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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?

#901

Post by fergie »

ak217 wrote: post #707
rorykoehler wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From mass market brand road bikes I'm quite partial to Giant. I just bought a Defy Advanced 2. Truly an excellently designed and engineered machine. From custom builders my bros Black Sheep Bikes Road Rage Downhill custom was and is the best bicycle I've ever had the pleasure of riding. Link for the curious: http://www.spoke.ie/2011/10/red-bull-road-rage-janos-kohler-...

I'd say the real key to bicycle ergonomics is the iterative work that Shimano and its competitors have put into the groupsets. Most people don't realize the amount of ergonomic improvement that hyperglide cassettes/chains, better indexed shifters, and better brakes have brought to their bicycles.

Hyperglide was such a massive step forward when it first came out.

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

#902

Post by asafira »

whitepoplar wrote: post #726

Textmate 2 - It's such a well-engineered piece of software, and it's gorgeous. Bialetti Brikka - Such an elegant design, and it makes delicious coffee, Italian-style. Nespresso - If Apple made espresso machines. The espresso tastes great and it's easy to clean. Patagonia MLC 45L - My pet peeve with luggage is that the good stuff tends to be heavy. Not this! It's big enough for extended travel, has backpack straps if…

I would almost agree with Charles Schwab. I really think they are likely the best option in most cases

..That extra almost comes from their revamps of their Android app over the years. The new UI's just don't see much consistency, and the UX for cashing a check is especially weird and unintuitive. Why do I have to select an account if literally only one account has checking cashing enabled? Why is the whole UI otherwise unresponsive unless you click the doesnt-look-like-a-button "account" box? Weird.

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

#903

Post by wyclif »

pidg wrote: post #483
taneq wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My old Snow Leopard MBP was pretty much perfect in its day. It's long in tooth now but with a new battery and an SSD upgrade would still be well and truly usable as a general web-and-email machine.

I upgraded everything in my Snow Leopard-era 13" MBP and it was still running fine until I stupidly spilled water on it last month. Now replaced by a 2015 13" MBP, which feels almost identical (although that Retina screen is goooood... as is the HDMI port). And I can still sell most of the 2011 MBP parts on eBay to get some of my investment back!

I still have my white 13" MacBook with Snow Leopard. Using it is a bit nostalgic: remember when Apple made a super stable OS that optimized for getting actual work done? I don't remember it ever crashing, not even once!

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

#904

Post by dredmorbius »

broswell wrote: post #2

Linotype Line Casting Machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine

I just ran across a video on how those work (through the History of Information website -- a dangerous timesink but an absolutely fascinating site).

The flow of matrices, keyboard, roman and italic typefaces, justification, casting, and return mechanism for the matrices (keyed by teeth) is absolutely fascinating. A study in mechanical logic.

Even the automated linotype -- via punched tape -- was only a bolted-on (literally) extension of the original.

Here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6wHiddZOfa8

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

#905

Post by rdnetto »

pmarreck wrote: post #865

It's a bit on the expensive side but this toaster is possibly the last one you will ever buy: https://smile.amazon.com/Breville-BTA830XL-Die-Cast-4-Slice-... I mean... it has a button called "A Bit More" and another one called "Lift And Look", which do exactly what you think they would. It's fucking fantastic. Honorable mentions: Eddie Bauer Boxer Briefs, the most comfortable underwear a man could get, while still lo…

I have the same toaster and it is awesome. My favourite feature is that its Frozen button works perfectly, which is great if you don't have bread that often.

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

#906

Post by guftagu »

dcw303 wrote: post #209

The Casio F-91W Digital wrist watch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W Keeps better time than a Rolex, and is a fraction of the price. Waterproof. Has an alarm, stopwatch, and timer; all things missing from traditional wind ups. Interface is easy to use and discover. The battery last almost forever. Now, if you're asking if it's aesthetically pleasing, that's a different story. But we were talking about design…

The best thing about the watch is the weight and small footprint. I can just strap it on and just forget about it. I have been wearing mine for 2 months now almost continuously.

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

#907

Post by BuckRogers »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #788

Any cast iron piece of cookware. They're non-stick. They're durable. They will outlast your grandchildren if you take good care of them. Any gooseneck kettle. The water flows from the bottom of the kettle so you're assured a steady stream of water. Zojurushi electric grills. I've owned several of them. I usually buy one and then give it away when I move. They have all performed perfectly, and every single one is stil…

I would love to hear more about the SR-80s. I'm a Koss guy, love the 60ohm sets (PortaPro) and always been Grado curious but heard they don't have a lot of bass and very bright. $100 is about my limit for headphones (no amplifier will be purchased). Headphones have to be one of the most difficult things to purchase, and I've been burned enough that I keep coming back to my Koss.

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

#908

Post by antirez »

lobster_johnson wrote: post #861
antirez wrote: post #462

The iRobot Roomba is one of the best electronic devices I own. The durability is simply impressive, only the battery breaks eventually since well, there is no escape for this. Even without using crazy AI, it kinda works well, and is one thing that when released looked pretty revolutionary but is actually useful instead of being just a fake induced need.

Based on the horrifying amount of crap it's able to suck up, a Roomba is absolutely worth it. But I wish they would solve the problem where it gets stuck in seemingly trivial places: I often find mine on top of the base of a floor lamp, or on the gap between a rug and a wall, or, most bizarrely, exactly in the middle of my Steelcase Leap office chair's four wheely legs, which has the exact diameter of a Roomba. It al…

I've the feeling that now that computer vision works well enough and with affordable enough GPUs to put into appliances, the next generation of Roomba could improve on that tenfolds... Let's see if there is a new release coming :-)

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

#910

Post by BuckRogers »

1. Apple iPhone 4 and newer (hardware & software)

2. Commodore 64 (greatest desktop PC design for many reasons from hardware, software and documentation)

3. Apple Macbook Pro 2016 and all unibody MBPs (hardware)

I also really like my Victorinox Waiter Swiss Army Knife. The corkscrew is better than on my Leatherman and I use these at least once a week as we take a bottle of wine out to dinner.

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