Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by pluc | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

pluc

Why stop there, you don't need all words

smart guy, ahead of time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K-L9uhsBLM

let's do letters next? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Minnow_Pea)

View on HN

What? No one says you can't say hello. It just shouldn't be the only thing you say

Hello's an established communication protocol that allows the speaker to verify the target is available, listening and ready to initiate a conversation. I've only ever seen this site quoted to defend people's brutish behaviour. If we're going to discard centuries of consensus, I say why stop there.

If you gotta call someone for support, do you say hello and wait for them to say hello back or do you just unload your question?

> If we're going to discard centuries of consensus

are we? imo there's just a different form of consensus for async communication, a more apt comparison would perhaps be a snail-mail letter: would you send a letter with "Hello!" and wait for a reply? just include the hello with the rest of the message :P

maybe the disconnect people are having with this is whether instant messaging is actually async, or does one draw the line at email?

Almost all chat apps provide presence and availability to would-be chatters. They already know if I am available and open to chat.

Imagine in the 19th century, you receive a telegram consisting of only

  HELLO STOP

(Didn't you have to pay per message?)

> Hello's an established communication protocol that allows the speaker to verify the target is available, listening and ready to initiate a conversation

Which isn't relevant at all in asynchronous communication methods like messaging.

> If you gotta call someone for support, do you say hello and wait for them to say hello back or do you just unload your question

Phone calls and messaging are different.

Phone calls are not the same communication mechanism as instant messaging. Look at the timestamps in the mock screenshots and think about holding the other person on the phone for that long before you say your second line.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com