He could take into account the content of the comments on the poll, for one thing.
You're right that the results of the vote show a pretty clear 'winner'... I'm not sure that's the end of it, though.
If 1000 people wanted a specific feature in my app I would obviously take that seriously and consider it carefully. But it doesn't mean I have to do it, just that I should be paying attention.
I also think that the people who desperately want comment scores back are simply more vocal about it. I don't care all that much, and I don't remember if I voted in the poll or not (but I do remember seeing it on the frontpage). I think this should be taken into account, too. I'm sure 37signals gets thousands of emails asking them to add <pet feature>, and few asking them to leave that feature out. Just because your users want it doesn't mean you aren't still in charge.
You're right that the results of the vote show a pretty clear 'winner'... I'm not sure that's the end of it, though.
If 1000 people wanted a specific feature in my app I would obviously take that seriously and consider it carefully. But it doesn't mean I have to do it, just that I should be paying attention.
I also think that the people who desperately want comment scores back are simply more vocal about it. I don't care all that much, and I don't remember if I voted in the poll or not (but I do remember seeing it on the frontpage). I think this should be taken into account, too. I'm sure 37signals gets thousands of emails asking them to add <pet feature>, and few asking them to leave that feature out. Just because your users want it doesn't mean you aren't still in charge.