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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?

#831

Post by andrepd »

noir_lord wrote: post #644
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…

My recommendation would be a ThinkPad with Fedora. I have 32GB of RAM in mine and they are easy to open, service and upgrade :). I use both and the last year has been the single best year I've had with Linux in terms of 'it just works', before that I used Ubuntu and while it was generally fine I prefer Fedora. The cinnamon spin is superb and it makes windows 10 feel clunky by comparison on the daily usability.

If you want to use a distro with first-class cinnamon support try Linux Mint.

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

#832

Post by dbbk »

luxpsycho wrote: post #762

Not the product itself, but there were only two features of Spotify around ~2010 that I used, which have both been removed: * Set as Current Playlist: would allow me, with one action, to set the next playlist, but not interrupt the current song. Song would finish playing, then only song from selected playlist would follow (until I'd set a new 'Current Playlist' again). * Empty Playlist: I used to have a plsylist call…

I also used to use "Set as Current Playlist" all the time. I do not understand why they removed it.

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

#833

Post by jwr »

bayindirh wrote: post #472
function_seven wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> iPhones are constantly bashed by a group of users because of not having USB-C connectors. [...]

I found that most (if not all) people who rave about a USB-C-only future do not actually use more than 1 or 2 peripherals. Or they want it for power connection only.

Anybody who a) has a significant number of USB-A peripherals (in my case, I'd say the number is above 30 distinct devices), b) understands that the USB-C label doesn't mean that it will work when you plug it in, has a more sensible approach: USB-C is fine, but don't remove our USB-A (or lightning) ports just yet.

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

#835

Post by sjm-yc-acct »

Theodores wrote: post #379
sengork wrote: post #112

Irix and SGI computers 90s era design in general.

Sad to see Silicon Graphics so far down this list. IRIX Indigo Magic Desktop was the Rolls Royce of user interfaces in an era when Apple computers couldn't even do multi-tasking and PC's still had an interface (Windows) that sat on MS-DOS. Linux was a 'toy' with a GUI that was positively 'off-brand' and the Sun version of X-Window was just plain awkward, clunky and slow. Meanwhile, on SGI computers, you could have a…

SGI's 3D APIs, OpenGL and Open Inventor, were sublimely innovative. Some of us are even trying to keep Open Inventor alive:

https://bitbucket.org/Coin3D/coin/wiki/Home

https://common-lisp.net/project/clive

I wish more tech businesses were about the greatest common factor, and not the least common denominator. If I could find a place like SGI to work, I would camp on their doorstep until they let me in.

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

#836

Post by meow81 »

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'm still bitter about this. I loved the low resolution e-ink color display. It was good enough with great battery life, unique and easily readable in the sun. I wish more smartphone makers would use this.

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

#838

Post by qwerty456127 »

Aardvark was the best Q&A system I've ever seen, felt like the most miraculous thing I've seen in my life. Sadly I've only learnt about it from the news when Google bought it and in just about a year Google closed it.

It worked like this: you just write (on the website or in ICQ) an question (in whatever a form on whatever a subject, no limitations or rules, just avoid offence), it gets routed to a number of semi-random people all over the world (you included for the other people's questions, once you receive a question you can answer it but there is nothing to encourage or discourage you, purely voluntary, and nobody but the question author will see you answer), you receive the answers (you can also answer an answer to thank/feedback or ask for a clarification). Everything was semi-anonymous, you were not forced to disclose yourself. Unlike Quora Q&As were not recorded (openly at least). Unlike Quora, whatever you ask (whatever a question you could imagine) you would always receive at least some useful and interesting answers in minutes-day (and could request more if not satisfied). Unlike StackExchange you hadn't to bother with boring rules, the format was just like asking a good friend that knows everything and enjoys answering your questions. I've ran out of questions my imagination could supply back in the days, now I have much more but there is no Aardvark any more :-(

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

#839

Post by sbarre »

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 still wear my gold pebble time steel every day... I dread the day it stops working and I can't get it fixed or updated..

It's the nicest watch I've ever had (to be fair I'm not a big watch guy) and my favourite thing about it is that it doesn't look like I'm wearing a computer on my wrist.

Oh and I only charge it every 5-6 days.. :-)

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