there is a little bit of that, perhaps, but consider: from the OP we have

> Until now, we’ve been an exclusive platform open only to approved users. We took this initial approach because we wanted to ensure that the software worked, first of all, and that the platform was seeded with great content by seasoned and experienced authors.

but if you remember the original svbtle announcement, that is disingenuous. dustin deliberately tried to build up some sense of exclusivity in the "cachet of belonging to a selective group" rather than in the "starting off small" sense. to me that came across as manipulative and a little sketchy (i always wonder, subconsciously, what is wrong with your product if it has to be sold on the premise that not everyone can get it). to a lot of other people, it came across as elitist (just read some of the other comments here). either way, he took a nice piece of software and gave it an unnecessarily blot, but since that blot was deliberately highlighted you can't blame people here for the conversation choosing to focus on it.

Words matter. The original commenter could have said the same thing without the hostility. Consider: "Dustin really hurt Svbtle's chances of becoming a popular platform by originally restricting access. Especially since Medium launched, success for Svbtle will be difficult." But perhaps the point was to attack Dustin, not have a civil conversation. $0.02.

I don't think that would be saying the same thing. His point wasn't just that restricted access meant it couldn't become popular, but that it left a bad taste in people's mouths so it might not take off even now. So his acerbic (not hostile) tone was kind of pertinent to what he wanted to say.

I think it is an important piece of information that it was the elitism that hurt its chances. Your wording misses that out.

This (and the sibling comment) make fair points. I still think DigitalSea could have chosen better words such as "the restricted access came across as elitist and left me not wanting to use the service."

I automatically hate people who say "haters gonna hate". Don't be sad, who cares, hn is just a peanut gallery anyway.

Off-topic but:

It makes me sad that it's the top-voted comment

Not necessarily. It's also less than an hour old, so that helps to make it raise.

Maybe it's because Dustin is a wannabe elitist who thinks he knows better than everyone else.

Proof #1

http://dcurt.is/3-point-5-inches

Proof #2

"Until now, we’ve been an exclusive platform open only to approved users. We took this initial approach because we wanted to ensure that the software worked, first of all, and that the platform was seeded with great content by seasoned and experienced authors."

I have no horse in this race but I'm not sure which part of proof #1 is "wannabe elitist" and "knows better than everyone else"?

I used to own an iPhone 4S and switched to a Nexus 5 this christmas, because Android interested me and I wanted a change. I like Android overall much better and the N5 is a great phone, but I still agree with his points about the screen. It IS pretty frustrating trying to reach with one hand. The extra screen real-estate makes it worth it for me, though.

Apropos of nothing, I guess..