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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?

#661

Post by jasonvorhe »

Google Inbox: The perfect modern frontend for mail. RIP.

Sonos Playbar (got the Arc for free, sold the Playbar): Perfect sound, a timeless design, software was dope around 2015-2016. All downhill from there, when Sonos decided to pivot to supporting Alexa/Google Assistant and attempting to become smarter.

Google Pixelbook: Super thin, light weight, super clean Linux system with first class support for Progressive Web Apps, Android and Linux apps. Chrome OS features the simplest software update process I've seen in action so far. The design is unique, the keyboard was perfect when right when Apple decided to ship shitty butterfly keyboards. 7 years of software updates.

Rancilio Silvia: Budget Espresso maker that's close to indestructible. Everything can be serviced, replaced, upgraded, there's no shortage of replacement parts, the Espresso is great once you know how to use it.

Aeropress: Simple to use, fits well into almost all travel luggage, and produces great coffee with little effort.

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

#663

Post by e12e »

indrora wrote: post #564

Four things come to mind: * The AK-47. Love or hate guns, the AK was designed with tolerances that encouraged simultaneously good maintenance patterns and using it as a gorram hammer if the need came to it. * Nalgene bottles. Impact resistant, infinitely screen printable, polycarbonate body, cheap and everything you could want. * The venerable aluminum drinks can: The sheer amount of engineering that has gone into ma…

I can recommend Kalashnikov's autobiography - a short and interesting read:

Mikhail Kalashnikov - The Gun that Changed the World

https://www.amazon.com/Gun-that-Changed-World/dp/0745636926

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

#664

Post by fm77 »

mikewarot wrote: post #81

Turbo Pascal 7, then Borland Delphi 5 were the most productive programming environments ever. Very few bugs, wicked fast, and full proper documentation. Nothing since comes even close.

…in terms of software, yes, Turbo Pascal is - at least for me - one of the finest software ever created… 20 years ago I reverse engineered the command line compiler BPC.EXE, 80kB of code, 40kB data, absolutely mindblowing whats in there. A masterpiece of software which should be open sourced (never going to happen…) Anyway, thank you Mr. Anders Hejlsberg for Turbo Pascal!

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

#665

Post by egwor »

scandox wrote: post #651

A garlic press. It's the only thing I ever asked my parents for that they owned. They had it since the 70s. The reason I know it's great is because all the others I've ever used are inferior. This one is in two distinct pieces which you place together to work. The metal is kind of grey and dull but it's incredibly strong. It's easy to clean. Indestructible. Powerful.

Easy to clean is so important. My parents’ garlic press is far superior to the one we have

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

#666

Post by MichaelMoser123 »

indrora wrote: post #564

Four things come to mind: * The AK-47. Love or hate guns, the AK was designed with tolerances that encouraged simultaneously good maintenance patterns and using it as a gorram hammer if the need came to it. * Nalgene bottles. Impact resistant, infinitely screen printable, polycarbonate body, cheap and everything you could want. * The venerable aluminum drinks can: The sheer amount of engineering that has gone into ma…

i don't think that the AK-47 was optimized for accuracy. Also there is an upgrade, the AK-74 (almost fifty years old now, OMG)

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

#667

Post by muzani »

MrDresden wrote: post #649

I have no one thing (these are the things that pop into my mind, all within their own category/niche); * My Hilleberg Akto single person hiking tent scores very highly. It is designed for lightness, durability and simplicity when setting up. It can better be set up/torn down by one person in a storm than most other tents I've owned. * My Leatherman multitool has been with me for years in some fairly bad conditions. I…

I agree on kotlin. It's probably the only language where I feel like the code is practically pseudocode.

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

#668

Post by marbletiles »

TomGullen wrote: post #660
toomanyrichies wrote: post #155

One example of quality design which I gleaned from reading Don Norman's "The Design Of Everyday Things" is the metal plate I've frequently seen on doors which are meant to be pushed. The only affordance of such a plate is its push-ability, and the fact that someone actively installed a metal plate (instead of just relying on the door's natural flatness), as well as its location at the point of maximum leverage (all t…

Here in the UK a lot of bathrooms in pubs and other places have push to get in, and handles to get out. Never understood that, I'd like to push to get out once I've washed my hands!

Those doors are often on corridors. You don’t want them unexpectedly opening at speed into passing non-bathroom traffic. Conversely, people approaching the door from the inside will be further away as they have their hand out in readiness to pull, will expect the door to open — it’s generally lower risk.

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

#670

Post by aqme28 »

TomGullen wrote: post #660
toomanyrichies wrote: post #155

One example of quality design which I gleaned from reading Don Norman's "The Design Of Everyday Things" is the metal plate I've frequently seen on doors which are meant to be pushed. The only affordance of such a plate is its push-ability, and the fact that someone actively installed a metal plate (instead of just relying on the door's natural flatness), as well as its location at the point of maximum leverage (all t…

Here in the UK a lot of bathrooms in pubs and other places have push to get in, and handles to get out. Never understood that, I'd like to push to get out once I've washed my hands!

Usually that's because the door is in the hallway and you don't want doors swinging out unexpectedly into people walking through a trafficked area.
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