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

Ask YC: If you could create the ultimate tech news site what would it look like?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 16 posts

Ask YC: If you could create the ultimate tech news site what would it look like?

#1

Post by bmaier »

People bag on some of the News sites for being to fluffy, too gossip filled, etc...

I've just started a site to cover technology and startups in the Midwest: http://windywire.com and I'm looking for feedback to create the type of site we'd all like to see.

So I'm coming to you guys for feedback, what features, what style of writing, what mashups would you like to see in a tech news site?

Re: Ask YC: If you could create the ultimate tech news site what would it look like?

#4

Post by marketer »

One of the most important aspects of a news site is having a good community. A lot of the value of sites like news.yc aren't the links themselves, it's the comments provided by the technially adept community. That's not to say that the links are unimporant, it's that they aren't unique - most of the links come from a a small subset of tech news sites.

One thing I don't like is articles that are purely about business cycles. Company A raised 10 million dollars, or is dead, or is running out of money, or is being acquired. Somtimes that can be interesting, but I'm partial to writers that have a sense of humor, and are good at putting things into perspective. I like writing from guys like Zed Shaw, or Matt Maroon -- they're enterntaining.

Re: Ask YC: If you could create the ultimate tech news site what would it look like?

#7

Post by nazgulnarsil »

marketer wrote: post #4

One of the most important aspects of a news site is having a good community. A lot of the value of sites like news.yc aren't the links themselves, it's the comments provided by the technially adept community. That's not to say that the links are unimporant, it's that they aren't unique - most of the links come from a a small subset of tech news sites. One thing I don't like is articles that are purely about business…

I'd go further and say that the links are only discussion fodder. they get people started, the comments that arise from the ensuing discussion are the reason i come to HN. I could easily (?) set up a feed that approximates the kind articles I actually click on HN, that's obviously not why we come here.

Re: Ask YC: If you could create the ultimate tech news site what would it look like?

#9

Post by nazgulnarsil »

I think niche'd social news sites are part of the future of the web. Reddit's create your own reddit is a step in the right direction but it remains to be seen if people prefer starting upa group on an existing network or trying to start one from scratch (the difference between the programming reddit and HN).

AFAIK no one has done white label social news yet. startup?

Re: Ask YC: If you could create the ultimate tech news site what would it look like?

#10

Post by bmaier »

nazgulnarsil wrote: post #9

I think niche'd social news sites are part of the future of the web. Reddit's create your own reddit is a step in the right direction but it remains to be seen if people prefer starting upa group on an existing network or trying to start one from scratch (the difference between the programming reddit and HN). AFAIK no one has done white label social news yet. startup?

I guess my question would be more in line with: What would you like to see in a location-centric tech news site that provides the content for the social news sites we love.
Post reply on HN