This is the wrong storyline. Reddit didn't evolve from Digg.
They started around the same timeframe and it was as much Mac/PC in terms of fanboyishness. Reddit won because of the power of subreddits and capturing the long tail for content and communities.
What's out of touch with your story is that Digg users thought Reddit's UX was horrifying and avoided it like the plague. Even to this day without enhancement suites I wouldn't crown Reddit to be the pinnacle of UX. It's very much Linux terminally compared to Digg's Mac.
Finally, this jaded bitterness that Kevin Rose got $1.7MM to piss away...
If you were worth getting $1.7MM to piss away you would have had $1.7MM to piss away.
I was not trying to imply reddit evolved FROM digg. (I have been using all three sites since their inception - starting with /. in 1997, I am familiar with their history).
I am saying the IDEA of social content sites evolved from one, to the next, to the next.
As I mentioned, it is not about UI, or content, it was about UX!
The UX that digg had, especially in V4 wrapped too much UI around the content resulting in a poor UX!
Reddit, while seemingly ugly - allowed for far faster and more fluid consumption of the content. It also left more control over what content users wanted.
>It's very much Linux terminally compared to Digg's Mac
I think you're putting too much weight on the shiny.
I think anyone would agree that the speed and agility one gets on a CLI (linux) vs any GUI when you're a savvy user is incomparable.
Finally, I am not jaded/bitter because Kevin Rose got 1.7MM -- I am jaded bitter that anyone would get 1.7MM and so nonchalantly walk away from it AFTER making the types of comments he did.
I think I just have a different perspective than you, I also think you believe I am focusing on things which I am not. :)
> If you were worth getting $1.7MM to piss away you would have had $1.7MM to piss away.
So you are implying that a luck and contacts and more other things such as your experience, geolocation, etc. don't matter as long as you are worth getting $X, you will have $X to piss away.
uhm, is there any website to sign up? I want to try my skills against it -- perhaps I am "worth it".
And that everybody earns every penny that they really should. Nobody's ever born the wrong color or gender or nationality, or ever has bad luck that prevents them from fulfilling their potential.
They started around the same timeframe and it was as much Mac/PC in terms of fanboyishness. Reddit won because of the power of subreddits and capturing the long tail for content and communities.
What's out of touch with your story is that Digg users thought Reddit's UX was horrifying and avoided it like the plague. Even to this day without enhancement suites I wouldn't crown Reddit to be the pinnacle of UX. It's very much Linux terminally compared to Digg's Mac.
Finally, this jaded bitterness that Kevin Rose got $1.7MM to piss away...
If you were worth getting $1.7MM to piss away you would have had $1.7MM to piss away.