I started reading HN last spring. As a newcomer, I had a hard time understanding exactly what HN was trying to be. When I came here, I was hoping to find more technical content (programming related) and less fluff than I was finding at reddit. This was preconception was largely due to the impression I got from boths friends who recommended HN and from HN's name itself. However, that's now what I found, which was disappointing. I found instead a variety of content that's more "Steve Jobs"-esque, meaning the content posted is often focused on the interface between the real world and technological world (as Steve Jobs would say, where liberal arts meets technology). This was very far from what I expected HN to be. I love HN for what it is, now that I know what it is, but I think "Hacker News" is largely misleading/misrepresentative and attracts a different audience than what HN intends (or has become - I'm not sure).

For the most part, most tech content posted seems to be web-related (a somewhat fitting stereotype would be "ruby hackers"), or not actually technical at all (for example, from the frontpage now: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/02/ideas-bank/nice-guys).

There is nothing "hacker" in nature in most of the content posted here. There's nothing wrong with that; the name is just misleading (in my opinion).

So I am wondering, does anyone agree with me? I may be totally off or have a strange interpretation of the word "hacker." Either way, I'd like to know what you think!