j5 wrote:I'm just going to say this, since none of the original ranters are left to say it for themselves (as far as I can see); It was never about cute vs. artsy, it was about high quality fresh ideas vs. formulaic rehashed derivatives.
edit: I don't purport to speak for anyone in the above statement, It's just my takeaway from parsing the volumes of tl;dr that I actually tl;Read Anyway.
Despite what certain ssssssegments of the woot population believed about the rest of us, we are capable of reading reems of text, from engaging narratives to rambling rants. I read those rants. Once you sifted through the insults, allegations, and unfocused chatter--there was, at base, some of the argument you are talking about.
Of course the problem never admitted too in that type of thread was those ratners had a big issue with people's freedom to choose what they wanted. They never used the, "Here, let me show you something better that you might enjoy more," tactic to persuade people.
Those rants were typically "You simpletons! How dare you breathe the same air as me and call yourselves human! If the drooling massses of this community knew what was good for them they wouldn't vote for or buy this garbage! This is just like when Abe Lincoln was...(etc)" rant continues for two more pages of bizarre "examples" from history, science and the animal kingdom and manages to insult 95% of the population along the way
