Muji kitchenware. Their bowls, spoons, forks. High quality steel, beautiful dull-silver finish, even and smooth corners, no unnecessary crevices or embellishments. Just perfect. The off-white ceramic bowls, whew.
Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
921–930 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#922Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Ticonderoga is a wonderful workhorse of wood cased pencils. As you've pointed out their lead is sturdy and their price is almost unbeatable for the performance. Possibly the only downside is they're no longer made in the USA and I feel like their overall quality has suffered since the move to China and Mexico. If you're willing to explore pricier options there are so many excellent wood case pencils to be had! Th…
I've struggled with sharpening pencils. I enjoy a good pencil - but I've never found a sharpener that works consistently. Any advice?
Carl Pencil Sharpener CC-2000 Red Angel-5 Premium. Made in Japan.
Lasts for years. Never broke a lead.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#923Plus you can carry a few spares to drop on someone with brown skin, and presto , they're a bomb maker!
Please don't post pure inflammation like this. Civil discussion is no more resilient against incendiary devices than people. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13685523 and marked it off-topic.
I think the poster is referencing this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seton_Hall_reports#Detainees.2...
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#924MSR WhisperLite International Backpacking Stove. It supports a wide variety of liquid fuel. With this stove, I don't have to buy vendor-specific gas canisters. White gas works great with it. The stove folds down to a compact form. It is easy to use. https://www.rei.com/product/830341/msr-whisperlite-internati...
Used one for years; still have it. It does boil water fast. It also used to produce quite a bit of black soot in whispy sheets (containing some carbon nanotubes ?). Maybe it needed a 'tuneup'.
contact MSR.. they're customer service oriented and no doubt will take care of you
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#925Vitamix Blender - The power of a lawnmower, easy to use, easy to clean, 5 year warranty. It's a power-tool.
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#926Sega Genesis/Mega Drive as a kid. I mean that console looks great even by today’s standards :)
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#927I always loved the Apple G3 Powerbook for it's design. It has the silhouette of womens hips and is a piece of simplistic beauty. Also loved the two shades of spy-black they used for the body :-)
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#928spoons are pretty well designed
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#929Any coffee addict like me knows that some methods of brewing are impossible before you've had a cup. The AeroPress understands this and is really simple to use, and makes amazing coffee. Everyone in my family has one and some other method as well, like a Mokapot or French press, but for the first cup in the morning it's Aeropress every time. I also love Papermate Sharpwriter pencils. They feel so comfortable to hold,…
I like the Aeropress, but my favourite coffee production method is the Kalita Wave. Again, it's beautifully designed - almost impossible to damage, very simple to use, comparatively quick (about a minute longer than an Aeropress for one or two large mugs of coffee), arguably even easier to clean than the Aeropress (invert over bin. Done.). The pouring jug's great, too: tough, well labeled, fits perfectly, easy to sto…
Even better than that in my opinion is the snowpeak collapsible pour over [0]. It's metal, sturdy and packable. I bring it in my carry on on all trips I go on plus backpacking. Pair with a hand grinder and you're set.
0: https://snowpeak.com/collections/gifts-under-100-dollars/pro...
Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?
#930Any pre-Fiorina HP Laser Printer.
LaserJet III was the peak, I worked for a company that sold a ton of them and everything after that had much higher failure rates.
In-office, the II seemed like a battleship.
I bought a 6MP second-hand at a university IT sale and that thing kept trucking for _years_ afterward. I'd still have it now if I hadn't moved countries.