It didn't change the meaning, because everyone understood what he said. The human mind is amazing at that. If you're going to be pedantic, fine, but own up to it.
Loose means something totally different than lose. Personally, I read each as their (real) meanings and when they don't make sense I have to go back and reread the sentence.
Yes, I can figure it out, but it's no fun to have to work to read comments. May as well let commenters use 113t-speak if we don't care how hard the comment is to read.
If you're going to correct someone, you should make sure you are also correct. In addition, not using a capital letter makes it look a bit like txt speak and generally brings down the level of discource.
I haven't been on HN for as long as most folks here. What is the policy on grammar correction? I know personally I want to be corrected if I make an error, but I don't think everybody feels that way...
For single posts, I'd say resist the impulse; it adds noise to the discussion and rarely helps anything. If the error is repeated, then it may be more helpful to correct.
Some spelling/grammar corrections are irrelevant, abusive, and inflammatory while others are instructive, helpful, and interesting. This community (to me) is more about the "hey, did you know that it's 'capital' except for when you're talking about the building, then it's 'capitol'" than the "STFU stupid, u can't even spell right"
See: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling