This seems like a great way to request a new feature just because it gets you talking about it.
You are going to tell your team, friends, and other users this story. Just by telling them about this a-hole customer is immediately going to bring the feature into the conversation. What if everyone you told snaps back with 'Well, he may be a dick, but thats a great feature' or 'That feature sure is stupid!'. This feature request just got more attention than any of your previous users requests.
The best feedback I get is from my asshole customers. They are vocal and upset. Something didn't go their way and they are unhappy. If I can fix that I get more happy customers.
Also, my polite customers are generally too happy/polite. Its hard to get feedback when they love your product. They'll put in pretty good feature requests and talking to them is always easy. It makes me feel really good when people love my product, but its really hard for them to tell you how much feature xyz sucks. Generally, we have to look at the logs to see what people are using/not using when it comes to happy/fanboy customers.
Of course, it is not ok to act like a dickhead. Being well respected is usually the best way to get things done.
But the key is that they are your asshole customers.
It's one thing to say, "this app is not for me unless it has feature X." Or, "I just bought your app, but it kills me that I can't do X." It's entirely different to go pirate and use it anyway when feature X is lacking. I agree with the author that such a person is not worth pursuing as a customer.
The author of the original post here. I think in effect you're both right. As a result of HN picking this up I've received a few more feature requests and votes for route areas today, all of them thoroughly pleasant and supportive. And I noted them all, responded and appreciate them deeply. But it's the comment that sparked the blog post that I keep mentally coming back to, and by association that particular feature request.
Sadly it reminds me of the recent story about the guy selling eyewear online who loved the terrible comments he received on Get Satisfaction because they allegedly gamed his Google rank. I irks me to think that being a dick is an effective strategy in this way.
That said, you're absolutely right in that someone like this is not worth the effort as a customer per se, despite the validity of their request. The app is targeted to a fairly niche community and for the most part it's a pretty awesome community. I know with certainty that person is not representative and thus can be safely ignored.
You are going to tell your team, friends, and other users this story. Just by telling them about this a-hole customer is immediately going to bring the feature into the conversation. What if everyone you told snaps back with 'Well, he may be a dick, but thats a great feature' or 'That feature sure is stupid!'. This feature request just got more attention than any of your previous users requests.
The best feedback I get is from my asshole customers. They are vocal and upset. Something didn't go their way and they are unhappy. If I can fix that I get more happy customers.
Also, my polite customers are generally too happy/polite. Its hard to get feedback when they love your product. They'll put in pretty good feature requests and talking to them is always easy. It makes me feel really good when people love my product, but its really hard for them to tell you how much feature xyz sucks. Generally, we have to look at the logs to see what people are using/not using when it comes to happy/fanboy customers.
Of course, it is not ok to act like a dickhead. Being well respected is usually the best way to get things done.