[citricsquid]

> Before I unintentionally start a flame war

This statement would be needed if anyone thought HN was an example of good design and usability, I don't think I've ever seen a comment here claim that, it seems everyone acknowledges that HN was built to work (as in, do the very minimum it can to exist) and nothing more. The lack of polish with HN is part of the charm really.

[pooriaazimi]

I like HN the way it is, only if I could vote on iPad (or worse, on iPhone) without having to zoom 600% in first. Those up/down arrows being so close to each other drives me crazy.

[mambodog]

Have you tried http://ihackernews.com/ ?

[pooriaazimi]

No, I have no knowledge of its existence. It looks good - I'll try it for a few days.

It might be good to submit it as a new link... I'm sure it's been posted before (though I'd never seen it), I'm sure there are many HNers who don't know about it and it might be useful for them (for iOS, there are a few nice applications; but on other platforms, I think there might be none and this web app could be a life-saver for many!)

[d0mine]

news:yc [1] allows you to vote without a problem on iPad

[1] http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/news-yc/id434787119?mt=8&...

[pooriaazimi]

Yes, I have it and it's very good and pretty. But I just can't possibly live without a chronological list of submissions (like http://hckrnews.com/) so right now that app just sits in my first home screen and I never use it!

[nsmartt]

>The lack of polish with HN is part of the charm really.

I do agree with that. However, there's a big difference between polish and usability. The lack of polish may be charming, but usability flaws are anything but charming.

[masklinn]

> The lack of polish may be charming

I don't think so, personally: the common redirection to pages which don't exist is bothering, and so is the overall slowness of the posting and (especially) edition.

Oh, and the completely fucked up comment formatting (or lack thereof) markup.

[nsmartt]

I don't think there's anything to debate there. It's just a matter of personal taste. I find the whole minimalist thing to be very "hacker-esque" (if that's the right way to say that).

[masklinn]

I don't think something which does not actually work is hacker-esque. Minimalistic and half-baked are not the same thing, and hn is the latter more than the former.

[nsmartt]

I was commenting on the specifics things you mentioned (sans redirection to pages that don't exist). Slowness, lack of good formatting. That sort of thing.

I'm certainly not saying that half-baked is the same as minimalist, and I'm also not saying I wouldn't make some changes given the chance.

[Sukotto]

  The lack of polish with HN is part of the charm really

Not for me. I come here in spite of the barely tolerable site UX.