Hacker News Reader

taintloveon Is Social Media Worthless?

>>I find it hard to believe that television or other advertising for a product like Coke or Pepsi makes a big difference in sales. I'm already aware of the products, I already have my opinions on them, and they aren't going to change them.

Companies don't engage in the marketing bombardment of certain brands to remind you that they exist or to change your opinion. For 'commoditized' consumer products like cola or light beer, there is a premium placed on being 'top of mind.' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_mind

I am not a frequent consumer of soda or light beer. However, on occasion, when I 'have to' purchase it (for a party, picnic, barbeque, etc.), I find myself subconsciously steered towards certain brands. which I believe is the result of years of 'conditioning' from constant immersion in uqiquitous marketing.

>>If these companies stopped advertising tomorrow I don't think there would be an immediate effect on consumer behavior.

Not immediately, but in due time absolutely. Why else would Coca-Cola spend $11 billion on marketing last year? http://beta.fool.com/stockcroc1/2012/04/13/coca-colas-new-co...

taintloveon Pull to refresh. For the web

This would work only on mobile-only web sites. I for one would be incredibly irritated if I were to, say, write a longass comment and then accidentally swipe up on my trackpad and lose 20 minutes of work. I've done it before in other stupid ways, it's very frustrating, and i just end up being too fed up to type up my thoughts again

taintloveon The computer that can’t crash

Whenever I hear about something like this (eg, 'the uncrashable computer' or the 'indestructible drinking glass') it begs the question - what about one of the greatest misnomers of all? The Unsinkable Ship, her royal majesty's Titanic

taintloveon Using SimCity to diagnose my home town's traffic problem

sadly, EA is ruining what looks like an otherwise very promising game with DRM and DLC