Hacker News Reader

Comment by ThePherocity | Hacker News Reader

I was just sharing my experience. What's your problem?

Another problem, besides the ones huggyface is pointing out, is that if everyone decided to share their experience on a story like this, there will be 4000 comments.

I don't think many such anecdotes are fictitious like huggyface does--I think people just enjoy sharing their experiences--but I do think they are intensely irrelevant except en masse, and forums like these are not the place for that.

There are countless very thorough professional reviews of the Galaxy S III available. There are countless very thorough reviews of Android proper. Many of them by people who have actually touched both platforms extensively, and many extensively compare the two. Personal, usually agenda-driven, subjective summaries are not useful as as reply to stories like this. They simply aren't.

So you're saying that only professionals (and more importantly, professionals that you personally agree with) should have and share opinions?

"While everyone has the right to have questions and theories, only believable people have the right to have opinions. If you can't successfully ski down a difficult slope, you shouldn't tell others how to do it, though you can ask questions about it and even express your views about possible ways if you make it clear that you are unsure." -- #194 from Principles by Ray Dalio

Rather, I think huggyface is saying that slandering a product without facts/evidence is not very productive and is better to have off of HN.

It would be nice if more people on HN back up their claims with facts and sources. Instead, people bring up anecdotal evidence and leave it at that.

---- Far less intuitive

This is kind of hand-wavy. Can you expand on this and say what you don't like about it? ----

Opinions are great, but they leave a lot to be desired, I think, unless you have a feel for the person.

If I know that you are very critical about particular UI elements and that you like iOS for specific features that are missing on Android, then great! I'll trust you with your opinion. But I don't know you, so fleshing out this anecdotal story into something more factual would be much better for me.

Let's take one statement from your root post-

But compared to the iPhone, it's far less intuitive, it's build quality is crap, and I can't make it though a day on a charge

Ignoring hilariously subjective statements on intuitive interfaces or build quality (that fuzzy measure that has nothing to do with actual suitability to task or hardiness, but instead ends up being a reflection of what people have been told build quality is. If you make a hammer out of glass, is that superb built quality?), I'll focus on something more empirical -- battery life. I happen to have a GS III, and coincidentally I forgot to plug it in last night (it isn't the first time I've done this). I am currently on hour 29 off the charger, with medium to heavy use, with the battery at 33%. So what now? Do we wage a battle of anecdotes? Should we? Is that a productive use of HN?

The single objective measure you referred to is battery life, to which professionals have actual repeatable, regimented tests. You don't. Your statement on it is irrelevant.

Sounds like someone hit a nerve. Chill out guy!

He seems pretty collected to me. And he makes some good points.

Huggyface is correct. The pointless mini-review drivel that pops up on these stories belongs somewhere else.

(1) His points were not one sided.

(2) There are plenty of professional reviews that made the same points he made.

(3) Many professional reviewers also grade on a curve because it favors their business model.

"Personal ... summaries are not useful "

Is accusing random people's anecdotes of being "fictitious" and "agenda driven" useful and constructive behavior in your opinion?

His points were not one sided.

And? It says nothing relative to my indisputable point that the noisy ruckus of anecdotes simply pollute every Android discussion.

There are plenty of professional reviews that made the same points he made.

Assuming that were true, then why post it? What is the point? "Hey everyone, guy who used an iPhone here: Let me tell you how it is..."

Is accusing random people's anecdotes of being "fictitious" and "agenda driven" useful and constructive behavior in your opinion?

Considering that my post was a discouragement of unconstructive posts, yes, for the purposes of this discussion it is absolutely useful.

What kind of discussion can one have if one is not entitled to ones own opinion?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com