Yet something is off lately. It seems as if there's a very deep angst building in this community and it feels like it's starting to self-reinforce, to 'go off the rails' a bit.

Someone suspicious might say there's a concerted anti-Google campaign going on, if you were to look at the stories making the front page lately. I don't think it's quite that simple - assuming there is no campaign being driven by any group of people in particular, I think this is a symptom of some deep-seated frustrations. Frustrations about being early-adopters who aren't in the mainstream market; frustrations about not having privacy-respecting options; frustrations about the metrics-driven, impersonal way that products are developed by big Silicon Valley tech companies; frustrations about simply not being able to vote with your wallet when it comes to vendor lock-in, privacy, etc.

Do other people feel the same?

Some of the discussions lately, while really engaging, make me feel drained, frustrated and like I've just finished reading a mainstream news site.

For my own part, it's probably time to step away from Hacker News for awhile. Right now, it doesn't feel like a healthy place to spend a lot of time.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, be careful of falling too far into an echo-chamber. Be suspicious in a good way. Step away and broaden your perspective when it all starts getting a bit too much.