This is a punny code, and I'm fine - if not happy - that HN doesn't choose to render their underlying unicode symbols. It's very easy to spoof URLs this way, e.g. using a symbol from another language to craft a look-alike URL that can match a reputable site.
Browsers like now Chrome try and alert you if the URL visually looks spoofed (because they do support unicode symbols in the omnibox), but I'm yet to see how well this holds up in production.
And I hope in even 20 years we still can't use emojis here, our language isn't so pitiful that we must regress to brightly coloured symbols.
Basically what you’re saying is that other people (including all major browsers) have solved the problem rather than spitting out the underlying punycode which is human-unreadable and is at the expense of domains in languages that don’t use the Latin alphabet.
I imagine this issue is easily solved by everyone else but it’s just kind of accepted on one of the most popular tech industry message boards run by one of the most successful incubators/investment firms of all time who certainly has the money to make the experience less ancient.
I actually don’t want emojis on here. I prefer the current “early 2000s” look. I don’t see it being a good thing for discussions if they are littered with emojis.
So when we all die and everyone on HN in the future grew up in a different era where all the symbols available on your keyboard are expected to be supported, will they want that early 2000s look where shit doesn’t work or is that just an arbitrary decision based on nothing?
Is YC a nostalgia-fueled organization or are they supposed to be investing in new technology?
