I wouldn't describe the site so harshly, but a little bit of the human touch would make a big improvement.
Right now you have 40 or so links on the home page, each one leading to a sub-site with 50 sections or so, totaling ~300 links that look awfully machine-generated (scraped from RSS feeds?).
When browsing a magazine rack each cover is a little work of (usually bad) art. The title tags in an RSS feed are nothing like that -- maybe RSS feeds should be more magazine cover-like?
What do you think would help it look more legitimate? It seems to me like it would be hard to make a site like this - a collection of links - look otherwise while still keeping the simple, spare look.
It looks really spammy, which is surprising because the site was designed by Electric Pulp, which was recommended on this forum ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=134715 ).
I gave the site a whirl, but my main problem is that it just aggravates information overload. There are way too many headlines to scan through and most of them don't appeal to me.
I like the concept of an auto-generated RSS aggregator for the masses that can't create their own, but I think the user should have some input (i.e. ask them their preferences before-hand) in order to reduce the sheer number of articles on each page.
I think once Sea Dragon becomes a viable technology to use on sites, something like AllTop might be of great value if it could directly display the content (each page) in the listings.
I like the site. Requires no setup. No third-party tools to track feeds. Just go to the site, pick a topic and start browsing.
Sure, it's not something built for tech-saavy users who want to customize their own RSS feeds, but the majority of internet users don't fall into this category anyways.
There's been plenty of valid criticism directed at Guy here at news.yc (for example, he gives startup advice but hasn't had a successful startup of his own), but I really don't think he has a large ego. In fact, what I like most about his presentations, interviews, and moderatorships is that he's always poking fun at himself. He always mentions his stupid mistakes in a way that's funny and endearing.
I've also emailed him personally a couple times and he answered the email himself, which is not a characteristic of someone with a delusional sense of his own importance.
He's also quite up front about having no successful startup, at least in two interviews I've listened to (he brings it up without being asked directly).
A good idea: an index of RSS feeds cataloged by subject and selected by an editor with good taste. (The recommendation engines and delicious just can't substitute for an editor.)
Too bad this site isn't about RSS feeds and it isn't discerning enough.
