Ellie Russell

A while ago, I started a quick note titled "apps to check out." It has now grown into a massive list of around sixty items, and I have realistically tested maybe four of them.

It starts with good intentions you see an interesting launch, save the link so you do not lose focus during the day, and promise yourself you will test it over the weekend. Then the list just sits there accumulating dust while new tools keep getting added to the pile. At a certain point, it stops being a helpful reference and starts feeling like digital clutter you quietly ignore.

Is saving links like this an actual discovery process for you, or is it just another form of hoarding? If you actually clear out your list, how do you decide what is worth keeping?

i can never tell what is a genuine from a real user versus someone just hyping up their friend's project. Some discussion threads feel authentic, where people ask tough questions, offer genuine feedback, and point out potential issues. Other times, the whole section is just a wall of generic praise like "congrats on the launch" and "this looks incredible" without any real substance.
It makes it hard to gauge whether a tool is actually solid or if people are just being polite. I find myself ignoring most of the surface-level compliments and actively searching for the few comments that bring up actual use cases, flaws, or comparisons to existing tools.

How do you evaluate the feedback on a launch page? Do the comments ever actually change your mind about giving a product a shot, or do you ignore them entirely and just test things out yourself?

I scroll Product Hunt almost every morning and lately it feels like every single launch is another AI meeting recorder or second brain app. I have clicked on so many of these landing pages that they all blend together. Same pitch every time: record your calls, get automatic summaries, clean up your life.

Thing is, I do not actually know a single person in real life who uses one of these daily. I set up a few free accounts just to see what the big deal was, but I ended up with a bunch of long transcripts I never went back to look at. Maybe I am just missing something or my workflow does not really fit the format.