Pilot Hi-Tec C
PakBoat Canoes
Leica MP
Opinel No. 6
Lems Boulder Boots
MSR Wisperlite
Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
681–690 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#682Any Kindle model with e-ink. The utiluty and simplicity of design of these devices has enabled me to read almost every night before going to bed for the past 6ish years without loosing my place or holding the weight of a book (finally read War and Peace).
I do like Kindle Paperwhite after switching over, but I do think the Nook I used before was better designed in terms of the hand weight/feel, the tactile buttons to turn pages on the bezel. One hand operation was much better on the Nook, whereas with the Kindle, awkward hand positions are needed to touch the specific screen spots for backward page turn and menu.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#683It took me about a second to think of Dixon Ticonderoga pencils. These are the perfect nexus of good and cheap. These things have the critical features one looks for in a writing instrument, my favorite of which is that I can put it in my electric pencil sharpener and the lead never snaps just prior to the point at which it becomes sharp. And these guys finally figured out something useful to do with that pink, rubbe…
I've never seen someone that excited about pencils. Might this be satire? ;)
I've seen many people get this excited about pencils. Does anyone else remember Milton Friedman's extended love song to the invisible hand and the pencil?
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#684Nikon FE manual focus SLR. Every control a real photographer needs, nothing you don't. Tough—mine is 35+ years old and works as well as the day it left the factory. The match needle exposure meter is better than anything that came before or after. I love mine, even if shooting film is a pain in 2017.
I also think that the FE is great, but I think the K1000 is truly one of the best slr's ever made.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#685Bic Cristal Ballpoint pen. Blue.
Pilot Hi-Tec C's are better having used both.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#686Seiko 5 automatic watch - Simple, timeless, affordable. It's just a great watch and it always will be. rOtring 600 mechanical pencil - the feel of this pencil is unlike any other writing implement I've found. It's a legend. My new goal is to find a fountain pen that I can enjoy as much as I enjoy this. Though I fear that will be a notably more expensive purchase. Yamaha Custom Series Bb trumpet - before becoming a de…
Not to take away from the other fountain pen recommendations - but I always suggest people try out the Pilot Varsity. It's an inexpensive and disposable fountain pen with an incredible nib; good enough (and cheap enough) that there are a lot of videos out there about how to refill them.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#687Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#688The Trek 500.
It's a bicycle. It's a steel bicycle, which is out of favor these days, but Trek still makes a few each year. And they haven't really changed the design since it was introduced in the 80's. Why? Because it's the perfect bicycle.
At least, if you're doing a very particular thing. I rode one from the Oregon Coast to Long Island. It was an unsupported tour, so I had about 50 pounds of gear strapped to it the whole way. While my companions suffered various breakdowns and issues, the 500 was rock solid. It doesn't get fancy on components-- no disk breaks or electronic shifting. Everything on it can be easily repaired, removed, or replaced with your two hands and a compact multi-tool. The steel frame will stand up to any manner of abuse. Hearing about the whole tough-as-nails thing, you assume it won't be that pleasing to ride. You assume wrong.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#689Earlier quoted context omitted.
Completely agree! The funny thing is the first thing I thought of was an old microwave I owned with a similar setup mainly because the microwave I own, today, is so awful [0]. I have a GE combination convection oven/microwave and it was clearly designed by someone who had their first experience with LSD that day. Every function requires a different, magic, set of key combinations to make it work. Want to set a timer?…
Holy christ. Horrifying. I can't understand how microwaves are all so bad. Where are the good ones? Isn't it less work to make a simpler (better) interface than the baroque ones we end up with?
The sharp r-9xx series still have dial knobs for power and time, as well as all the fancy features. Easy stuff is simple, complex is possible. They cook evenly and last for ages.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#690Earlier quoted context omitted.
Completely agree! The funny thing is the first thing I thought of was an old microwave I owned with a similar setup mainly because the microwave I own, today, is so awful [0]. I have a GE combination convection oven/microwave and it was clearly designed by someone who had their first experience with LSD that day. Every function requires a different, magic, set of key combinations to make it work. Want to set a timer?…
The Sharp designers of my microwave [0] couldn't even design the clock to keep accurate time. The built-in clock is fast. It will gain about 3 minutes per week. I'm honestly not sure how they managed to screw that up. 32.768kHz crystal was too expensive? Or just too incompetent to keep track of time correctly? [0] https://www.amazon.de/Sharp-Mikrowelle-Grill-Kompakt-Mikrowe...
The worst part is you don't even need a crystal for that. Anything that's connected to line power has a built-in 60 Hz oscillator that is adjusted so that it will never gain or lose more than a few seconds...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_clock
My car's clock is also awful about this - it loses something like 3 minutes per month. But at least there you can blame it on the unknown and varying voltage that the battery and alternator provide...