HACKER Q&A
📣 jastingo

What are some products that you use that give you joy?


I mean literally - a joy to use. It's not just that the product is useful, or that it makes you more productive, or that you appreciate that it's well-designed. There's just something about it that, when you use it, it gives you an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

It could be a digital or tangible product, large or small.


  👤 elviejo79 Accepted Answer ✓
Emacs... it's likean extension of my brain ar this point. It allows me to record my thoughts org-mode, draw (plantuml), take notes of whay I learn (org-roam) and program.

My silent Bosch dishwasher... everytine I don't do the dishes... a say a little prayer for the engineers that built it.


👤 leobg
Tesla Model X. My wife, my daughter and I have just returned from a trip to Switzerland. All three of us slept in the car (latex mattress in the back, full climate control). You can glide along mountain paths silently. And on your way to your destination and back, autopilot keeps you relaxed and focused. The car is magic.

👤 nicbou
I have a little USB-C battery-powered lantern. I turn it on by tapping it, and I can dim it by holding the tapping area. If I long-press it, it turns on at its dimmest setting. It also has an RGB mode.

It's so simple, but I use it all the time. On the balcony, in the bedroom, in the shower, in my reading chair, in the van... It's an instant mood maker.

It's one of those rare products that quietly improve your life, with no drawback whatsoever.

--

My motorcycle. It's incredibly versatile and reliable. It can take anything and anyone anywhere. It's seen some 35 countries on all sorts of roads and never had any issues. It's a pleasure to drive, and it's still one of the cheapest adventure bikes on the market.

It's a V-strom 650. Great little machine.


👤 jones1618
Oculus Quest 2 - It opens up a vast world of content and experiences (many free) with very few "gotchas." The user experience and learning curve are delightfully smooth. Also, for a product from big, scary company like Facebook, the Oculus team acts more like a startup and has been releasing truly innovative, useful upgrades almost continuously since the headset came out. I haven't felt like a single piece of technology has opened up new vistas (literally) like this since PCs, DVRs, the Internet and smartphones.

👤 brtkdotse
Canva. It makes me feel like a designer and I finish nice stuff with it. Compare this with Adobe products which are slow, bloated and do very little to help me get something designed.

👤 mikewarot
I love taking photos with my digital camera. The model is irrelevant, anything more than about 6 megapixels is sufficient. The ability to take a thousand or more pictures, find the good ones, and possibly merge them into panoramas, or even shoot videos on the same device... is astounding to someone who grew up in the age of 24 exposure Kodachrome, and a week or two turn around at the pharmacy.

👤 enz
My iPhone. And, any smartphone in general. I mean, if you use it correctly, it's such a great, powerful, and amazing little device! I'm so glad to have it when I am on the train.

👤 mikewarot
I have a set of geared loppers from Fiskars that are a joy to use when I go out and edit my yard. I've cut 2" (5 cm) thick live oak branches with it. My child loves it as well when I give her a chance to kill some trees.

Unlike the rest of the world, I have far, far too many trees, and with my recent illness, they are winning right now. 8(


👤 gidorah
Fleshlite. Obvs.

👤 mslate
I like my current bodywash. It smells great and it’s got a cool plastic dispenser mechanism. Overall incredible

👤 flamboyant_ride
Sennheiser over the ear headphones. Kindle is close, but I feel it could be better.

👤 LarryMade2
Linux - not feeling there are things beyond my control.

👤 navyad
vim :)

👤 privacyisntdead
iPhone but after CSAM mess, not as much

👤 readonthegoapp
Nothing

But Balsamiq comes pretty close


👤 matt_the_bass
My upright bass