# Immensely popular things that really are good **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885 "2013-04-16T22:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/1 "2013-04-16T22:31:30Z")
The Harry Potter books are good. They are surprisingly well written. Rowling definitely grows in confidence as an author as the books go on, the weakest is probably The Chamber of Secrets–it lacks the novelty of the first one and the dense plotting of the ones after, but they are all good reads. Angry Birds is a fun game. The characters are charming and it’s insanely additive and has that “Just one more turn–wait is it 3 am?” quality that all games shoot for but few succeed. What are some others? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/2 "2013-04-16T22:38:02Z")
Pizza. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/3 "2013-04-16T22:43:00Z")
The Fender Telecaster Apple iPod, iPads and Macs have done pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/4 "2013-04-16T22:43:01Z")
The Avengers movie. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/5 "2013-04-16T22:45:52Z")
Chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/6 "2013-04-16T23:03:15Z")
The Internet, and Cecil Adam’s _The Straight Dope_ are both mindbogglingly good. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/7 "2013-04-16T23:09:55Z")
Digital watches. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/8 "2013-04-16T23:25:14Z")
Maslow made a list of them. Seriously though, despite a few counterexamples (well, maybe more than a few), most really popular things are actually pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/9 "2013-04-17T01:05:27Z")
_Casablanca_ Beethoven Hamburgers ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/10 "2013-04-17T01:09:43Z")
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series is really amazingly good. And, sex. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/11 "2013-04-17T01:12:35Z")
Adele ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/12 "2013-04-17T01:21:04Z")
Pizza. Tolkien. The Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/13 "2013-04-17T01:24:59Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Adele Which surprised the shit outta me because my expectations regarding popular singers–_and their choice of material_–is pretty low. “Who is this? She’s pretty good.” “Adele.” “Really? Oh.” I’m normally that undemonstrative when I have the shit surprised out of me. It comes from having demons for brothers and a devil for a wife. You just can’t show weakness in front of them. That, and I’m a Gemini. We’re hard to surprise. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/14 "2013-04-17T01:37:10Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > The Avengers movie. This. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/15 "2013-04-17T02:16:15Z")
Yosemite (or insert name of your favorite National Park) ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/16 "2013-04-17T02:19:48Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The Harry Potter books are good. They are surprisingly well written. Rowling definitely grows in confidence as an author as the books go on, the weakest is probably The Chamber of Secrets–it lacks the novelty of the first one and the dense plotting of the ones after, but they are all good reads. They are shoddy at worst and workmanlike at best. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/17 "2013-04-17T02:24:42Z")
> [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > They are shoddy at worst and workmanlike at best. So here’s a fun idea: why don’t you tell us what _you_ think is good instead of crapping on something that others like? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/18 "2013-04-17T03:23:39Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > So here’s a fun idea: why don’t you tell us what _you_ think is good instead of crapping on something that others like? +1 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/19 "2013-04-17T03:25:22Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > So here’s a fun idea: why don’t you tell us what _you_ think is good instead of crapping on something that others like? I think this post deserves to be immensely popular. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885/20 "2013-04-17T03:46:18Z")
Not just the Harry Potter books (which got my non-reading kid to finally curl up with a big hardcover book), but the movies. I was _so_ sure they were going to suck. But when I gave them a chance I sighed in relief. The casting was wonderful: Harry, Ron and Hagrid, just like I’d pictured them in my mind (Hermione and Malfoy both a little prettier, but excellent). > [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > They are shoddy at worst and workmanlike at best. Wow – we just had to deal with that crappy attitude for a few seconds. _ **Beastly** _ has to live with that bitterness all day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immensely-popular-things-that-really-are-good/655885.md?page=2)