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Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

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Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#471

Post by WillPostForFood »

umichguy wrote: post #263
WillPostForFood wrote: post #77

MySpace - social networking was better back before the facebook "real name" era.

Really? Don't get me wrong, MySpace did have its own thing going on back then, but was filled with creeps and strangers I'd rather not connect with it. When Facebook came about in my freshman year in 2004, it was a breath of freshair....now, not so much.

Ultimately, yeah, I preferred the random, weird, mostly anonymous interactions on MySpace to having my relatives and highs school acquaintances who I haven't seen in a dozen years stalking my Facebook page.

Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#472

Post by bayindirh »

function_seven wrote: post #296
wishinghand wrote: post #202

The Macbook Pro chassis before the OLED touchstrip. I'm a web developer and learned on MBPs. The touchpad was the right size, the keys had the right amount of travel, the form factor and weight were perfect. Right now I'm considering moving to developing on a Galaga Pro and using Windows/WSL. I've got most things setup on my desktop how I like using HyperTerm (I had too much trouble with Cmder), VS Code, and ZSH. I c…

Apple has ditched so many cool things in the MacBook line. 1) MagSafe. I know they really want to go all in on USB-C, but the original MagSafe connector was awesome. Even the weaker 2.0 version was nice. There were two instances where that connector saved my laptop. 2) The laser-drilled power indicator. That was so cool. It looked like the light magically appeared through the aluminum. Now there's no indication whats…

While I also love MagSafe and its features, wouldn't having a more standard port is much better?

iPhones are constantly bashed by a group of users because of not having USB-C connectors. Having four USB-C ports with identical capabilities on a MacBook pro is a more pragmatic and flexible solution to have, when compared to MagSafe.

On the power level and power button issue, Apple changes its features to shape customer behavior and expectation from its devices. Apple removed battery meter from Macs since it's standby is too long (30 days) and robust (auto-hibernation), so you're unlikely to run out of juice.

They also believe in the stability of MacOS such that it's not important whether the machine is off or in standby. Because it boots in ~10 seconds and wakes up in ~2. They want to remove these distinctions from their computers and try to lower your cognitive load. Actually this is one of the finest features of the Macs IMHO. They don't make you think to use it.

Open the lid, and if the screen doesn't come on, press the power button, done.

Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#474

Post by ctack »

CiaranMcNulty wrote: post #445

Pebble - they created a series of smart watches that had: - long battery life (2-7 days depending on model) - e-ink colour screens, that were always on - an extensive app/watchface ecosystem - actual attractive watches I had a series of them and was all-in on the new models announced via kickstarter, when they suddenly disappeared and were bought by Fitbit. All forthcoming products were killed off. They've been prett…

Was looking to buy one these in the intermediate future. Was bummed to hear the news.

Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#475

Post by markatkinson »

wishinghand wrote: post #320
markatkinson wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should give Ubuntu an experimental try. I have only ever used Windows most my life, but for hobby projects I use Ubuntu/PopOS!. If you are doing Web development I highly recommend that over Windows. Just last night I tried to setup a Phoenix project on a fresh install of windows and after 5 hours I was still installing C++ build tools, setting up path variables etc etc. It honestly is a world of pain. I remember…

I'm trying to eventually move to just a laptop with an eGPU as both my work and game machine. I'd love to ditch Windows for Linux now that Valve's Proton is a thing. However I've spent too much money on Propellerhead's Reason and its Rack Extensions to easily give it up. Bitwig and Ardour are of course 1st class choices for a digital audio workstation on Linux, but I just found out that VSTs are OS specific as well.…

That is exactly what I am doing. I just got an Aero 15 with a 1060gb, which I honestly think will suffice for most games I play.

But if I ever get into more graphically demanding games I can hook up an eGPU and throw in a 1080Ti or something.

Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#476

Post by ChristianGeek »

radley wrote: post #306
wishinghand wrote: post #202

The Macbook Pro chassis before the OLED touchstrip. I'm a web developer and learned on MBPs. The touchpad was the right size, the keys had the right amount of travel, the form factor and weight were perfect. Right now I'm considering moving to developing on a Galaga Pro and using Windows/WSL. I've got most things setup on my desktop how I like using HyperTerm (I had too much trouble with Cmder), VS Code, and ZSH. I c…

I'll just add: 17" MBP...

A lighter version with a retina screen, updated internals, and 2015 MBP style keyboard? Yes, please!

Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#477

Post by sz4kerto »

CiaranMcNulty wrote: post #445

Pebble - they created a series of smart watches that had: - long battery life (2-7 days depending on model) - e-ink colour screens, that were always on - an extensive app/watchface ecosystem - actual attractive watches I had a series of them and was all-in on the new models announced via kickstarter, when they suddenly disappeared and were bought by Fitbit. All forthcoming products were killed off. They've been prett…

I have a Garmin sport/smart watch, it lasts for weeks and it has always-on color display. Smart watches from other brands also last for many days or weeks.

Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#479

Post by drawkbox »

Mac Pro "cheese grater" towers and arguably Apple's best Pro machine or tower ever [1].

Mojave macOS version just recently unfortunately EOL'd my last Mac Pro (Mid 2010 with no Metal capable GPU), such a nice design and powerful pro machine still to this day.

[1] https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/08/07/apples-mac-pro-ch...

Re: Ask HN: What discontinued company/product do you wish was still around?

#480

Post by dminor14 »

birchy wrote: post #382

The scripting language for the Macintosh's rolodex-type database (Hypercard) called "HyperText". I'm not aware of any more natural language scripting tool before or since. I can still write code in it, some two decades later... For example: 'put the first character of the third word of line 5 of card field "sometext" into theChar' or 'put the value of card field "typehere" * 1.25 into theValue'

I was on the HyperCard 2.0 team. I'm also nostalgic for it. It's a shame no one has created anything as simple and useful for generating web pages.
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