Hacker News Reader

Well, the way I look it is that if someone says 1000% increase, it may be whatever value between x8 and x12, rounded to the round number, to look more dramatic.

Would you really get more value from the headline if it said "923% increase" instead of 1000%?

View on HN

Over a 9x increase or almost a 10x increase would be just as dramatic and less mental effort and uncertainty to decode.

The article talks about 10 times the price. If that’s true the equivalent percent would be 1100%. So 1000% is a lower, rounded estimate; presumably 10X is also an estimate.

> The article talks about 10 times the price. If that’s true the equivalent percent would be 1100%.

I think you've just proven OPs point. 10x is a 900% increase, or 1,000% of the original price, not 1,100%.

Using percentage for anything other than a fraction of something (i.e. <= 100%) is usually done for effect, often done incorrectly, and even if done "correctly", leads to exactly this kind of confusion.

Just posted this exact thing and deleted it. Your’s is better.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com