Reddit-like submissions don't bother me as much as Reddit-like comments. I used to love reading the comments on HN. In the past I was also much more likely to take part in the discussion. These days though I just skim them, and I hardly comment. In the past, there weren't nearly as many "me too"-type comments (etc), and those that were posted got instantly down-voted. The turning point came when people started upvoting complaints that noone was interested in superficial anecdotal opinions that added little value. That was the signal to me that HN's "mindset" was beginning to shift to a Reddit-like state. Not that there's anything wrong with Reddit, but the Web doesn't need two of them.

The dip in quality doesn't surprise me though. A year or two ago I said the same thing about Reddit in comparison to Digg.