Comment by kens
5 years ago
It's my subtle protest against the HN belief that people need to be warned against articles from previous years. That said, it's a bit alarming to realize I wrote the article 9 years ago.
5 years ago
It's my subtle protest against the HN belief that people need to be warned against articles from previous years. That said, it's a bit alarming to realize I wrote the article 9 years ago.
I think it's just context to help people better understand what they are reading.
Agree - a date is often absolutely essential to placing what you’re reading in context. I always look for one at the top of any article I read, and assume based on past experience that the lack of one is usually indicative of clickbait (although clearly not in this case).
I did a small A/B test long ago, and found that the date, if more than a couple of years old, can discourage a lot of people from even reading the article.
So maybe it should be placed at the end as a compromise?
1 reply →
Nice article, Ken. I noticed that all the Google patent links are broken. For example, https://www.google.com/patents?id=RfA9AAAAEBAJ should be https://patents.google.com/patent/US4677366 .
Hi, kens. This is my n-th time rereading this article, this time I noticed a small typo. Footnote 90, "More recent VMR specifications" should've been "VRM".
Thanks! I've fixed it now.
Lack of dates in articles annoyed me way before i started reading HN. So i don't see the problem (didn't know that was a thing on HN), but i respect your decision.
That’s a curious stance, considering that “News” is in the very title of this site, and presumably a description of its content and intent.