I don't understand why this is getting so much attention. From the description:
"[It] works by dynamically generating each frame of the GIF and slowly feeding them over the HTTP connection."
So there is nothing (AFAICT) new or interesting going on here. It's just an animation generated by the server in real time that happens to be formatted as a gif. It's no different from what many low-end web-enabled security cameras do.
No, low end security cameras send separate JPEG images (sometimes as a MJPEG stream), not GIF frames. GIF frames would be terrible for the cameras because of the limited colour palette.
OK, well, that's true. But is sending an animated gif instead of jpegs really that much of an innovation? If I did the same thing using, say, APNGs would HN go crazy over that?
"[It] works by dynamically generating each frame of the GIF and slowly feeding them over the HTTP connection."
So there is nothing (AFAICT) new or interesting going on here. It's just an animation generated by the server in real time that happens to be formatted as a gif. It's no different from what many low-end web-enabled security cameras do.