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Misbrands

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Re: Misbrands

#101

Post by GuB-42 »

logotype wrote: post #62

Never understood why people put stickers on their laptops, to me it seems like a cargo cult. Oh, you’re using this trendy library? Are you a brogrammer or a programmer? Why is libraries and technologies trendy anyway, so much time has been wasted building something using the wrong tool for the job. It also ruins the design of the laptop, just like a phone case does. Maybe I’m just old.

The same argument can be made for tattoos. Why ruin the design of perfectly good skin? And not so long ago, it was the common opinion.

Stickers are a way of expression. Sometimes, I don't like the idea being expressed, sometimes I do. Clean is fine too.

Phone covers are usually for protection. And a reason I hate phones with a glass back (thankfully a dying trend). It is fragile, slippery, heavy and not structural, it only looks good in a store because people put on a case afterwards. Pre Galaxy S6, Samsung had the perfect back cover, made of light plastic, openable and replaceable, and in the case of the S5, waterproof. You may find it ugly, but under a protective case, you don't see it. In fact, they even sold cases that replaced the back cover.

Re: Misbrands

#102

Post by notsureaboutpg »

logotype wrote: post #62

Never understood why people put stickers on their laptops, to me it seems like a cargo cult. Oh, you’re using this trendy library? Are you a brogrammer or a programmer? Why is libraries and technologies trendy anyway, so much time has been wasted building something using the wrong tool for the job. It also ruins the design of the laptop, just like a phone case does. Maybe I’m just old.

No post body was provided.

Re: Misbrands

#103

Post by notsureaboutpg »

GuB-42 wrote: post #101
logotype wrote: post #62

Never understood why people put stickers on their laptops, to me it seems like a cargo cult. Oh, you’re using this trendy library? Are you a brogrammer or a programmer? Why is libraries and technologies trendy anyway, so much time has been wasted building something using the wrong tool for the job. It also ruins the design of the laptop, just like a phone case does. Maybe I’m just old.

The same argument can be made for tattoos. Why ruin the design of perfectly good skin? And not so long ago, it was the common opinion. Stickers are a way of expression. Sometimes, I don't like the idea being expressed, sometimes I do. Clean is fine too. Phone covers are usually for protection. And a reason I hate phones with a glass back (thankfully a dying trend). It is fragile, slippery, heavy and not structural, i…

No post body was provided.

Re: Misbrands

#104

Post by darkwater »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #65
logotype wrote: post #62

Never understood why people put stickers on their laptops, to me it seems like a cargo cult. Oh, you’re using this trendy library? Are you a brogrammer or a programmer? Why is libraries and technologies trendy anyway, so much time has been wasted building something using the wrong tool for the job. It also ruins the design of the laptop, just like a phone case does. Maybe I’m just old.

> just like a phone cover does. If the designers of the phone want to provide a reasonably priced cover that will hold my credit cards and protect the screen then perhaps they can make one that complements the device; and perhaps I'll buy it. Until then I'll have to make do with what the third party suppliers can deliver, there is no way I'm going to carry my mobile without having it in a case.

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE had exactly that

Re: Misbrands

#105

Post by skytreader »

Aeolun wrote: post #53
skytreader wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I saw that sticker, I immediately wanted to give it to this SEO consultant I worked with several years ago. We had a Python + Angular stack so among our first conversations went like: Him: Okay your biggest problem right now is that your website is written in Java. Me: Uhh...no...we use Python. Why is our choice of backend language a problem? (I honestly thought this involves a development in Google v. Oracle th…

I’m really curious what good advice an SEO consultant that knows so little about his platform he cannot distinguish Java from Javascript can give. I would be immediately suspect of anything else they said or did.

Man, this obnoxious HN arrogance again. And on Christmas Eve too. I specifically added that Not to be mean part because it's simply not fair that people judge your competence based on an unflattering anecdote. But of course, here we are. :(

Look here:

- He was a consultant; not part of the team. It wasn't his platform, strictly speaking.

- That said, Java and JS was created 1995. Google was founded 1998. I'd give two or three years more before the term "SEO" even became a thing. And then a few more years before it became an established sub-industry. My point is, people working in a Web/IT field have been confusing Java and JS far before SEO's time. These people aren't programmers though they may have worked closely with programmers. Does that make them incompetent at their job?

Marketing: Hey we want a tie-in with the release of the first Harry Potter film! (Good suggestion) Can Java make magic spell effects when people click on our website?

Programmer: Heck no, dunce. First of all, you're thinking of Javascript. Second of all, even if we were a Java Applet, that would be difficult. Third of all, our website is basically in Flash so yes we can accomplish that with some ActionScript.

- You know why these people can't distinguish Java from JS? Because the distinction doesn't matter for their job! The job of an SEO consultant, in particular, is to come up with a strategy; this takes a lot of approaches, and technical execution is a small part of the pie. A lot of the companies they would work with won't even have dedicated engineers developing the platform.

The point of the meeting I related, ICYMI, is that our website is basically "code not content" in the eyes of Googlebot so that needed to be addressed. It could've been spewing out Brainfuck and the point of the meeting stands.

----

SEO is really a different kind of beast (I've talked about it here other times before). In that team I'm ready to admit that I, the guy who can distinguish between Java and Javascript, had the least impact; there was a low bar on the programming skills needed and I just happened to be the guy with nothing else on his plate then. I was a "fungible asset" as the cool kids would say nowadays. Shows you how little technical programming details matter for general SEO.

And yet with that guy's strategy we achieved (and this goes on my resume):

- from page nowhere of hyper-targeted keywords we made it to page 1 within a few months. Crept up in ranking slowly with marketing, not technical, strategy. Then from that content we managed to score in less-targeted keywords.

- by the end of my tenure as the "Growth Hacker" we went from 200K users to past the 1M mark with zero marketing ad spend. (We were actually bleeding on ad spend with very little ROI that's why they kickstarted the SEO initiative.) It was slow but steady, not the hockey-stick growth that would've pulled Sequoia Capital on board but enough for our investors.

----

To be honest, this is one long comment too many than I planned today. But what can I do duty calls (https://xkcd.com/386/) even on holidays. Merry Christmas/Happy holidays and a fine new year HN community. I'm pulling myself off-duty for HN comments for the rest of the calendar year.

Re: Misbrands

#106

Post by smarx007 »

I felt bad that PHP and Django were unfairly left out in the RoR misbrand (well, Wordpress is written in PHP but that looked a bit remote), so I decided to fix that: https://imgur.com/a/quN1aEa. Now THAT should make someone's blood boil.

(sorry for the aliasing, the font was taken from a screenshot)

Re: Misbrands

#107

Post by goodpoint »

logotype wrote: post #62

Never understood why people put stickers on their laptops, to me it seems like a cargo cult. Oh, you’re using this trendy library? Are you a brogrammer or a programmer? Why is libraries and technologies trendy anyway, so much time has been wasted building something using the wrong tool for the job. It also ruins the design of the laptop, just like a phone case does. Maybe I’m just old.

I never use stickers from commercial projects or just because something is trendy.

I have stickers from community projects that I actively contribute to or projects that are really meaningful to me and I support morally and financially.

In limited amount and size not to be tacky...

Many people apply the same logic to tattoos.

Re: Misbrands

#108

Post by [deleted] »

logotype wrote: post #62

Never understood why people put stickers on their laptops, to me it seems like a cargo cult. Oh, you’re using this trendy library? Are you a brogrammer or a programmer? Why is libraries and technologies trendy anyway, so much time has been wasted building something using the wrong tool for the job. It also ruins the design of the laptop, just like a phone case does. Maybe I’m just old.

[deleted]

Re: Misbrands

#109

Post by sangnoir »

sokoloff wrote: post #73
kwhitefoot wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just like a phone cover does. If the designers of the phone want to provide a reasonably priced cover that will hold my credit cards and protect the screen then perhaps they can make one that complements the device; and perhaps I'll buy it. Until then I'll have to make do with what the third party suppliers can deliver, there is no way I'm going to carry my mobile without having it in a case.

I switched to carrying my phones naked about 6 years ago and prefer it. It seems odd to prioritize buying a thin, light phone and then put it in an Otter Box. I buy them used right after the next one is released (when the first glut of used phones is available) and keep them for a few cycles. Worst damage I’ve done is to damage a volume down button on the XS Max I’m using right now.

> It seems odd to prioritize buying a thin, light phone and then put it in an Otter Box

Not everyone prioritizes buying thin phones, but it appears aesthetics is a big deal for you. I'm your opposite: all I want to see when I'm using my phone is its screen. Having a case made out of soft material that can absorb energy when it is dropped (not "if") has saved it on multiple occasions at the cost of adding ~1mm to the thickness.

Re: Misbrands

#110

Post by justbaker »

skytreader wrote: post #105
Aeolun wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m really curious what good advice an SEO consultant that knows so little about his platform he cannot distinguish Java from Javascript can give. I would be immediately suspect of anything else they said or did.

Man, this obnoxious HN arrogance again. And on Christmas Eve too. I specifically added that Not to be mean part because it's simply not fair that people judge your competence based on an unflattering anecdote. But of course, here we are. :( Look here: - He was a consultant; not part of the team. It wasn't his platform, strictly speaking. - That said, Java and JS was created 1995. Google was founded 1998. I'd give two…

> My point is, people working in a Web/IT field have been confusing Java and JS far before SEO's time. These people aren't programmers though they may have worked closely with programmers. Does that make them incompetent at their job?

It’s been around for nearly thirty years. It entirely matters if they are saying “your site has poor SEO because it uses Java” rather than “because it uses JavaScript”. I’m glad you reinforced it without becoming arrogant or standoffish and seemed to meet your goal in working with him. I’m not sure I’d been able to do the same myself. Merry Christmas :)

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