coke when the American product rarely exists in such form. I've sworn off the HFCS versi…

This paper:

http://goranlab.com/pdf/Ventura%20Obesity%202010-sugary%20be...

(Linked from here:

http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/28/study-hey-hipsters-mex... )

Explains that the Mexican coke tested had fructose and glucose in it. It could have been bottled with HFCS or perhaps the cane sugar split in the bottle.

That doesn't in any way account for all the possible differences with Mexican coke though.

Post reply on HN