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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?

#71

Dyson vacuum cleaners. I have never once wondered "how do I do this?" when using my Dyson. From cleaning, to extensions, switching modes, and just plain using the thing, every inch of these vacuums is designed to the utmost degree to make them not only super powerful suction machines but also trivially easy to use.

The 8-year-old Dyson DC-14 I have is still going strong, and I have an entire pack of Border Collies. It was absolutely worth what I paid for it.

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

#72
post #26

Apple MacBooks are the best laptops that I have ever used. Nothing comes close to them. Even my Surface. It's a great device (by far the best Windows laptop/convertible available), but it misses on some details (light bleed on the edges, kickstand doesn't align all the way)

The Metal Unibody Macbooks have been first in class since the first introduction in 2008. It's truly a remarkably designed machine.

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

#73
post #49
post #18

The Reddit app on IOS. Something has always bothered me about most of the apps on IOS but I couldn't put my finger on it until I started using the reddit app. The UX is so good that it makes everything else feel awkward. I think that everything else was actually awkward and that's what I didn't like. Cutco knives. All my life I've known what makes a good knife and that you should pay a lot. I think this is fine in th…

I dunno about the cutco thing. You could get a really nice chefs knife, paring knife, bread knife, boning knife, honing steel + a set of 5 steak knives + the best electric sharpener for less than the price of their small set ($682). I would say most people never bother to send in their knives for sharpening (or know/care that they're not sharp anymore), plus shipping knives is a pain and you are out those knives whil…

That's exactly what I mean. I've spent hundreds of dollars on "great" knives that I never bothered to send in for sharpening that I never use. The ones that I STILL DO NOT send in for sharpening and remain ultra sharp are the ones I use constantly.

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

#74

Aeron chair. Aeropress. EIZO monitors - http://www.eizo.com uTorrent, the older versions. Dead serious about uTorrent. One of the best designed and engineered pieces of software ever. Everything you need, where you expect it to be, doing exactly what it should be doing, and nothing more.

I haven't used bittorrent since about 2010. Would a 2006 era uTorrent client still be able to speak to today's network?

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

#75
post #63
post #18

The Reddit app on IOS. Something has always bothered me about most of the apps on IOS but I couldn't put my finger on it until I started using the reddit app. The UX is so good that it makes everything else feel awkward. I think that everything else was actually awkward and that's what I didn't like. Cutco knives. All my life I've known what makes a good knife and that you should pay a lot. I think this is fine in th…

I prefer Alien Blue to the new Reddit app. I hope I never end up losing it, since it's no longer on the app store.

I liked Alien Blue too, but the UX on the Reddit app really impresses me only in the context of most other apps being not so UX impressive.

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

#78
Seiko 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 developer I was a semi-pro musician and this is still the most fantastic instrument I've ever worked with. I've owned it 9 years now and it still feels brand new. Every mechanism on it was perfectly made. There's no unnecessary stiffness or play in any component.

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

#79
post #18

The Reddit app on IOS. Something has always bothered me about most of the apps on IOS but I couldn't put my finger on it until I started using the reddit app. The UX is so good that it makes everything else feel awkward. I think that everything else was actually awkward and that's what I didn't like. Cutco knives. All my life I've known what makes a good knife and that you should pay a lot. I think this is fine in th…

Cutco is crap. Part and parcel of using a knife is learning to sharpen one. Counter-example: Tojiro DP... Amazing knives for the price.

Again the reality, for me, is I don't take them in to be sharpened. One does not sharpen their own knives, one hones their own, and takes them to professionals to sharpen.
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