
Ask HN: What are the best-designed products you've ever used? - zwendkos
I&#x27;ll start: Teenage Engineering OP-1 Portable Synthesizer. Simply music magic.
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csnewb
2015 15" Macbook Pro. The screen size and resolution is perfect for coding and
watching movies. Keyboard is super comfortable, the touchpad is the best of
any laptop I've ever used. The physical size and weight of the laptop is
hardly noticeable in my backpack. It integrates flawlessly with all my
peripherals like a mechanical keyboard, mouse, external monitors, etc. macOS
is also sleek and simple. The overall experience of using that MBP is a
pleasure.

~~~
1_player
Agreed 100%

This might sound stupid, but another thing I really like is that the
headphones jack connector is aligned with the Caps Lock key. When I take the
laptop on my couch with headphones, I just look at the Caps Lock key to find
the socket.

It might be random chance, but I think someone at Apple designed it this way.
Saves me maybe half a second but it's thoroughly satisfying.

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nf05papsjfVbc
\- Maya

\- Unreal Engine

\- Microwave oven with just two knobs: one for "power" and one for "duration"

\- Victorinox swiss army knife (I forgot which model it is but it's going
strong for years and will probably last a few decades)

\- Victorinox trifold wallet

\- Audio Technica M50 series of headphones

\- Teostra Timer android app for the game 'Monster Hunter 4 Unlimited'

\- Not a single product but: Motorcycle. I haven't had as much fun with
anything else.

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johnwalkr
Apple AirPods. They’ve been a pleasure to use unlike any other headphones I’ve
had. The way the automatically pair to all my devices works well and the
method of choosing which device is connected is well-thought-out.

Apple Watch is also well-designed. It doesn’t try to do too much, and every
feature has become well-implemented over the years. For example, it used to be
a slow and annoying process to load music onto it. In recent watchOS I never
have to think about it, whatever I’ve been listening to recently is there
automatically and ready to send to my AirPods. But the feature I use most and
which was the reason I bought one is Apple Pay, specifically that in Japan it
supports mobile Suica for riding public transportation. Since the underlying
technology for Apple Pay has been used in Japan for a long time, many
businesses including almost every convenience store and even some vending
machines supported it out of the gate.

“Helper” brand 65W USB-c charger. I can’t find it online anymore, presumably
because it’s unsafe like many chargers. However, for $30 it has 1 USB-c port,
2 USB-a ports and compact adapters for most countries’ power outlets. It works
for all of my devices including Nintendo switch and it’s dock (it uses a
voltage which is often not implemented in USB-c chargers). I have 3, for home,
work and my bag.

Raspberry Pi. It has some annoyances and I wish the design itself and
processor selection was different. But, it was cheap enough and popular enough
to arrive at the end result of amazing community support.

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skhavari
Kuhn Rikon Can Opener:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcdoKOhKYbg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcdoKOhKYbg)

Seriously.

------
scarface74
My first two Macs:

I was a long time Apple //e user and my Mac LCII with a //e card was a great
combination of hardware and software with how the //e card could take
advantage of the Mac hardware. I also had Soft AT to run my dos compilers for
my CS class.

But I upgraded two years later to the Powermac 6100/60 with the 486 DX/2 DOS
Compatibility Card. The integration wasn’t quite a slick but it worked pretty
well.

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rurban
2013 MacBook Air - It went down first with the SW and then the HW. The common
ground is easy to see.

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jppope
Cole Haan made a pair of all weather boots that had Nike Air soles that were
perfectly designed in every way. They lasted 5 years doing 5-10 miles a day in
NYC AND on hikes in the Adirondacks. If I could go back in time I would buy
15-20 pairs to last me till I die

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vkaku
Nintendo DS Lite.

The right size. Great battery life. More useful than the first iPhone. Great
homebrew.

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hacknat
I have a pair of leather Vasque boots with Vibram soles that are still going
strong after years. The soles show almost no sign of wear (they make direct
contact with pavement very infrequently).

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giardini
Classic American potato-peeler & Hewlett-Packard 2100 keyboard.

~~~
yesenadam
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeler)

Which of these peelers are you referring to? (if any)

~~~
giardini
The Jonas peeler was what I had in mind.

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smt88
BlackBerry Bold keyboard

~~~
rchaud
Bold 9000, circa 2008. Hands down my favourite mobile keyboard ever. It's 2019
and I still cannot type on touchscreens properly, knowing that devices like
that once existed and made typing a joy.

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ArtWomb
A two-person tent from The North Face that lasted close to a decade. It was so
thoughtfully constructed you could make or break camp in under 5 minutes ;)

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sathomasga
Best of 2018: Quip toothbrush

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jhayward
The basic pencil circa US 20th century.

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caseyf7
Palm V

