Because the annotation is making it clear what exact part of the comment I'm referring with each part of my answer.

> Who is going to miss that context?

On hacker news? Anyone. Sometimes you blink and there are 200 different comments between the comment you responded to and your response. Often going into different tangential directions. People reading your comment have to trace subtle variations in padding to follow the thread of a conversation.

If you read HN with open eyes you can see confusion and misunderstanding caused by this every day.

> just say what you want to say

I do. Thank you. And I will say it how I want it.

> Writing more does not in itself make a comment more thoughtful!

Of course! You have to write the right words. What you are seeing in my comment is a one line opinion "Strong words. I don't think your comment supports them." surrounded by my analysis of why I think them. This way you can not only see how I come to this conclusion but also what information I considered.

If we were agreeing I could just write "yup". But because I disagree with the comment of geraneum, i better be precise what I'm disagreeing with and in which way. Exactly in the name of intellectual charity and curiosity.