I LOVE good design of any product. When a manufacturer said, “Ya know, we should put the switch over here”
Or purchasing something that is just right for you.
This is sort of a whimsical thread I suppose. We all buy good and bad. Decisions good and bad.
Or maybe this is about good choices. Not a bitching about session. We do too much of that here already.
Tell me/us what was a good purchase/choice for you.
I’ll start.
I’m a computer programmer. I always thought tablets where stupid. But when paper took over my desk with work notes, I bought one. I like to write with my hand. Not type something else on a workstation. Life changer.
I play chess. My wife asked me to teach her. I did about 5 years ago. We now play ~ 10 games a week while listening to music. It’s wonderful and the highlight of both our days. We like playing because the rest of the world goes away when we do. It’s a release from work.
My purchase that has turned out great because of good design is my Timolino insulated cup. I bought it 11 years ago because with a new baby I would get pulled away from my coffee in a normal mug, and it would be cold by the time I got back to it. The insulated cup solved that problem. It can stay hot for hours. I bought another one for work.
It’s traveled internationally with me, and makes life better by being simple, rugged, and just working.
Disclaimer, I am not a photographer of any sort, but for some reason I was moved to pay over $500 for this object when it was new (circa 1999). It is entirely obsolete, of course, but it’s a thing of beauty for its design. A perfect cube when the zoom lens is collapsed, and no taint of plastic on the thing. It weighs about a pound. I’ll never use it again, but I’ll never throw it away.
Vintage high-end electronics in general, so long as they’re beautiful. Case in point (we had one of these when I was a kid; I could never afford such a thing now):
I’m 43 years old and I just learned how to play chess ~3 months ago from one of my teenage students. It was a boring Friday afternoon study hall, she was lamenting that she didn’t have anyone to play with, so I asked her to teach me. An hour later I was hooked. It’s a very relaxing game and I wish I learned it decades ago.
I’m a bit of a tea snob and drink loose leaf tea almost exclusively. I’ve fallen in love with this teapot.. Not too big or small, doesn’t drip, the handle folds down so a tea cozy can fit over it, the basket is big and fits well, and the lid fits on the pot with or without the basket. Other teapots have similar designs but this one just seems to work better. I went through half a dozen pots before I found this one and have been a fan ever since.
Similarly, the OG French Press is the most brilliant, and brilliantly simple, coffee maker ever made. I had to give up coffee a few years ago for health reasons but I still have my original Swiss-made Bodum press – a hand-me-down from my grandparents, purchased decades ago on a trip to Europe – for when company comes over. Nothing beats it for simple, well-made coffee.
Man, I was gonna “correct” you, but I went to the Contigo site and it appears they no longer make what I consider to be indisputably the best insulated mug. It has a handle with a carabiner type piece at the bottom, which I love because I can hook it onto my golf pullcart, a handle of my upright bass case… I’ve bought, lost, and rebought several. If they no longer make them, I had better be more careful with the one I have!
I still have my Canon SD790IS which is very similar. Practically the same body style with a 5x zoom and a neat time lapse video mode. I also had the S100 which was a great travel camera but suffered from the dreaded “lens error” malfunction. I had it repaired twice but gave up after the third time.
My “good design” nomination is the Apple TV 4K streamer. I’ve had various versions of both Roku and Fire TV devices and although it’s much more expensive*, for use with my home theater setup it’s better in every way. (I do use a Fire TV stick when I’m on the road because it’s very compact and easy to plug in to hotel TVs).
*It was way too expensive for me until I got a $125 Amazon gift certificate for my birthday
My “good design” nomination is a Veken pet fountain. The linked one isn’t identical to the one I have … because mine was “cheap” plastic and the instruction booklet that came with it said it was made to withstand about 2 years of steady use. Well, 6 years later it has been in daily use and is still in mint condition. This is despite occasionally forgetting to keep it clean and topped up, so it has sometimes run under less than ideal conditions.
The cats love it, and it may very well be a factor in one of my cat’s steady good health (she was having UTI problems, so I got the fountain to encourage her to drink more water - she uses the fountain regularly and hasn’t had a UTI since). It is completely intuitive how to clean and care for it,
Every time I clean the fountain, I marvel at how well it was made and how easy it is to use. I always think “If every manufactured item were made as well as this one, the world would be a happier and more efficient place.”
I used to have one just like that, and it was fantastic. Easy to use, durable (mine’s dented in several places), takes good quality pictures, and small enough to put in a pants pocket and have everywhere you go, which was a major consideration when cell phones didn’t have cameras, or at least not good quality ones.
I have one of those, too. Sitting in a drawer feeling abandoned, I guess. Neat little travel camera.
A buddy’s daughter turned me on to a different kind of heat cover for your windshield. It looks like a mutant travel umbrella. You jab it at your windshield, push it open and it stays put. The beautiful design parts are that the sides fold down if it is too large, the release button is right under your finger when you reach for it, and the sheath for you to keep it in is generously sized. You ever try to stuff a used travel umbrella back into the condom it came in? No prob with this thing. And they’re cheap!
I saw chess on a BBC TV children’s programme when I was about 5 years old. My parents bought me a chess set and I taught myself from a library book (‘Chess for Children’ by Bott and Morrison.)
Since then I have played chess in many countries, become a FIDE* Master, won a British Speed Chess title and met Gary Kasparov, Steve Davis and Derren Brown through chess.
The Adex adjustable club. It combines cardio and resistance training, the workouts are pretty fun, I know exactly how long each workout is going to be, and I can go for several years without buying any more weights.
A few year ago I bought, sight-unseen, a Dodge Colt Vista Wagon. Sent the guy some money, he mailed me a key and told me where to find it.
Coolest car (almost) I’ve ever owned. So simple, so basic, so functional. A blank canvass for me to work with. Complete Adventure Wagon/Ski Car. Dig this auto and get props every time I drive it. It’s just Me.
How did I live without this? It’s cheap, has a powerful magnet, and works great. My ladder has a plastic top piece, so I found a piece of flat, scrap steel and glued it to the underside. Now when I’m taking out screws 8 or 12 feet off the ground, I just make sure the tray is underneath and it catches the screws before the little bastards can fall and get lost. If the ladder rocks or I have to move it, the tray stays firmly attached and still holds the screws, even if I have to tip the ladder to move it. Life-changing. And the one I have is free since I’m a member at HF and it was one of the “spend $25 pick a gift” items a few years ago.
Actually, while I’m at it, Harbor Freight itself. My wife calls it my ‘toy store’.
I have loads of examples, but this might be my favorite, the Leatherman Wave (original design):
I like them so much, that I have three of them - one for each car, and one for my computer bag. Beautifully designed and exquisitely manufactured, I feel naked if I don’t have one near me.
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