Ask HN: What are some “10x” *hardware* product innovations you have experienced? • Hacker News Board

Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#1

Post by supernova87a » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 2:47 AM UTC

Since we have the 10x software thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26477507), I'm interested to have us all recall the hardware innovations too!

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#2

Post by aksss » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 2:58 AM UTC

optical mice - anyone remember cleaning mouse balls?

led lighting

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#3

Post by supernova87a » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 3:24 AM UTC

I remember how computer power supplies used to be the size of your foot and weigh a brick. Now they're less than a pack of playing cards, and cell phone chargers are the size of a finger. Someone told me it was because of higher frequency voltage conversion silicon that this became possible?

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#4

Post by lazylizard » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 4:15 AM UTC

maybe too literal...10bt, 100bt, 1gbe, 10gbe...unfortunately I've never used 100gbe before...

3g > the stuff that came before?

fiber last mile > adsl,whatever else at the time

adsl > dial up(esp if u skipped isdn?)

ssd > hdd

lcd vs crt wrt size n weight?

usb3 > usb2 > usb1

aes, avx n other extensions > without them?

gpu > cpu for btc mining n stuff

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#5

Post by __d » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 4:40 AM UTC

My first computer had a 2MHz CPU; my current has roughly 4GHz (2000x faster).

My first computer had an 8 bit CPU; my current has 64 bits (8x, so ... could try harder :-)

My first computer had a single core; my current has 16 cores (so 16x).

My first computer had 32KB RAM; my current has 32GB RAM (so, 1,000,000x).

My first computer with a hard drive had 30MB; my current has 32TB (so, roughly 1,000,000x)

My first computer had 640x400 pixels (kinda); my current has dual 3840x2160 pixels (so ... 32x)

My first computer network was 1Mbps Ethernet; my current has 10GbE (so, 10,000x)

10x? That's nearly nothing ...

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#6

Post by schappim » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 5:11 AM UTC

WebUSB Postage Label Printer and WebUSB Postage Scales[1]:

  - No OS based printer queue to get gummed up
  - Super-fast (just ZPL printer commands being sent down the wire)
  - One-click to create a postage label
  - Automatic label printing when a new order comes in (Websocket + WebUSB)

We used to create labels by copying and pasting between Shopify and Australia Post. This hardware saves us ~4min per parcel.

[1] https://chickcom.com/hardware

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#7

Post by radley » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 5:16 AM UTC

aksss wrote: post #2

optical mice - anyone remember cleaning mouse balls? led lighting

+1 the Logitech MX Master mouse with lots of buttons

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#8

Post by radley » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 5:25 AM UTC

Some early Apple stuff:

Powerbook 100 - first Mac notebook (still black & white)

QuickTake 100 - first Apple digital camera

Macintosh Quadra 840AV - first Mac with built-in video in / out

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#9

Post by nullserver » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 5:35 AM UTC

aksss wrote: post #2

optical mice - anyone remember cleaning mouse balls? led lighting

Or the ones that required a special grid mouse pad.

Re: Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

#10

Post by yen223 » Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 5:37 AM UTC

GPS and especially cameras on our smartphones are massive gamechangers