[bootload]

"... So how do you define success? Is Arc successful if you open a web page and then 30 minutes later try to submit a form and get "unknown link" or something to that effect. ..."

I observed this in 2007FEB22 , you can see it here ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/398269769/ and the classic response ... "... wouldn't have been a timeout; we probably restarted the server ..."

Though I wouldn't call a broken piece of a webapp (hackernews) a failure of Arc.

[10ren]

I agree, it's not Arc, it's the webapp. And it does seem bizarrely unprofessional (I often consider my comments for a long time, so I almost always get the timeout - I'm being punished for thinking!). There also had to be a substantial outcry before we got a "search" link.

Yet... HN grows and grows... it is reported widely... luminaries routinely post here... and here are you and I.

pg has said he is careful to focus on what matters (eg. spam; ranking), not what seems to. It appears to be working. And it exactly supports this essay's thesis, of working on looking professional vs. what's important. Maybe it's a bit like undergraduates handing in essays in a fancy folder?