Considering that pretty much every huge service goes into the direction of less control over time (Amazon, Netflix are other examples), I assume that for other people this has to somehow be great and actually increase their engagement. For me (and I assume many others on HN) it simply makes the experience worse and recommendations less relevant.
It is for me and, (again, my assumption) probably for most of HN. When I don't like stuff I'm just annoyed by it taking up space and if I somehow end up watching it, it's only for the few seconds it takes me to close it.
