Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

721–730 of 891 posts

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

#721

Post by MistahKoala »

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…

Feedly is about the closest I've got to Reader, after trying Digg and a few others.

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

#723

Post by ValentineC »

rcarmo wrote: post #189

PageMaker: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_PageMaker I used it to typeset nearly all of my academic work until I was forced to switch to Word by peer pressure. Adobe made a complete hash of it, and none of those files are readable anymore.

I used PageMaker before, and QuarkXPress after that. InDesign's fairly good these days. I don't know why Adobe couldn't have retained the PageMaker name for their layout program though.

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

#724

Post by digi_owl »

infodroid wrote: post #679
digi_owl wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ports and battery?

To put this into context. The Sharp Zaurus SL-C3000 was released in Japan in 2004. It was a Linux computer with a 3.7" touch display, 4GB hard drive, USB port, SD and CF card slots, 3.5mm jack, infra-red port, built-in speaker that fit in a case with dimensions 124x87x25mm. Even though the Pyra has a 5" display, its dimensions are no less bulkier at 140x84x29mm. I would have expected a lot more progress given the har…

Looking into it some more, it is indeed mostly the battery.

It is 3x the capacity of the C3000, and runs the full width of the Pyra.

Never mind that they also made use of the thickness to fit 4 shoulder buttons for gaming (or other things), and two full size USB-A ports (one of them claimed to support ESATA as well via an adapter).

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

#725

Post by rogual »

whatnotests wrote: post #594

Flash. 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.

Seconded. Flash's vector engine was also superior to the Canvas 2D API. You can export to HTML/JS from Flash these days but you get artifacts and gaps at the edges because Canvas simply doesn't support things like shapes sharing an edge.

Flash was "killed" before there was a viable replacement and Flash devs are still feeling the pain.

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

#726

Post by frik »

corecoder wrote: post #619
frik wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your rhetoric is off, "smuggle" is the term for illegal stuff. Don't use it for legal stuff. And don't make cash money look like it's bad - that's just the propaganda that started after the Davos conference to bad mouth cash money in the interest of a small elite. We all know better: You transfer legal stuff. Cash money is valid money form, you just carry money around in your wallet. While it's already true, some sta…

I live in Italy. Nobody ever used €500 bills for anything else than crossing the Swiss border with as much cash (cash unknown to tax authorities, of course) as possible. I have never ever seen a €500 bill, and if someone has to give you, say, €1000, it will be 10 * €100 or more likely 20 * €50.

It fine and common to buy a new car from a certificated car dealer or build officially a house with cash money - it's a major legal payment option after-all.

Your experience is different, as you live in Italy which was hit especially hard by the 2008 crisis has high dept, is fighting against corruption, etc. You would need a truck for your €50 notes which makes it unreasonable.

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

#727

Post by infodroid »

infodroid wrote: post #679
digi_owl wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ports and battery?

To put this into context. The Sharp Zaurus SL-C3000 was released in Japan in 2004. It was a Linux computer with a 3.7" touch display, 4GB hard drive, USB port, SD and CF card slots, 3.5mm jack, infra-red port, built-in speaker that fit in a case with dimensions 124x87x25mm. Even though the Pyra has a 5" display, its dimensions are no less bulkier at 140x84x29mm. I would have expected a lot more progress given the har…

I just discovered more official Pyra dimensions, which show the device 3mm thicker than what I originally cited. According to the technical specifications [1] the dimensions of the Pyra are 139x87x32mm.

[1] https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyratech/

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

#728

Post by joeclark77 »

frik wrote: post #222
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You missed the point. Sure, there is a risk of inflation, but you can act immediately for your own good if there a slight warnings on the horizon. [...] About ownership, you missed the point, London is a bad example, as it's very expensive own a house there I think you are missing the point, because you're not seeing the connection between these symptoms. Property in London is so expensive because our culture values…

You wrote about the housing bubble, I wrote about cash money. You wrote about theoretical licenses, I wrote about that you practically own something. Example: I buy a DVD, I can play the DVD as many times I want until it physically breaks. I some states it's also allowed by law to create a backup copy in case it breaks. And while you are allowed by law to do things, it's not possible with new paradigm like used in Wi…

I'm skeptical even about (paper) cash. I'm thinking about learning to make my own silver coins.

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

#730

Post by lettercarrier »

eddieroger wrote: post #600
lettercarrier wrote: post #489

The 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…

The telephone was a shared device, and as a child it was not mine. In college, it was shared with 4 other people (and still not mine). Then once married, it was shared with my spouse.

But now there is no more 'shared voice device.' It is not pratical to not own a phone. But all cell phones are not sharable. Hence, by default, either I carry a phone and the contact person knows explicitly I am ignoring them or I answer it. But when the only game in town was a simple telephone, a busy signal or no answer just meant nobody is available. Nothing else. But now, with my phone, I can no longer say I am not available, imo.

Post reply on HN