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Comment by chaosmachine | Hacker News Reader

The link says "buy a kindle". It's pretty obvious where the link goes. Why would you care if he gets commission on it?

Principally, you care because you might have been manipulated into reading an article with a catchy name just so the author can make some sales.

That said, most likely this particular post is a genuine complaint plus an opportunistic idea.

Principally, you care because you might have been manipulated into reading an article with a catchy name just so the author can make some sales.

If it weren't someone that we all know, then that might be an issue. But Jesse has been around the hacker and entrepreneurial community for a long time, and has a reputation to uphold. If you've been to OSCON, YAPC, etc. you've probably seen him speak and possibly met him. He's not some random dude trying to cash in on this new-fangled Internet thing.

Certainly. In a previous life (10 years ago) I've been a user (and a hacker) of RT. So I know the guy, which is why I said this is most likely genuine.

Because in the grand scheme of things people getting commissions will ultimately increase the price of things for me. It's also up to me to decide whether or not he deserves commission. Perhaps I already wanted to buy a Kindle beforehand.

There's a big difference between writing that: (A) Calls a company out on poor product or customer service, and writing that: (B) Diverts or directs audience to a specific competitor. The "specific competitor" part is what makes this article reek of something suspicious.

[edit] I mean human-generated writing, of course. . .

He also refers at the beginning of the article to his Kindle hacking. He's clearly into that.

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