[InsideOutSanta]

Another random blog post about the broken iOS keyboard would not get any traction. This is getting traction.

I'm pretty sure the author realized that Tim Apple isn't shaking in his boots, looking at the numbers going down. That's not the point, the point is that it's funny and interesting and thus getting attention.

[hnlmorg]

Is this getting traction? The front page of HN and some meta-debate is a pretty low bar for what I’d consider traction if I were a one of the richest companies on Earth.

[latexr]

> Another random blog post about the broken iOS keyboard would not get any traction.

Nonsense. Complaints about Apple’s declining software quality get a lot of traction on HN. Here’s another example from today:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46997008

And lookie here, what was submitted within one hour of that post?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46996575

This exact same submission! Which didn’t get any traction then. The traction this is getting has little to do with the quality of the post, it’s popular because it’s another thread where we can air our grievances.

[lolpython]

Why so agressive? You're making a conclusion from a tenuous correlation. I upvoted TFA because I've been annoyed with my Apple keyboard and them not fixing it. Not becaue I saw some other post on window resizing. Judging by the other comments here a bunch of people are in the same boat. I've been complaining in my social circle about it and have partially switched to Android as a result.

[latexr]

> I upvoted TFA because I've been annoyed with my Apple keyboard and them not fixing it. Not becaue I saw some other post on window resizing.

That’s not what I said. Upvoting one post has nothing to do with upvoting the other. They’re two wholly separate posts, the one thing they have in common is (rightfully) criticising Apple for declining software quality. The point is that this submission isn’t special, as the person I replied to suggested. These types of posts are a dime a dozen (which I approve of, I think Apple should be getting criticised for what they do wrong) and they get traction on HN all the time.

I upvoted this submission too, it’s not wrong. But I agree with the comment up the chain that it makes its point as a pretty weak threat, and that doing so undermines the message.

[lolpython]

Ok, it's clear that I misunderstood. Thanks for clarifying.

[rezonant]

"Why so aggressive?"

The post you're replying to is hardly being aggressive.

[InsideOutSanta]

There are dozens of blog posts about this, and this one is trending on HN.

Anyway, why are you so upset about this? Why are you calling my comment "nonsense" and obsessing over this counter? It's clearly having an effect on you, which was its purpose. Realistically, another post about Apple's borked keyboard should create zero emotional response, yet here we are.

[latexr]

I think you’re projecting. How is mentioning a counter once in one comment “obsessing”? I’m glad this post is getting traction, I’m pretty open about my disdain for Apple’s declining software quality and Tim Cook’s management, I welcome posts that shine more light on it.

> Realistically, another post about Apple's borked keyboard should create zero emotional response

Of course that is not true. That is trivial to disprove.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46232528

[InsideOutSanta]

The linked post is from two months ago.

[latexr]

There aren’t daily or even weekly submissions about the iOS keyboard being broken. That seems pretty obvious (and understandable).

[InsideOutSanta]

There was a time, a few months ago, when everyone complained about the iOS keyboard, and blog posts about it got traction. If you want to get a blog post about the same topic to get traction now, you need a hook. The countdown is the hook. That's why I said, "Another random blog post about the broken iOS keyboard wouldn't get any traction."

That's the point of the countdown. When you write that "this is one of the emptiest threats I’ve ever seen", you are completely missing the point of the threat. Everybody knows it's empty. The writer knows it's empty. But it makes the blog post fun and interesting. That's the actual point.

Do you really think the writer thought that Apple would care about one lost iPhone sale?