Hacker News Reader

Hmph, I'd forgotten that. Interesting that we wouldn't do that sort of thing now. It would seem too rude to mention Google explicitly. Whereas when we first started YC we were so obscure we couldn't successfully be rude to anyone.

View on HN

It also dates it, in the same way that "Bill and Steve won't respect you in the morning" would make it uniquely a thing of ten years prior. Whereas making it generic makes it more timeless, and timelessness is good design in general.

I assume it's Steve Jobs, not Balmer.

(edit) Why am I at -1? Balmer is a more reasonable match for Bill, but he is not a founder. Jobs is a better fit, but it is odd to see him paired with Gates.

It would make no sense at all for Steve Jobs in the pre-iPod era.

Pre-iPod time? Apple ][, Mac, NeXT.

In fairness, that was probably just about the time Google Calendar clipped Kiko's wings, which may have smarted. Also, back then, you probably may not have realized that the new method of funding you were pioneering would create an incubator for Google acquisitions. (i.e. you may not have realized you were poking your own customers in the eye.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com