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

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

#521

Post by fart32 »

GhettoComputers wrote: post #272

Almost android device once they became more powerful and had root, around after 2016 is when only root matters. Full Linux CLI, all the game systems of the 90s playable, all the hardware devices of the 90s emulated but much better (the Pokédex app was very good, TI emulator, etc), OTG docking for wired devices or you can use BT for hardware. They can do 90% of what your current phone can do but everything is a bit sl…

I hate how rooting became pretty much non-viable on Android. Losing OTA updates is a dealbreaker for me and all I really want is having an option to record my calls, which is legal in my country and often comes handy. It sounds like something a smartphone should definitelly be capable of by default.

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

#522

Post by Eric_WVGG »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #508

I’m not a knife fetishist or anything, but a weird number of my favorite household items are edged things. I grabbed a Global 12” chef’s knife after reading about it in Kitchen Confidential twenty-ish years ago, reminded of its superiority whenever I’m in a friend’s kitchen. I am sad to admit that IKEA makes a very decent clone, though. An old nemesis gave me a Benchmade serrated knife with this miraculous spring-but…

I got to handle a Leica Q2 fixed lens camera today. I don’t know much but about photography, but the build quality of that thing… it puts my new 16” M1 MacBook Pro to shame.

Also the Microsoft Elite game controller is just bewilderingly nice to handle.

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

#523

Post by nicbou »

invalidator wrote: post #149

GearWrench ratcheting wrenches. They're compact and fit in places that sockets never will. The ratcheting mechanism is very fine, with low backlash, which matters a lot in those tight places. They feel great, and they're a delight to use. Wirewrap tools. They're mechanically simple, easy to learn, and let you create neat, dense hobby prototypes faster and easier than soldering. Wago Lever Nuts. These let you join a w…

Wago connectors are great. I used them on my powered motorcycle panniers to make them field-repairable. They're brilliant little devices.

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

#524

Post by quickthrower2 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #305
wh313 wrote: post #61

My Aeropress coffee maker. It feels more convenient than a french press, and much cheaper than an espresso machine. https://aeropress.com/ Also a bidet. Americans really need to start using it more.

As an espresso snob, I'm going to go with a Breville Double Boiler machine. Many espresso machine snobs used to crap on Breville as being "consumer grade", but they really succeeded with their Double Boiler machines, especially their more recent models that make it easy to descale the boiler at home. The BDB includes features that can cost literally 5X as much on Italian machines (stainless steel boilers, a preheatin…

Lance Hedrick (latte art champion YouTuber guy) raves about the BDB and would be my top choice if I don’t already have another model.

In addition to being great and having features of more expensive machines it can be trivially modded for flow profiling. You can now do what decent/slayer/lever owners do and pressure profile. Ok maybe it doesn’t quite compare to those but they are a multiple of the price, and now you can do the coffee shots, turbo shots, blooming shots and all that fun stuff.

If mine breaks down and I’m not in the mood to spend $5k on a machine id get the dual boiler.

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

#525

Post by glandium »

idlewords wrote: post #326

Any Japanese bathtub. It's deep, you can fill it to the very top, and it's designed to overflow rather than deprive you of the top 1/3 with an annoying safety drain.

More generally, the Japanese bathroom, which allows that bath design (or, most probably, was designed around that).

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

#527

Post by joconde »

toomanyrichies wrote: post #155

One example of quality design which I gleaned from reading Don Norman's "The Design Of Everyday Things" is the metal plate I've frequently seen on doors which are meant to be pushed. The only affordance of such a plate is its push-ability, and the fact that someone actively installed a metal plate (instead of just relying on the door's natural flatness), as well as its location at the point of maximum leverage (all t…

It's well-designed as a means of exchanging viruses with all the other users. At least its purpose is clear, so I can avoid it when I see it.

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

#528

Post by quickthrower2 »

andersco wrote: post #117

The Technics SL-1200 turntable. The fact that the design has not changed except for minor tweaks since the product was released speaks for itself. I used it both as a DJ many years ago and now kept one of the turntables just for listening. The quality of the turntable is palpable not only in its physical weight but in the utter simplicity of the design. The dotted edges of the rotating plate are both aesthetically pl…

Yeah “Twelve Tens” we’re fun!

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

#530

Post by csomar »

javajosh wrote: post #185
grech wrote: post #151

This may be a normie response - but Apple Airpods Pro are one of the best products I've used. After years of using several bluetooth headsets that get finicky (with connections that is), having a set that just connects and works every single time is refreshing. They really changed my behavior - I went from not liking phone conversations at all (getting agitated after a few minutes)to comfortably having long phone cal…

Interesting. I returned my airpod pros because I kept losing them and/or their case, and had anxiety until I found them. And I knew it was only a matter of time before I didn't find them again. Also, the audio quality on the other end of my calls was actively bad. I've reverted to wired earbuds with a mic in the cable, and am (very) grateful I was stubborn about keeping the 3.5mm headphone jack on whatever phone I'm…

If you are losing them at home, they can make a small sound through the Find iPhone page in iCloud.
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