I miss MacDraw, and don't see it here. Visio or Gliffy.com is the closest I know of. Just an object level graphics tool, where items placed on the page are forever re-editable, groupable, and very easy to make flow charts, and application diagrams.
Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
591–600 of 891 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#592Earlier quoted context omitted.
Per-call billing sounds crazy - there should never have been a time in circuit switched or packet switched networks when that would have correctly captured costs.
I don't know about the OP's situation, but at one time most phone calls were completed by a human operator looking up circuit numbers and physically connecting the two customers using a patch cord. I suspect that under that model, the operator's time was the dominant cost involved in placing the call.
IIRC, the pricing model was something like this:
1) The customer paid a fixed monthly charge for having phone service at all. This covered the capital costs of the wiring to the customer's premises. 2) On top of that, the customer paid a per-call fee. This covered the cost of having a woman (usually) ask what number you wanted, locate the proper jack, and physically plug your circuit in to the circuit of the person you wanted to reach.
It's probably no coincidence that the local service operator was one of the first parts of the phone system to be automated away (nor is it surprising that phone companies continued the per-call charge long after its justification went away :-)).
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#593The Telephone with Dial Tone and associated Busy Signal. A busy signal meant nobody could contact me; Also, by either not answering the phone or by simply taking the receiver off the hook I controlled interruptions. And, nobody became concerned if they did not hear from me in an hour, 1/2 day, day or even week. And I had no concern if I did not hear from others either in that timeframe. So the "tool" to maintain priv…
I simply turn off my phone, though Airplane mode works too. In my experience, if you do it regularly people get used to it and stop fretting.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#594Flash.
No, really. JavaScript hasn't quite caught up to what was possible ten years ago.
I'm tire of waiting for browsers to agree on video formats and protocols.
Sometimes a benevolent dictator really is better.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#595I'm gonna echo on Winamp. Now a Linux user, I really miss a real good mp3 player. Winamp was light, aesthetic and very good on its design. One feature I still miss is the global hotkeys, you could map Ctrl+Shift+Z to go back one song, on any window you were (hence the 'global'). I used to map the Z-X-C-V-B (the default bindings for Previous/Play/Pause/Stop/Next) to the CTRL+Shift+$key binding, and I felt like a wizar…
On the same note, Foobar2000. I haven't found a suitable replacement in Linux land.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#596Head-per-track discs, although SSDs are a reasonable approximation.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#597XMPP. Yeah, I know technically it still exists, but having 8 different chat clients installed on my phone is ridiculous.
By chat clients you mean like WhatsApp for example? https://www.quora.com/What-is-WhatsApps-server-architecture
SMS+Messages or SMS+Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Kik, WeChat, Viber, LINE, BBM, Telegram, Signal, Sicher, and I'm sure I'm missing some. Used to just install a multi-protocol chat client and be done with it, but now everything's a fancy service with special clients to sync state across devices and whatever else they do.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#598The younger, more attractive me.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#599For 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.
Jennings Pattern auger bits for braces... https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/TD/item/MS-JB...
Whoa, thanks! The only ones I've found have been new old stock. Although these are rather expensive and in inch sizes only (I can't get inch-sized dowels without making them myself).
I need to consider obtaining a few of these.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best tool you used to use that doesn't exist anymore?
#600The Telephone with Dial Tone and associated Busy Signal. A busy signal meant nobody could contact me; Also, by either not answering the phone or by simply taking the receiver off the hook I controlled interruptions. And, nobody became concerned if they did not hear from me in an hour, 1/2 day, day or even week. And I had no concern if I did not hear from others either in that timeframe. So the "tool" to maintain priv…
I don't get how modern phones not having a busy signal forces you to let people contact you. If I really want to disconnect, I just turn stuff off. The only remaining difference is voicemail, but that's easily ignored. As for the concern, that's not the tool's fault, either, just how we use it. People get worried if you don't call back in a day because they've become accustomed to you doing so. I've got friends who I will miss a call from and not call back for a few days, and it's just fine. Not the phone's fault at all. The tool is still controllable by you - so long as there's a power switch, its in your control.