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

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

#281

Post by Rebelgecko »

theduemmer wrote: post #91

McMaster-Carr has the best shopping website I've ever seen. The UI is beautifully intuitive; even if I don't know exactly what I need, odds are I can easily find something that will work and they can have it at my doorstep in under 24 hours, no matter how obscure. Even if I don't plan on buying anything, it can be helpful to click through the site just to see what is available. Because most categories of parts have s…

McMaster-Carr's website is great for finding items, but it's really irritating if you're just ordering one or two things and want to know what it'll actually cost. Unless it's changed in the last few years, they won't let you know the grand total until AFTER you place your order. Maybe it helps them simplify order fulfillment, but it's really annoying.

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

#283

Post by Aeolun »

I’m a great fan of my reMarkable 2.

I’m also a great fan of my (Japanese) unit bathroom control panels. I can set the shower and bath temperature to a specific number, automatically fill my bath to a specified level with the press of a button, have it keep the bath at temperature, let me know when it’s full when I’m in the living room.

It’s glorious. Every time I’m staying anywhere overseas I cannot believe I’m back to fiddling with a hot and cold tap again.

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

#285

Post by GhettoComputers »

langcalvin wrote: post #278

I'll go a game route: Mario Kart. It's just so perfect. All of them from the SNES to the Switch. I've played countless hours and never get bored. The level designs are all so interesting and unique I find myself discovering something new every time. It's social and I've seen it dominate dinner parties.

I disagree. You can game it by being last in place to get the best items, being first you’ll get nothing but bananas or a green shell.

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

#286

Post by mikeywazowski »

stephenfin wrote: post #222

I'm amazed no one has suggested Chromecast. It just works. Click a button on your phone or laptop and the video or song you were listening to or want to listen to suddenly appears on the TV. Even grandparents seem to get it. Maybe Apple TV is a similar experience but Chromecast is as good as it gets

I agree - I have a 1st gen Chromecast and it still works really well after quite a few years. It doesn't always play nice with my wife's iphone but considering how little it cost, I'm not complaining.

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

#287

Post by 3flp »

pg5 wrote: post #233
3flp wrote: post #218

The BMW G650GS was the best bike I've had. Almost zero maintenance. Reliable. Amazing fuel economy. Decent on road when sat down. No probs doing 600km days. Decent off-when road standing up. It could handle deep sand when fitted with good tires. Not very sexy looking, but the perfect jack of all trades. And, yes, master of none - which is why BMW could not market it much further, I think. Pity.

Based on their cars, I was surprised to see BMW in this thread.

Yeah, I think the 650GS was too good, in a way. So they cancelled it, and focused on marketing those over-engineered half-ton things that people get regularly stuck on, anywhere off-road.

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

#290

Post by brundolf »

I genuinely loved the second-generation Zune. The aluminum case felt lovely in the hand, it had swipe-based momentum scrolling before that was common (without even a touchscreen!). It had a matte paint on the front that felt almost like velvet, the buttons clicked nicely, the UI was both gorgeous and practical, the desktop software was the same (after the first couple revisions). I was really sad when mine got stolen from my dorm room a couple years after I got it, even though I had a smartphone by that point.

Bonus entry: the GameCube controller. With that huge, luscious analog stick and that huge, luscious A button. And the overall shape fit the hand really nicely too. For any game that didn't make prominent use of the secondary analog stick, I think it was and still is the best game controller out there.

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