Ask HN: What product, etc. do you think is snake oil?

20 points by meagher ↗ HN

27 comments

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For me it’s slack. I don’t get why it’s so popular and why people love it. It’s just another chat app to me.
The other chat apps are worse. The gap isn't quite as big as Excel vs Google Sheets, but try sending documents via Discord it WhatsApp.
To clarify (since I can't edit), we use Slack as a replacement for email, and other apps for chat. It's great for sending quick code snippets. It's good for notifying the whole team when there's a new build for testing, as well as getting comments on that build. It's okay for bringing attention to a thing.

Notifications during office hours by default hurts it - instead of people not sending messages outside work hours, everyone just uses something else for notifications.

I use it daily and like using it but it will never leave my mind that it’s just shiny IRC.
Dont forget dropbox was just shiny FTP :)
Same, but it's Discord. A wet teenage gamer dream. I know 0 communities of interest that uses it.
Brave browser. See many discussions here for details why.
i think any software that only highlights its benefits is inherently deceptive. i have to go and figure out the fundamentals and see if i can surmise the tradeoffs.

one top of mind example is event streaming like kafka. sure it has benefits but as soon as start using streams like a WAL and turn your application into a database with ACID guarantees you’re going to blanket regret going with event streaming. you might call that user error but enterprise support won’t tell you stop using it that way

Everyone thinks options trading/advisory services/trading roooms are snake oil.
CBD.
Absolutely. I'm certain it helps SOME people but the claims made by anyone pushing it are absolutely ridiculous. I've yet to meet or hear from a single person who felt any difference from it yet there's shit loads of podcasters and influencers who seem to have amazing results, go figure.
I don’t take it myself but our 17 year old dog takes a dog version in the morning and night and there is a noticeable difference in her stiffness and being able to navigate the stairs if she misses a dose. It was recommended by the Vet.
Any program/seminar/book that sells you success without factoring in luck...which is pretty much all of them.
All the ideology based practices in software engineering. TDD, xtreme programming, pair programming, BDD etc.

This comment is going to rile up many, but I haven't found anyone to show me even a half-ass scientific study to show that any of these things make anything better.

Not to say I disagree but are there any studies about coding practices that tell us anything?
Almost any "NextGen" "cybersecurity" product
social media
Actively managed funds (hedge/mutual)
Likewise, anyone that sells investing advice. Most make their money off of the service, not off of applying their knowledge, which really tells you their knowledge isn't worth much.