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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?

#711

Post by Demcox »

kortilla wrote: post #562
carlgreene wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, unfortunately however I've recently developed worsening tinnitus that I've attributed to them. There appear to be several others who have a similar experience[0]. I've stopped using them in favor of my over-ear VModas the past couple weeks and my tinnitus is significantly better. I rarely listen to music loud and the volume only seldom goes over 50% so I'm having a hard time attributing it to excess listenin…

I’m curious, did the amount of time you used go up significantly with the airpod pros? I enjoy mine so much I use them for multiple hours every day, which is quite a shift in usage compared to the other awful earbuds I would use before.

Yes, most definitely hence why I also began to wonder, if the increased usage time may come with caveats.

This is just a thought, but I pondered that the noice-cancelling is further worsening ear health. I'd argue that AirPodsPro NC causes this because it feeds additional sound in (ie. cancelling) which takes an extra toll on your hearing. Again, just a thought. I have no science to back this up.

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

#712

Post by IgorPartola »

A peg board for organizing tools.

Fiskars splitting axe. Estwing hatchet (the leather handled one). Kershaw knives. Victorinox knives.

First generation Honda Rebel: this bike is two bolts and a nut so super easy to work on, reliable, and gets amazing gas mileage.

Molle style backpack as a diaper bag.

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

#713

Post by pmyteh »

joconde wrote: post #527
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…

It's well-designed as a means of exchanging viruses with all the other users. At least its purpose is clear, so I can avoid it when I see it.

They're traditionally made of brass, which is naturally anti-microbial (the copper, specifically). Not clinically secure, of course, but far better than nothing.

You can push them with a covered elbow as well, of course.

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

#714

Post by ronyfadel »

• The Fellow Carter mug [1]

• Amazon Kindle PaperWhite

• Chrome Industries backpack [2]

• A.P.C. denim jeans [3]

• Stan Smith sneakers

• My Nexstand laptop stand

• Surprisingly, these cheap Theragun knock-offs you can get on Amazon for a fifth of the price.

[1] https://fellowproducts.com/products/carter-everywhere-mug

[2] https://www.chromeindustries.com/

[3] https://www.apcstore.com/petit-new-standard-iai-codbs-m09047...

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

#715

Post by madengr »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #416
madengr wrote: post #14

HP 8566B spectrum analyzer and 8510C network analyzer. HP RPN calculators. Really any late 80’s and early 90’s HP test equipment. Built like tanks and designed by engineers for engineers.

+1, I was tempted to cite the 8566B myself. I know a couple of the guys who worked on that. The in-house code name was "Doomsday." It pretty much was, for the competition.

We probably had 10+ 8566A/B at work, and the CRT power supply is the only failure (slow degradation) I have seen.

I have one at home and I’ll likely get the LCD retrofit kit.

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

#716

Post by jessriedel »

ozzythecat wrote: post #232
jessriedel wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Useful observations, but is this really a comment on design? The key feature, a robust connection, is just software/firmware quality.

I don’t quite understand this comment. As a customer, I don’t care what a firmware is or if it’s the best software or if it runs in Azure or iCloud. To me, it just works. I don’t care how. The fact that it works way better than competitor products I tried over the years is enough to say it’s well defined. The key is a frictionless experience.

The topic of discussion isn't product performance, it's design. If a certain car model has a high top speed, this may be suggestive evidence that the engine is well designed, but the top speed itself is not considered an example good design. So it would be fine if we had something to say about the design of the Apple software that produced the reliable Bluetooth connection, but just the fact that something doesn't break isn't good design.

That's my understanding anyway.

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

#717

Post by an_ko »

milesvp wrote: post #708
TomGullen wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

In the US this is a fire code issue. Doors need to swing inward to avoid people getting trapped inside from outside obstructions. edit: I seem to be misinformed about firecode. I may also be over extrapolating from what I know about bedroom doors as well. The general idea of obstruction is more valid there. It seems the more common reason bathrooms would not be allowed to swing outward is obstructing the minimum widt…

Huh. In Finland, fire code requires that external doors swing outward. It's intended to make it faster to exit the building since you can just walk forward, and to prevent people getting trapped indoors if a panicked crowd tries to push out through the door.

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

#718

Post by theragra »

bobcostas55 wrote: post #678
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…

The kindle hardware is excellent, but the kindle software is one of the worst pieces of garbage ever. Just filled from top to bottom with utterly deranged behaviors.

The thing that drives me crazy is that when you select word to translate, it includes commas and points. Then, dictionary can't translate!!! This is such a basic issue and still exists for years. Ppl from Amazon, I pray to you to fix this

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

#719

Post by sprucevoid »

palijer wrote: post #362

https://www.mcmaster.com/ Fast, snappy, responsive. No banners or cookie prompts, doesn't ask my to sign up for a newsletter or an account to continue and see more selection, it doesn't load in megabytes of JavaScript to show me products. Plus, responsive as all heck, and there isn't any bullshit prompts like "click here to see our selected offerings" or "check out our value products here" Like, from. The short url,…

Bonus: Useful as a visual dictionary for us non-native english speakers.

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

#720

Post by MrDresden »

codingclaws wrote: post #679
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…

What setup do you use for new Android apps? I dabbled in building an Android app months ago and sort of gave up because I couldn't decide on the best "framework".

I do native (Java/Kotlin) and Flutter development, for 10 and 2 years respectively. Just this year moving into the Jetpack Compose territory, and enjoying it immensly.

Regarding the question about what you should choose, well that really depends on the problem space and the end goal you have in mind.

If the application is generic, will not really leverage platform specific capabilities and will be made for both Android & iOS I'd say go for Flutter. Here I mean that specific sensors and OS capabilities will not be used, as well as sharing of code for different platforms such as TV, car and wearables.

If the application is ever going to be Android only, I'd say go for the native UI toolchain, which would be Jetpack Compose. The ramp up from 0 to 100 is quick given how much good material is out there to get started (for instance go to and use the Android/Kotlin community slack channels). This route would require you to use Kotlin.

Skip looking into the old view system. Any relevant information from that space will come in time, and the rest wont be relevant anymore.

If you want to create a code base that can be leveraged with web, then go for some of the JS frameworks.

If you do have some piece of framework in mind you want to learn, then use that.

It all depends. Just keep Voltaire's words in mind:

"..best is the enemy of the good"

edit; formatting

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