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Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

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Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#281

Post by josephpmay »

The Juul

I don't smoke, but this is literally one of the best designed gadgets I've ever seen. It's beautiful, smaller than a cigarette, self-explanatory to use, holds a full day's worth of battery, and charges quickly. Instead of using e-juice, Pax developed nicotine salt cartridges for it, making it both simpler and hit much more like a cigarette than other vapes. I know multiple people who've instantly quit smoking cold-turkey after getting a Juul.

Others: Apple headphones with W1 Bluetooth chips (AirPods, Beats X, and Beats Studio 3), Teenage engineering OP-1, Palm WebOS

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#282

Post by kagamine »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #250
kagamine wrote: post #239

Land Rover Series I, II & III. Much like a Jeep, original Willys and CJ, the roof comes off, the panels come off, the body is aluminium, the engine and electrics are simple enough for most people to fix. Most of what can be mechanical like the fuel pump is mechanical, not electric. They are high enough up off the ground that they can be serviced without a jack, for oil and anti-freeze etc. Truly a utility vehicle.

>Most of what can be mechanical like the fuel pump is mechanical, not electric. At least the British engineers aren't in denial about British automotive electronics. >They are high enough up off the ground that they can be serviced without a jack Which is a good thing based on the reputation LR has gone out of it's way to build for itself over the last half century.

Land Rover owners like to joke about how awful they are, I think it's also a British sense of humour thing. LRs haven't been any worse than any other car I have owned. The series 3 ended production in 1985, the reputation of LR being of poor quality or hard to fix came after modernization of the vehicles into consumer and mainstream markets. Series vehicles are bulletproof, sometimes quite literally (https://www.google.no/search?q=armoured+land+rover&tbm=isch&...)

They were good enough for many of the world's armed forces for over 50 years!

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#283

Post by gravelc »

My Seiko SARY57 mechanical (automatic) watch.

Beautifully made, looks great, does what it's supposed to do, not too expensive. Simply can't ask for more design-wise in my opinion.

https://www.amazon.com/PRESAGE-mechanical-self-winding-windi...

Kindle Paperwhite probably comes a close 2nd.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#284

Post by beernutz »

gravlaks wrote: post #194

Norton Commander back in the DOS days. It was soo fast to use. Which is why I use Total Commander today.

I'll add a +1 to Total Commander. That tool along with several others REALLY make a large difference in day-to-day computer work.

I'll add these to the list:

* Clipmate. The BEST clipboard database.

* Evernote.

* AutoHotkey. Seriously, play with this a bit and you will see uses all OVER The place.

* Midnight Commander for Linux installs. Makes it a LOT harder to shoot yourself in the foot as well.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#285

Post by tvmalsv »

nodesocket wrote: post #89

My Altec Lansing ACS48 computer speakers. I paid $299 for them in 1999 and to this day they still work flawlessly and beat most every other computer speaker. Audiophiles swear by them, and still buy them in bulk when they can find them. Here's the Amazon reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Altec-Lansing-ACS48-Computer-Speakers...

The good ol' days :) My home desktop is using a Boston Accoustics 2.1 (BA790) that I bought in 1996 as an "open box" item from Best Buy, and they still sound great. I even had a family member buy me a 6.1 (Logitech) system over 10 years ago as a Christmas gift and it's still sitting in the box. I feel a little guilty about not using it, but I really like the sound of my old BAs. At least I know I have a spare system if I need one.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#286

Post by paganel »

boulos wrote: post #29

The Lido 2 Coffee Grinder: http://www.oehandgrinders.com/OE-LIDO-2-Manual-Coffee-Grinde... Heath Coffee Mugs Trains in Switzerland (including the great app!) Hosu (chair) Cutipl (silverware) Emile Henry Flameware (Dutch Oven) Mountain Collective Ski Pass Black Diamond Hiking Poles

> Trains in Switzerland (including the great app!)

For any train lovers out-there I'd heartily recommend visiting Switzerland just for that. Yes, the country is quite expensive to visit (I paid almost 20 euros for a pizza at a so-and-so restaurant in Geneva), but if you're into trains you won't be disappointed.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#287

Post by grandalf »

- My cast iron skillet. It's indestructible and once I learned to season it and cook with it, I prefer it over any other.

- 15" Macbook Pro w/ Retina display, iPhone 7

- BNC connectors

- The Xtrend Professional Rabbit Wine Opener. (Super cheap on Amazon and it has an incredibly well-designed mechanism)

- The Mezlan Cordoba men's shoe -- high quality, no break-in needed, durable, fashionable.

- Crocs -- indestructible, comfy.

- Joybird furniture (good prices, high quality)

- Liberté yogurt. Incredible texture.

- The Uber app (I think that amid the weird culture at least one person there really understands mobile UX)

- HN -- the only place where I look forward to reading the comments more than the articles.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#288

Post by leonroy »

* Blendtec Blender - blew my first pay cheque on one nearly 10 years ago and it still looks and works good as new. Absolutely superb design and construction.

* AGA Oven - I don't own one, but my parents do and growing up this thing was just incredible. Still looks and works like new. I honestly have never used an oven which looks and cooks so damn good.

* Apple (Unibody) Macbook Pro - Despite my present feelings towards Apple right now cough Mac Pro cough. I can't really say enough good things about the unibody Macbooks - no other laptop surpasses it and it's been nearly 8 years since Apple's unibody construction was introduced.

* Devialet Phantom speaker - it's an engineering marvel - nothing like it.

* HP Proliant Servers - despite HP's awful website and support policies their Proliant range are the most well designed, well thought out servers I've ever used.

* And this garlic press - can't recommend it enough :) http://www.kuhnrikonshop.com/product/epicurean-garlic-press

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#289

Post by leonroy »

grandalf wrote: post #287

- My cast iron skillet. It's indestructible and once I learned to season it and cook with it, I prefer it over any other. - 15" Macbook Pro w/ Retina display, iPhone 7 - BNC connectors - The Xtrend Professional Rabbit Wine Opener. (Super cheap on Amazon and it has an incredibly well-designed mechanism) - The Mezlan Cordoba men's shoe -- high quality, no break-in needed, durable, fashionable. - Crocs -- indestructible…

> - The Uber app

Yes! Fast, intuitive, responsive and rock solid. Uber might be a very, very sketchy company but man have they engineered and designed a great UX - I can't think of any other iPhone app with the same level of 'fit for purpose' as Uber's app.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#290

Post by cJ0th »

bambax wrote: post #274
gravlaks wrote: post #194

Norton Commander back in the DOS days. It was soo fast to use. Which is why I use Total Commander today.

I miss Norton Commander!

Have you already checked out Midnight Commander? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Commander
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