"Loux took the opportunity to introduce Echo - his new product that allows publishers to embed a simple JavaScript widget and aggregate social media and blog dialogue from across the web." - Gosh, I wonder if that was a a factor in declaring the death of comments...

The comment needs to die. Think about it - why should what you have to say become property of the publisher, to be abused/twisted/moderated?

I think this is hype. Comments occurs when you have community, and they area more valuable here than in Twitter/Facebook.

Also, it's very difficult to have a focused conversation on twitter.

"This means that all of the related posts from Twitter,....."

How does this work with all the url shortening services?

Uh oh!

I hope they don't find out about HN.....