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Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

#251

Post by akerro »

avar wrote: post #116

A few things: Everything not being 4:3 screens. I found it better for programming than everything being cinematic screens. Back when monitor manufacturers were racing to make better / higher resolution monitors, instead of just leaving it at 1080p / 4k / whatever the current standard good enough for movies is. The GMail interface before it started auto-converting the textarea to HTML when edited externally. Console g…

>Everything not being 4:3 screens. I found it better for programming than everything being cinematic screens.

This! I concentrate much better on old laptop with 4:3 screen. I have one single window open, no browser, not documentation, no chat windows, no email. The laptop wouldn't even handle all programs at the same time, 512MB of RAM.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

#252

Post by ZenoArrow »

anexprogrammer wrote: post #194
rcarmo wrote: post #177

The Psion Series 3 handhelds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_3 A (tiny, but) usable, physical keyboard on a device that lasted _ages_, fit into a suit pocket and was eminently practical. The age of the PDA is long gone (heck, I'm typing this on an iPad mini), but we still haven't caught up with some of its best bits.

Oh heck, you remind me of my psion 5. It was brilliant, and the tiny keyboard was good enough to touch type on. Battery life in weeks. Someone bung a modern screen on that form-factor please.

> "Someone bung a modern screen on that form-factor please."

You may be interested in following this project:

http://hackaday.com/2016/05/01/upgrading-a-20-year-old-pda/

Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

#253

Post by pmontra »

wmil wrote: post #24
davidw wrote: post #12

Open source guy: pretty much everything I was using in 1996 is still around, but better.

Clearly you weren't a Gnome 2 fan.

Ubuntu 16.04 with Gnome Flashback Compiz can be made to look almost indistinguishable from Ubuntu Gnome 10.04, desktop cube included. Very few tweaks are needed. The only missing parts are the File, Edit menus on some applications, most notably Nautilus (they're working on it) but I don't really use the Gnome applications, except Nautilus and the menus are not that useful (I setup my preferences in Unity and it remembers them). The Gnome default apps look like the vanilla featureless versions of what one actually needs. Only the general DE is good.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

#254

Post by jmiserez »

Grue3 wrote: post #151

Google Reader. There are no replacements that a) update fast enough, and b) allow search for free. I know, I tried all of them. Firefox had an amazing plugin called "Ubiquity", which was basically like command line for your browser and you could write custom scripts for it. It was seriously better than anything that exists today. They stopped developing it for some reason. Tab Groups is another feature that's now aba…

> Tab Groups

Still works, I use it on a daily basis. It's just an addon now. It will probably continue to work for a few years, they've been wanting to get rid of it since 2013 (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=836758) and it's still there.

But I'd be glad to hear of any alternatives!

Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

#257

Post by gcb0 »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #64
wmil wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly you weren't a Gnome 2 fan.

I used GNOME 1, then GNOME 2, then GNOME 3. I've enjoyed each, and I've enjoyed the improvements over time.

enjoyed gnome 3? either you waited several months with an outdated distro, or you never had to do basic things like shutdown/restart your computer, change volume, etc, etc... I know I waited months for those luxury. with the added insult of having contributed lots of accessibility code to gnome 2 settings that just got under the rug

Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

#258

Post by rcarmo »

jakobdabo wrote: post #247
rcarmo wrote: post #177

The Psion Series 3 handhelds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_3 A (tiny, but) usable, physical keyboard on a device that lasted _ages_, fit into a suit pocket and was eminently practical. The age of the PDA is long gone (heck, I'm typing this on an iPad mini), but we still haven't caught up with some of its best bits.

Try the Pyra mini computer. https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/

The Pyra looks like a shoebox - isn't there anything with a nicer form factor?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?

#259

Post by exDM69 »

For something completely different... a brace and bit hand drill for woodworking. It's almost impossible to find new drill bits that would fit the two jaw chuck, which doesn't have enough force to clamp on to a round bit with friction only.

A cordless drill is nice but not very accurate, useful for holes and screws, not for removing waste in joinery.

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