"Launching a startup in 2016 is akin to assembling an alt-rock band in 1996 or protesting the Vietnam War in 1971—an act of youthful rebellion gone conformist."
"I continue to be impressed by the quality of The New Yorker's reporting."
It really is quite good and I have gone out of my way over these past 8 years or so to show them whatever patronage I can. To that end, I subscribe to the digital version on my kindle as well as buy the print version (which I prefer, aesthetically).
Since we're talking about it, I think any discussion of how good the New Yorker is has to touch on how good the London Review of Books is. It's a truly remarkable publication. Very, very left leaning but I appreciate it nonetheless. I highly recommend an LRB subscription to anyone that appreciates good, original, thoughtful reporting and commentary. As a bonus, you get a very different perspective on many world events than you get from US media.
Agreed. This a very long and well written article. It does have some very heartbreaking, personal stories too:
One of Altman’s co-founders at Loopt, Nick Sivo, was also his boyfriend; the two dated for nine years, but after the company sold they broke up. “I thought I was going to marry him—very in love with him,” Altman said
It was interesting to read of his ambivalence toward AI. I've seen this sentiment echoed by other tech-scene heavyweights. Why are so many in SV aggressively working to bring about a "super-awesome" world which they don't even seem to want?
It's great that every week that release some five or so long form articles many of which must take months to complete. I'm duly impressed by every issue which shows at my door.
My impression: It is 46 pages printed. I opened the link, read three paragraphs, and still not a word about the Manifest Destiny mentioned in the title. Closed it. Way too long. Way too much story telling.
"At a hundred and thirty pounds, Altman is poised as a clothespin, fierce as a horned owl."
to me, sounds like a romance novel, not objective reporting. From a group that espouses the virtues of a 30 second elevator pitch, I find the down voting odd. There's an incredible amount of verbosity here that essentially adds nothing to the article. At 46 pages, that's roughly half the size of the entire GoLang specification.
Long articles are fine so long as the length is required to convey the information presented. Based on the first few paragraphs, this one appears to actively waste time with pretentiousness. Not my cup of tea.
This article isn't written for you then. It's written for the audience of the New Yorker which consistently reads quality long form which paint whole pictures. As a hacker news commentator you probably have far more insight into the start up scene than the vast majority of them.
I'm also curious about the 46 pages, I'd put it at about 15 in the print form of the magazine. Enjoyed the read and comment thread quite a bit.
