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The HN Digest trial

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Re: The HN Digest trial

#11

Post by brianchu »

It isn't the article that I usually spend the most time reading. It's in the comments where most of HN's learning value lies, and thus where most of my time is spent. If the summaries included an outline of the opinions/takeaways/great resources mentioned in the comments, that would make the product that much more worthwhile.

I also tend to hoard links. If there's a great thread on Haskell, for example, I'll bookmark it (save it to Pocket), with the intention of going back to the thread if/when in the future I decide to learn Haskell.

Ultimately, though, the problem is that whether or not I pay for this depends on whether this tool actually weans me off HN. If the summaries are so high quality as to get me off HN (except to post comments myself), I would pay $50 a month for this. If I still find myself reading threads by myself on HN, I wouldn't pay anything.

Re: The HN Digest trial

#12

Post by samjc »

juliancorlet wrote: post #9
samjc wrote: post #8

What's the difference between this service and the Hacker Newsletter I already get for free? http://www.hackernewsletter.com/ edit: "free" in the sense that I do not pay anything. However, there usually is a sponsored ad (obviously geared towards the HN community) with the weekly email.

Hi Sam, Hacker Newsletter provides a list of the most popular links, whereas HN Digest summarises those posts. The idea being, you might want to get the gist of an article without reading the whole thing. I'm pretty sure Hacker Newsletter has been around for quite a while, so it's interesting that they have been able to make the free model work.

Are all these summaries going to be hand-written? Who will be writing them, how many people would you have on backup in case you can't write the summaries for that day? -- Since, you know, people would be paying for the service.

With the Hacker Newsletter, if I don't get it sometimes, I don't really care, since it's free. However, if I were paying for a service I might feel different about it.

I wouldn't mind trying it, but I don't think I'd pay for it. But, who knows, others might! Good luck to you.

Re: The HN Digest trial

#13

Post by juliancorlet »

brianchu wrote: post #11

It isn't the article that I usually spend the most time reading. It's in the comments where most of HN's learning value lies, and thus where most of my time is spent. If the summaries included an outline of the opinions/takeaways/great resources mentioned in the comments, that would make the product that much more worthwhile. I also tend to hoard links. If there's a great thread on Haskell, for example, I'll bookmark…

A couple of excellent points there! You're right, so much of the value is in the comments. I guess it comes down to scale. There is a minimum threshold required to justify producing the summaries. The more subs, the more features can be justified.

To your point on hoarding links, a comment came through from the form that they would like to see tagging functionality. I wonder if there's something there?

Re: The HN Digest trial

#14

Post by samjc »

samjc wrote: post #12
juliancorlet wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Sam, Hacker Newsletter provides a list of the most popular links, whereas HN Digest summarises those posts. The idea being, you might want to get the gist of an article without reading the whole thing. I'm pretty sure Hacker Newsletter has been around for quite a while, so it's interesting that they have been able to make the free model work.

Are all these summaries going to be hand-written? Who will be writing them, how many people would you have on backup in case you can't write the summaries for that day? -- Since, you know, people would be paying for the service. With the Hacker Newsletter, if I don't get it sometimes, I don't really care, since it's free. However, if I were paying for a service I might feel different about it. I wouldn't mind trying…

Here's an Idea: See how many people show interest in paying for it, and how many do not want to pay for it. If it's worth it, let the people not wanting to pay for it summarize it for "free" access to your service, now you don't have to write the summaries, you just approve others' summaries.

Just an idea, also sounds like a fun project :)

Re: The HN Digest trial

#15

Post by juliancorlet »

samjc wrote: post #12
juliancorlet wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Sam, Hacker Newsletter provides a list of the most popular links, whereas HN Digest summarises those posts. The idea being, you might want to get the gist of an article without reading the whole thing. I'm pretty sure Hacker Newsletter has been around for quite a while, so it's interesting that they have been able to make the free model work.

Are all these summaries going to be hand-written? Who will be writing them, how many people would you have on backup in case you can't write the summaries for that day? -- Since, you know, people would be paying for the service. With the Hacker Newsletter, if I don't get it sometimes, I don't really care, since it's free. However, if I were paying for a service I might feel different about it. I wouldn't mind trying…

Yes, all of the summaries will be hand-written. At first it will be me with my significant other as backup, however I would be trialling writers with the aim of outsourcing so long as the quality/reliability was there.

Re: The HN Digest trial

#16

Post by juliancorlet »

samjc wrote: post #14
samjc wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are all these summaries going to be hand-written? Who will be writing them, how many people would you have on backup in case you can't write the summaries for that day? -- Since, you know, people would be paying for the service. With the Hacker Newsletter, if I don't get it sometimes, I don't really care, since it's free. However, if I were paying for a service I might feel different about it. I wouldn't mind trying…

Here's an Idea: See how many people show interest in paying for it, and how many do not want to pay for it. If it's worth it, let the people not wanting to pay for it summarize it for "free" access to your service, now you don't have to write the summaries, you just approve others' summaries. Just an idea, also sounds like a fun project :)

Awesome, awesome idea. Love it! Maybe they get a bio link out of it or similar.

Re: The HN Digest trial

#17

Post by samjc »

juliancorlet wrote: post #16
samjc wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's an Idea: See how many people show interest in paying for it, and how many do not want to pay for it. If it's worth it, let the people not wanting to pay for it summarize it for "free" access to your service, now you don't have to write the summaries, you just approve others' summaries. Just an idea, also sounds like a fun project :)

Awesome, awesome idea. Love it! Maybe they get a bio link out of it or similar.

Maybe if a user writes 5-10 summaries in a month, and his summary gets picked, he/she get's access for free the next month. Can't wait to see what you do now :D
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