6 ms·

Ask HN: What are some “10x” hardware product innovations you have experienced?

17 points by supernova87a 6y ago

Since we have the 10x software thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26477507), I'm interested to have us all recall the hardware innovations too!

theriddlr 6y ago
GoPros. I saw mountain biking videos from the 90s and the riders were wearing CAMCORDERS on their helmets.
ecesena 6y ago
Arduino for opening up a world of makers Smart light bulbs in terms of daily usage (turning off lights from bed without standing again) 1/10x: usb-c, e-ink
tmaly 6y ago
I have to say the IPad is pretty amazing. 20 years ago we had palm pilots, but those are no where near what the IPad has become.
dopeboy 6y ago
Love the thread idea. For me, it's gotta be: * Smart phones. I felt this sense of immersion I never got before. * Bullet trains (specifically the Shinkansen in Japan). Felt like I was flying at ground level. * Electric cars. I rented a Model 3 once and more than the speed and responsiveness, it was the lack of noise when accelerating. Felt like the wind picked up all of sudden and everything is coming near very fast.
joshxyz 6y ago
3g to 4g good lord.
aksss 6y ago
optical mice - anyone remember cleaning mouse balls? led lighting
- tmaly 6y ago
  Wow that brought back memories. I use to clean mine daily.
- radley 6y ago
  +1 the Logitech MX Master mouse with lots of buttons
  - moistbar 6y ago
    And TWO scroll wheels!
- nullserver 6y ago
  Or the ones that required a special grid mouse pad.
- quickthrower2 6y ago
  The old bang bang bang, grunt, sigh then get a tissue for the gunk then temporarily castrate the mouse to clean it out. Yes.
radley 6y ago
Some early Apple stuff: Powerbook 100 - first Mac notebook (still black & white) QuickTake 100 - first Apple digital camera Macintosh Quadra 840AV - first Mac with built-in video in / out
supernova87a 6y ago
I remember how computer power supplies used to be the size of your foot and weigh a brick. Now they're less than a pack of playing cards, and cell phone chargers are the size of a finger. Someone told me it was because of higher frequency voltage conversion silicon that this became possible?
lazylizard 6y ago
maybe too literal...10bt, 100bt, 1gbe, 10gbe...unfortunately I've never used 100gbe before... 3g > the stuff that came before? fiber last mile > adsl,whatever else at the time adsl > dial up(esp if u skipped isdn?) ssd > hdd lcd vs crt wrt size n weight? usb3 > usb2 > usb1 aes, avx n other extensions > without them? gpu > cpu for btc mining n stuff
__d 6y ago
My first computer had a 2MHz CPU; my current has roughly 4GHz (2000x faster). My first computer had an 8 bit CPU; my current has 64 bits (8x, so ... could try harder :-) My first computer had a single core; my current has 16 cores (so 16x). My first computer had 32KB RAM; my current has 32GB RAM (so, 1,000,000x). My first computer with a hard drive had 30MB; my current has 32TB (so, roughly 1,000,000x) My first computer had 640x400 pixels (kinda); my current has dual 3840x2160 pixels (so ... 32x) My first computer network was 1Mbps Ethernet; my current has 10GbE (so, 10,000x) 10x? That's nearly nothing ...
- quickthrower2 6y ago
  I think the 10x means an immediate 10x over the competition rather than moores law doing its thing. For example the apple m1 might be this (I’m not an expert). 10x might mean in terms of perceived value not just raw metrics. The idea is that you kill the competitor immediately because it’s so good. It’s like why get a taxi when Uber is cheaper, comes quicker, doesn’t rip you off by going the long way and has an app (taxi companies had to catch up on the app part). Subjectively that’s 10x taxis!
schappim 6y ago
WebUSB Postage Label Printer and WebUSB Postage Scales[1]: - No OS based printer queue to get gummed up - Super-fast (just ZPL printer commands being sent down the wire) - One-click to create a postage label - Automatic label printing when a new order comes in (Websocket + WebUSB) We used to create labels by copying and pasting between Shopify and Australia Post. This hardware saves us ~4min per parcel. [1] https://chickcom.com/hardware https://chickcom.com/hardware
- the_only_law 6y ago
  WebUSB in general was crazy to me, then I found out there was a WebHID and serial port API available and suddenly something I was looking at making a kernel driver for could be a web app???
beforeolives 6y ago
Moving from a 13 inch laptop to 2 large monitors. You don't realise how much the screen space affects the way you think.
yen223 6y ago
GPS and especially cameras on our smartphones are massive gamechangers
nospy4312 6y ago
Powerful 22-core, 18-core server-grade systems with fully open firmware and hardware, fully open BMC, with PCIe 4.0, DDR4 memory with ECC and other modern features [1]. They are FSF RYF (Respects Your Freedom) certified [2]. Truly FOSS hardware. Quite affordable too. I think not many have heard of it. They have fully FOSS desktop processors too (4-core, 8-core). [1] https://www.raptorcs.com/ https://www.raptorcs.com/ [2] https://ryf.fsf.org/vendors/raptor https://ryf.fsf.org/vendors/raptor More info: [3] https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/Main_Page https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/Main_Page [4] https://www.talospace.com/ https://www.talospace.com/ [5] #talos-workstation on IRC, where people using these systems daily hangout. Accessible through the Element Matrix app IRC bridge too. Now idk whether that's innovation, but it's a big thing IMO. AMD, Intel and ARM have proprietary bits in them that can potentially spy on your entire system (AMD Platform Security Processor, Intel Management Engine)
hkarthik 6y ago
Electric assist bikes. I don't have one yet but I've rented them in SF before. They make biking in a hilly city a far more enjoyable experience. If the cost falls enough to be on part with a normal bike in a few years, I suspect everyone will start riding them and cars will be less prevalent for short trips.
- quickthrower2 6y ago
  I rented one once and I suspect the electric was just compensating for the bike weight (unliftable so I’m guessing 40kg or more!) so I can’t imagine hoe good they are on a lighter bike.
dividead 6y ago
my first mp3 player (2gb) after audio CDs - more songs - more playtime on a single AA battery - smaller size
h2odragon 6y ago
Voodoo 1 graphics. A whole separate card, for one game? wtf is "OpenGL"? ... then sit down in a Quake deathmatch for a second and its "I never realized how much i needed this until i saw it"
quickthrower2 6y ago
SSD is the obvious one. Robot things. Robot mop/vac and robot pool cleaner. iPhone. My first was the 3GS. The standard IBM PC form factor thing. Might have started with 286 processors in 90s? Drones Solar cells becoming economical enough to bolt onto your house Dyson vs. traditional vacuum cleaners at the time (the competition weren’t interested in losing their bag selling biz) Skis apparently used to be heavy and hard to ski in but now they are all easier but the technique changed. How damn cheap consumer products are. I remember when owning a kitchen appliance was a big thing. Now we have too many! Possibly the M1 processor but I’m not an apple “non phone computer” person so not sure. GPS getting into phones, killing the sat nav market.

Ask HN: What are some “10x” *hardware* product innovations you have experienced?

17 points by supernova87a 6y ago

Since we have the 10x software thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26477507), I'm interested to have us all recall the hardware innovations too!

theriddlr 6y ago

GoPros. I saw mountain biking videos from the 90s and the riders were wearing CAMCORDERS on their helmets.

ecesena 6y ago

Arduino for opening up a world of makers Smart light bulbs in terms of daily usage (turning off lights from bed without standing again) 1/10x: usb-c, e-ink

tmaly 6y ago

I have to say the IPad is pretty amazing. 20 years ago we had palm pilots, but those are no where near what the IPad has become.

dopeboy 6y ago

Love the thread idea. For me, it's gotta be: * Smart phones. I felt this sense of immersion I never got before. * Bullet trains (specifically the Shinkansen in Japan). Felt like I was flying at ground level. * Electric cars. I rented a Model 3 once and more than the speed and responsiveness, it was the lack of noise when accelerating. Felt like the wind picked up all of sudden and everything is coming near very fast.

joshxyz 6y ago

3g to 4g good lord.

aksss 6y ago

optical mice - anyone remember cleaning mouse balls? led lighting

tmaly 6y ago
Wow that brought back memories. I use to clean mine daily.
radley 6y ago
+1 the Logitech MX Master mouse with lots of buttons
- moistbar 6y ago
  And TWO scroll wheels!
nullserver 6y ago
Or the ones that required a special grid mouse pad.
quickthrower2 6y ago
The old bang bang bang, grunt, sigh then get a tissue for the gunk then temporarily castrate the mouse to clean it out. Yes.

radley 6y ago

Some early Apple stuff: Powerbook 100 - first Mac notebook (still black & white) QuickTake 100 - first Apple digital camera Macintosh Quadra 840AV - first Mac with built-in video in / out

supernova87a 6y ago

I remember how computer power supplies used to be the size of your foot and weigh a brick. Now they're less than a pack of playing cards, and cell phone chargers are the size of a finger. Someone told me it was because of higher frequency voltage conversion silicon that this became possible?

lazylizard 6y ago

maybe too literal...10bt, 100bt, 1gbe, 10gbe...unfortunately I've never used 100gbe before... 3g > the stuff that came before? fiber last mile > adsl,whatever else at the time adsl > dial up(esp if u skipped isdn?) ssd > hdd lcd vs crt wrt size n weight? usb3 > usb2 > usb1 aes, avx n other extensions > without them? gpu > cpu for btc mining n stuff

__d 6y ago

My first computer had a 2MHz CPU; my current has roughly 4GHz (2000x faster). My first computer had an 8 bit CPU; my current has 64 bits (8x, so ... could try harder :-) My first computer had a single core; my current has 16 cores (so 16x). My first computer had 32KB RAM; my current has 32GB RAM (so, 1,000,000x). My first computer with a hard drive had 30MB; my current has 32TB (so, roughly 1,000,000x) My first computer had 640x400 pixels (kinda); my current has dual 3840x2160 pixels (so ... 32x) My first computer network was 1Mbps Ethernet; my current has 10GbE (so, 10,000x) 10x? That's nearly nothing ...

quickthrower2 6y ago
I think the 10x means an immediate 10x over the competition rather than moores law doing its thing. For example the apple m1 might be this (I’m not an expert). 10x might mean in terms of perceived value not just raw metrics. The idea is that you kill the competitor immediately because it’s so good. It’s like why get a taxi when Uber is cheaper, comes quicker, doesn’t rip you off by going the long way and has an app (taxi companies had to catch up on the app part). Subjectively that’s 10x taxis!

schappim 6y ago

WebUSB Postage Label Printer and WebUSB Postage Scales[1]: - No OS based printer queue to get gummed up - Super-fast (just ZPL printer commands being sent down the wire) - One-click to create a postage label - Automatic label printing when a new order comes in (Websocket + WebUSB) We used to create labels by copying and pasting between Shopify and Australia Post. This hardware saves us ~4min per parcel. [1] https://chickcom.com/hardware https://chickcom.com/hardware

the_only_law 6y ago
WebUSB in general was crazy to me, then I found out there was a WebHID and serial port API available and suddenly something I was looking at making a kernel driver for could be a web app???

beforeolives 6y ago

Moving from a 13 inch laptop to 2 large monitors. You don't realise how much the screen space affects the way you think.

yen223 6y ago

GPS and especially cameras on our smartphones are massive gamechangers

nospy4312 6y ago

Powerful 22-core, 18-core server-grade systems with fully open firmware and hardware, fully open BMC, with PCIe 4.0, DDR4 memory with ECC and other modern features [1]. They are FSF RYF (Respects Your Freedom) certified [2]. Truly FOSS hardware. Quite affordable too. I think not many have heard of it. They have fully FOSS desktop processors too (4-core, 8-core). [1] https://www.raptorcs.com/ https://www.raptorcs.com/ [2] https://ryf.fsf.org/vendors/raptor https://ryf.fsf.org/vendors/raptor More info: [3] https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/Main_Page https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/Main_Page [4] https://www.talospace.com/ https://www.talospace.com/ [5] #talos-workstation on IRC, where people using these systems daily hangout. Accessible through the Element Matrix app IRC bridge too. Now idk whether that's innovation, but it's a big thing IMO. AMD, Intel and ARM have proprietary bits in them that can potentially spy on your entire system (AMD Platform Security Processor, Intel Management Engine)

hkarthik 6y ago

Electric assist bikes. I don't have one yet but I've rented them in SF before. They make biking in a hilly city a far more enjoyable experience. If the cost falls enough to be on part with a normal bike in a few years, I suspect everyone will start riding them and cars will be less prevalent for short trips.

quickthrower2 6y ago
I rented one once and I suspect the electric was just compensating for the bike weight (unliftable so I’m guessing 40kg or more!) so I can’t imagine hoe good they are on a lighter bike.

dividead 6y ago

my first mp3 player (2gb) after audio CDs - more songs - more playtime on a single AA battery - smaller size

h2odragon 6y ago

Voodoo 1 graphics. A whole separate card, for one game? wtf is "OpenGL"? ... then sit down in a Quake deathmatch for a second and its "I never realized how much i needed this until i saw it"

quickthrower2 6y ago

SSD is the obvious one. Robot things. Robot mop/vac and robot pool cleaner. iPhone. My first was the 3GS. The standard IBM PC form factor thing. Might have started with 286 processors in 90s? Drones Solar cells becoming economical enough to bolt onto your house Dyson vs. traditional vacuum cleaners at the time (the competition weren’t interested in losing their bag selling biz) Skis apparently used to be heavy and hard to ski in but now they are all easier but the technique changed. How damn cheap consumer products are. I remember when owning a kitchen appliance was a big thing. Now we have too many! Possibly the M1 processor but I’m not an apple “non phone computer” person so not sure. GPS getting into phones, killing the sat nav market.