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Comment by lj3 | Hacker News Reader

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lj3·

> Yikes, when did HN become so full of haters?

Since at least 2007. I'm sure we all remember the warm reception the Dropbox Show HN[0] got?

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

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> "The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan

s/laughed/jeered/

I was one of the idiots who didn't understand the Dropbox monetization strategy. Until recently, I thought the strategy was "whales" like in a casino would pay for everyone. I think I couldn't get past the idea that they were giving something that keeps costing them money away for free forever. What I didn't realize is how "sticky" something like Dropbox can be. I don't think I can get most people who use Dropbox and pay $80 a year to switch to Google drive and pay $50 a year. They have a workflow there.

I guess I'm trying to justify my reaction to Dropbox. Frankly, I still don't understand why Dropbox turned down acquisition offer from Apple. I still don't get it.

I don't remember laughing at Dropbox though. It was more bewilderment than anything.

It's a little weird that he includes Columbus there. Columbus was many things and genius wasn't one of them. Persistent, egomaniacal, outrageously cruel to the point that the Spanish crown threw him in prison, extremely bad at basic arithmetic -- but not genius.

More importantly though, who is Fulton?

presumably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulton

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