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Comment by cmikec | Hacker News Reader

These are all real requests that our users have actually used Magic+ for. We obviously cant divulge their identities, or show photographs, etc. (since these are personal things), but it's important to convey how people really use the service. I'd love ideas on how we can communicate this point better. Part of what our users love about Magic+ is that you truly can do some pretty amazing things with it.

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If that conveys how people really use the service, then, to many people, it also conveys that the people who use the service are, on average, lazy rich douchebags. If that isn't what you want to portray about your brand, you might want to reconsider your examples.

It conveys that the users are rich, yes. What about it makes them lazy or douchebags? Assuming you're rich, is it a logical use of your time to, for instance, go through the process of tracking down and renting a bunch of cars for some event online? Or would it make more sense to pay someone else $100/hour (considerably less than the opportunity cost of doing it yourself) to do it for you?

Does wanting to meet a celebrity make you a lazy douchebag? Or is it the presumption that it might actually be possible? Renting a venue last minute? Perhaps they lazily left it until the last minute, but perhaps there's another explanation?

The Jason Bourne one is eccentric at least, but surely wanting to engage in that kind of extreme training is anything but lazy.

There's a certain 'I'm bored. Bring me Tina Fey' kind of tone to it that seems, oh, maybe just a little bit entitled and self centered.

Most of those things would probably cost you a whole lot less if, unlike 80% of the examples, they weren't "extreme/extravagant request, NOW NOW NOW!".

> It conveys that the users are rich, yes. What about it makes them lazy or douchebags?

Envy, class warfare, and socialist propaganda.

http://www.stephenhicks.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hicks...

So did they meet Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and how did you arrange that?

If there's a way to anonymize data (or even just flag requests as anonymous in content), it'd be nice to have a bit more of a randomly picked live feed.

I think some of the incredulity is that there's... an authenticity skepticism as to how much these represent average requests (and therefore responses). But like you said -- if you don't have a marketing problem, who cares what the HN peanut gallery says. ;)

These aren't supposed to be average requests, they are there to demonstrate how Magic+ can handle even really difficult tasks without easy solutions (order me a pizza).

As other people stated, if there isn't some kind of detail on the fulfillment then it's not demonstrating anything. Forgive my skepticism, but a chat log doesnt count for much in an age where CGI'ing uncompleted UIs on device screens in startup project videos is "acceptable".

So the choice is between exorbitant claims + no detail or some exorbitant claims + some average claims + no detail.

Did you fulfil any of these requests?

They claim to have fulfilled 100% of requests. Seems like a lie, though.

I find it hard to believe Amy Poehler or Tina Fey would meet with some random guy who has some service calling them up...

Most entertainers have an appearance fee. You could pretty much meet up with anyone you wanted if you were willing to pay the price.

They wouldn't necessarily have to. I'm sure there are events they attend that a sufficiently wealthy person could get a ticket or invite to. Then it would just be a matter of introducing yourself.

It probably wasn't a random guy.

Except it's probably not some random guy, right? What if it was Elon Musk, or Bill Gates, or Christopher Nolan?

How much would I have to pay you guys to keep Tina Fey and Amy Poehler the hell away from me?

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