I never said that the above-the-fold findings aren't true in many cases. Never!

In fact, I know they are true... in many cases.

However, there are quite a few cases where they are not true at all. For example, direct-marketing type sales letters, which work just as well on the internet.

Which is, again, all I said. Nielsen acts as if everything he says is universally applicable, but there are quite a lot of counter-examples that also work exceedingly well. Ergo the findings are not universally applicable.

HN is supposed to be a bastion of scientific thought. What is it about my argument -- that he leaves out evidence -- that is so hard to understand?

The fact that your counterexample doesn't work- patio11 has shown that his direct-marketing type sales letter gets more conversions with each additional 'above the fold' actionable element.

It's also an unusual onus to expect him to update his past writings when future evidence that isn't his to display suggests anything other than what he has found.