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Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

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671–680 of 994 posts

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#671
post #656

I love my electric toothbrush. It cost me 20 bucks and it’s amazing. I analyzed it from a UX point of view and couldn’t come up with any designs flaw. - it’s waterproof, so easy to clean - it has a single physical button, nothing else - it has a small flat stand on the back, so I can put it somewhere horizontally and it won’t roll, and the brush won’t touch the surface - the heads can be easily changed, so we share t…

What's the model?

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#673

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wish browsers had built in support for it. Imagine if by default most downloads were through BitTorrent, and your browser would then seed the file for 1.5x the download size and time.

Support in the browser would require the browser to stay on the whole time, along with the computer. Bittorrent clients are better run on small less power hungry boards (RPi, etc.) or on hardware that is meant to be running 24/7 anyway. For example, I run the Transmission daemon on my XigmaNAS home file server. The NAS is headless, but I can control the daemon through its remote GUI, so as soon as I click on a torren…

https://press.opera.com/2006/02/06/opera-integrates-bittorre...

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#674

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wish browsers had built in support for it. Imagine if by default most downloads were through BitTorrent, and your browser would then seed the file for 1.5x the download size and time.

Support in the browser would require the browser to stay on the whole time, along with the computer. Bittorrent clients are better run on small less power hungry boards (RPi, etc.) or on hardware that is meant to be running 24/7 anyway. For example, I run the Transmission daemon on my XigmaNAS home file server. The NAS is headless, but I can control the daemon through its remote GUI, so as soon as I click on a torren…

It would absolutely not require that, it only requires that someone's browser is open when you're trying to download, which is likely since most people have their browsers open a lot.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#675

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i think they mean responsive as in it doesnt rearrange everything to fit on a screen 500px wide

I know what responsive means. I went from maximized window to narrower than many websites can handle and it adapts flawlessly. No idea how anyone could call this not responsive.

There's two definitions of responsive, both of which are used in this thread.

1. It responds to your actions. Click stuff and it does that and does it quickly.

2. It gives you a different response based on which device you are using. You log on with a mobile device, it gives you a screen suited to mobile.

It doesn't do the latter. I'm on a phone. It might resize screens on a desktop, but doesn't do it for a phone.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#676
post #665

A garlic press. It's the only thing I ever asked my parents for that they owned. They had it since the 70s. The reason I know it's great is because all the others I've ever used are inferior. This one is in two distinct pieces which you place together to work. The metal is kind of grey and dull but it's incredibly strong. It's easy to clean. Indestructible. Powerful.

Easy to clean is so important. My parents’ garlic press is far superior to the one we have

I'd love to know where you guys are getting these, because every garlic press I get falls apart.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#677
post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any advice on technique with the splitting axe? Use the same way as the maul?

So happy to see the Fiskars mentioned. Grew up with farmers in the midwest US but love my fancy little splitter hitter from across the pond. I find a subtle lift on the handle right at the end of the stroke, almost like a whipping action, seems to help a little. It may be in my head, but it seems to stick less. Use the full length of the handle, the horn at the end provides a positive grip and you get more speed. On…

> Set your rounds on top of the biggest round you can find when splitting.

That's fine advice for someone who wants to burn a campfire for a night. I heat with wood in remote Canada and I estimate I split somewhere between 600 and 800 bucks for a season's supply of firewood. If I had to lift each one of those into the air and balance it (if possible, and it's often not possible) on another piece of wood I'd never get enough split to warm me the whole winter while my back recovers.

I just tip the buck up on the ground and use a dull maul because I don't have time to baby the edge of an axe. Mostly these days I just use a hydraulic splitter because I'm old and grumpy especially when I'm as behind in getting my wood in as I always seem to be.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#678

I have no one thing (these are the things that pop into my mind, all within their own category/niche); * My Hilleberg Akto single person hiking tent scores very highly. It is designed for lightness, durability and simplicity when setting up. It can better be set up/torn down by one person in a storm than most other tents I've owned. * My Leatherman multitool has been with me for years in some fairly bad conditions. I…

The kindle hardware is excellent, but the kindle software is one of the worst pieces of garbage ever. Just filled from top to bottom with utterly deranged behaviors.

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#679

I have no one thing (these are the things that pop into my mind, all within their own category/niche); * My Hilleberg Akto single person hiking tent scores very highly. It is designed for lightness, durability and simplicity when setting up. It can better be set up/torn down by one person in a storm than most other tents I've owned. * My Leatherman multitool has been with me for years in some fairly bad conditions. I…

What setup do you use for new Android apps? I dabbled in building an Android app months ago and sort of gave up because I couldn't decide on the best "framework".

Re: Ask HN: What are the best-designed things you've ever used?

#680
I have been blown away by how reliable and convenient my Growler is (a Stanley Classic Easy-Pour Growler 64oz). I love carbonated water and work in an underground mine, I fill that thing full every day I work and bring it down. I never lose pressure (aside obviously from when it's opened), it stays cold seemingly indefinitely, the safety latch ensures the swinging lid hits nothing, and the thing is so solidly built it hasn't sustained a single nick despite falling on rock, etc. I'm a happy customer.
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