As a user, I will absolutely say I love AMP. AMP pages load incredibly fast with much less bullshit.
The real problem is that AMP isn't necessary. Google created AMP and is encouraging (nearly forcing it) it in a very hamfisted way because web developers couldn't figure out how to make responsive, fast-loading web pages without a huge company like Google spelling it out for them with a framework.
Now, obviously to power users like the typical HN user, AMP is evil because it's just Google taking over more of the web.
But understand that to your typical mobile user, AMP is a godsend because of how fast it is. They don't care that the URL shows Google instead of whatever page they think they're on.
I am also a user who loves AMP, the same way I loved RSS. The reason I love AMP is one of the same reasons I loved RSS. RSS aggregators allowed instant loading of content across multiple sites. AMP enables the same thing but with a richer experience. It doesn't simply spell out how to make web pages fast. It makes them instant, which is impossible without something like AMP or RSS that allows safe prerendering with publisher opt in.
Often, it's not the developers that are at fault. Middle managers, cross-functional people, etc. ask developers to cram garbage into otherwise would-be lean pages. Developers often have no authority to push back, and stakeholders often don't fully understand "why" the garbage they're asking developers to insert into pages is detrimental to the user experience.
With AMP, the little badge (the verification), serves as a constraint for developers, but mostly for business stakeholders. The conversation of "I can't do that, because it's simply not compatible with AMP" is way easier than "I can't do that, because it will make the page slow".
As a user, I will absolutely say I love AMP. AMP pages load incredibly fast with much less bullshit.
The real problem is that AMP isn't necessary. Google created AMP and is encouraging (nearly forcing it) it in a very hamfisted way because web developers couldn't figure out how to make responsive, fast-loading web pages without a huge company like Google spelling it out for them with a framework.
Now, obviously to power users like the typical HN user, AMP is evil because it's just Google taking over more of the web.
But understand that to your typical mobile user, AMP is a godsend because of how fast it is. They don't care that the URL shows Google instead of whatever page they think they're on.