Hacker News Reader

Comment by jrockway | Hacker News Reader

People actually like the Svbtle theme, and they think that dcurtis is a positive brand?

Huh.

Yeah, I didn't even know who he was before the Svbtle debacle. Now I know that he's some elitist who got pissy when his (not all that special) blog theme got copied.

He also got a designer at American Airlines fired when he ranted about their design on his blog. (The designer sent him a polite reply about what he was doing to improve the state of the design, but then AA fired him for no apparent reason.)

Wow, what a douchebag. There is no excuse for getting someone fired over something as petty as this. When he got that guy fired, he could have also been affecting that guy's wife and children, who are completely innocent and depend on the guy's salary to live.

He didn't set out to get the guy fired. There's no way you can justify calling him a douchebag for criticising a website's design.

He did say:

  Fire your entire design team, if you have one.
  Hire an outside design firm ... as quickly as possible.
  Your in-house team is obviously incapable of building a good experience.
  Get outside help. [1]

Then backpedaled [2] after he got a response outlining that he has no idea how large companies operate.

[1] http://www.dustincurtis.com/dear_american_airlines.html

[2] http://www.dustincurtis.com/dear_dustin_curtis.html

I think it is safe to justify calling someone a douchebag when they attempt to claim ownership of a very generic style and concept.

I'm not familiar with this situation - was it a public comment? If so, discussion of the work you do for your employer - their intellectual property - could get you fired.

OP was confusingly worded. Curtis complained about AA's design, and the designer was fired.

You realize how many people in the valley have basically the same personality right? Not that I think this is a good thing, it just explains the love.

I'm very much not in the valley but, yes, I do like the look of the theme. Have no strong opinion of Mr Curtis.

I think the entire point was that the author was - and is - neutral to the brand, and that the only reason he picked the theme was because he liked it.

Presumably like-minded people, such as myself (I actually love the theme), will be encouraging, while those who endorse the Svbtle club and its prerogative to "own" a simple, minimalist blog theme, will not.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com