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Ask HN: What's an example of a product you're happy to be a customer of?

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Ask HN: What's an example of a product you're happy to be a customer of?

#1

Post by clintonc »

For a lot of products, it seems like I use it because I need it, but I'm not necessarily happy or proud of it. For example:

- I use TurboTax because it's helpful, but I'm not happy or proud to use it (because it shouldn't need to exist).

- I use TikTok, but it doesn't make me feel good because I know I'm exposing myself to manipulation and data privacy concerns.

- I drive a [REDACTED] car, but it doesn't make me feel good because I always feel scammed when I take it in for maintenance.

I do feel good about my Brother printer, though -- Toner is reasonably priced, and I don't feel like they're trying to squeeze every dime out of me that they can; it's just a good reliable printer that does what I ask it and keeps out of my way otherwise.

I'm interested in all kinds of answers: Software, hardware, services, tools, toys, anything!

Re: Ask HN: What's an example of a product you're happy to be a customer of?

#3

Post by mtmail »

My bicycle light ("LS 760 I-GO Vision 100 Lux"). It charges with USB-C, I can use it as power bank. It displays the current time and how long the battery with last (in minutes). When riding home at night very useful information other models don't have. It's pretty random but I owned 10 different lights in the past, this one makes me happy.

Re: Ask HN: What's an example of a product you're happy to be a customer of?

#4

Post by Terr_ »

I'm normally very allergic to (A) buying software and (B) subscription plans, but I do both for Jetbrains IDEs.

It's nice to have a familiar and functional option available for various languages/stacks that I can also use at home, that isn't tied to a particular employer, and which which works on multiple OSes.

One key aspect is that one can use older versions indefinitely, even if the subscription lapses, so I don't feel like my projects or workflow will be "held hostage."

Re: Ask HN: What's an example of a product you're happy to be a customer of?

#5

Post by scarface_74 »

I buy Apple products because they are the best integrated and are better overall. But I hate how Apple deals with App Store.

I’ve make my living knowing almost everything about AWS. I like the overall platform. But the company is evil incarnate and I hate everything about the corporate culture (former employee).

I love Slack, notion.io, Google’s NotebookLM and GSuite in general, ChatGPT, VSCode.

Re: Ask HN: What's an example of a product you're happy to be a customer of?

#6

Post by pkoird »

I bought a used Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra phone and it's astonishing how future proof it was to begin with. Even now, the phone barely stutters, the battery life holds, the camera is surprisingly good and I was recently able to play GTA San Andreas (Netflix version) on it with surprising smoothness. I haven't tried but I believe the phone won't have any trouble emulating lot of consoles from 2010-2020 era as well. A really good purchase I must say.

Re: Ask HN: What's an example of a product you're happy to be a customer of?

#10

Post by legitster »

Moccamaster coffee maker.

It has exactly 1 button I need to understand to get it to function. The design has not changed in decades - every part they offer spares for.

It's handmade in the Netherlands. US support is based out of Oregon. When you call, a real person answers. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive either - buy a refurbished model and it will make great coffee for a lifetime.

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