Hacker News Reader

Comment by alias_neo | Hacker News Reader

I absolutely love their design language. I'll never have a need to own any of their products but I wish I could buy the gadgets I do need/want with this kind of design/style.

View on HN

Reminds me of the time I swapped out the main headlight of my Volvo 850. It required no tools, merely pulling on some large sprung wires with convenient finger rings. It had a very Lego friendliness to the whole process. Lego of course is Danish, Volvo (at the time) and TE being Swedish.

In a very similar fashion, I was pleasantly surprised that I can tear down every mechanical part of my Dyson cordless vacuum to wash them without a single tool.

On the subject of Volvo, I'm shortlisting the Polestar 2 as a candidate for my next car.

Saab says hello

I don't need to own my OP-1, but I'm glad I do. It makes me happy every time I look at it.

The OP-1 is one of those products that makes me want to change my entire lifestyle and personality just so I could possibly justify owning it.

It's just so neat.

I have sold and bought the OP-1 twice now. At one point, I tried to replace my DAW and synths workflow with the single OP-1 unit. It didn't work. Three years later, I missed the OP-1 sounds and bought it on a whim, but I realized again how limited the sound palette is and its ability to work alongside non-OP-1 instruments. Both times, its aesthetic appeal and aspirational dream won over the rational me. It is a cool device. I will stick to Ableton Live, a few synths, and a midi controller.

The TX-6 is appealing to the gadget nerd in me...

That is so shallow. Also, I feel exactly the same way.

You have to make sure where it's coming from - which of course we can't do from a single comment. For example, the best place where it could be coming from is self-expression. Owning and using something can be cultivating a relationship with oneself and also a signal for others, and if it's genuine, then it's basically communication of a very valid human need, which is self-expression and seeking the validation for it, thereby validation for oneself's existence and affiliation.

yeah plus it's sexy

I'm so jealous. It's the one thing I lust after but can't justify. I wish I could rent one and see how bad it twists the knife towards pulling the credit card out.

It's always depressing to look back on the time I hopped on a backorder list for one then gave up after months of waiting only to have them gradually get more and more expensive when restocked. I really wanted to get one early on but dear lord they are so expensive now days.

If the people who design the atrocious touch screen interfaces inside of cars could get educated by the nice people at teenage engineering, that would be swell.

I was just watching some reviews of electric cars and noticed a tendency to remove all tactility.

Some of the models have "touch" buttons for drive mode, and things like environmental controls being touch or on screens is horrid.

It's bad enough having to look away from the road for a fraction of a second to find the AC switch in my Nissan, these newer "solutions" just feel plain unsafe.

Don't worry- it's ok if you look away from the road to navigate the air conditioning menu because the automatic pedestrian and obstruction sensing camera will stop the car for you!

There was a collaboration with IKEA, where teenage engineering designed the bluetooth loudspeakers. I have the big ones (10x20cm) and they are alright for a small room or to take with you to the garden. Nice but nothing special. The tiny ones for 19€ were really something - nice design, good sound for the size and price, and really, having a rotating knob on such a small stylish thing feels just great.

IKEA Frekvens. Link: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/23/21079667/ikea-teenage-eng...

The Panic Playdate they designed just came out, if you're in the market for a $200 game machine it might be suitable.

Yeah definitely feel the same way about wishing this design language and approach was applied to everyday tools and objects.

Reminds me of the nicer things that IKEA makes. Its pleasant and calming. Those Swedish people know what they are doing. :)

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/new/frekvens-limited-collection-p...

Their website shows heavy influence from Swiss design, [1] with grid-based layouts and ragged-right lowercase grotesque type. I actually haven't seen such a textbook example since Microsoft's Metro. [2]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Typographic_Styl...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_(design_language)

You can get their headset for cheap! That's what I did. And also the Playdate, although it's not cheap.

I'm pretty sure you can't get the Playdate, unless by get you mean pre-order for delivery in 2023.

Me too. They are aping the Rams look as well as Ive/Apple did at their best, and now Apple doesn't do it any longer.

> Rams look

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Rams

IKEA actually sold a bluetooth speaker for a while designed by TE. I got two of them. They are excellent.

PS: anyone want a used Sonos?

Whatever all this stuff is does look good, but the website doesn't do a good job of explaining what it is, IMO. I know this is because I'm not their target market, but maybe they'd bring me into that market if they did a bit of explaining somewhere on the site of why I might be interested in their gear?

Right at the very beginning:

> ultra-portable pro-mixer and audio interface.

TX–6 is our ultra-portable, battery-powered mixer and multi-channel audio interface. comparable to larger units, but with even more tech packed into one sturdy little machine.

I’d say that’s pretty damn clear what it is and that it’s “ultra portable.” What were you expecting them to add?

Lots of people don’t know what a mixer or audio interface is.

And those people definitely aren't in the market for a $1200 audio interface. If you don't own several pieces of gear already, this device has literally no use. If you do own several pieces of gear and want to record and mix them simultaneously, a $1200 interface is not going to be the first one you purchase.

Sure, but people who know all had to learn eventually.

I often find myself wondering what a product or service is for not being a target customer in the know.

It would be nice if there were more instances of products telling people who don’t know what they are.

It is a specialized tool for a specific set of tasks. If you don't even know what this (very clearly named and commonly known in the industry/hobby) type of a tool is used for, you definitely don't have a need for it.

Your issue with it is akin to someone complaining that a promo page for a premium-tier oscillator clearly states that it is an oscillator, but doesn't explain what oscillators are and what they can be used for.

It's not an iPod, it won't be advertised to a general audience. People that visit the TE website will usually have heard about it from word of mouth.

That's wouldn't really be possible. You'd have to have audio equipment to be interested in an audio interface. Trying to sell outside that market doesn't really make sense.

It would be like trying to convince someone without a camera to buy your camera lens.

Imagine if Jetbrains tried to define everything on this page: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/features/

You’d run out of room. At some point you have to assume your audience knows what the words mean.

To convince someone to buy a camera lens, you might first convince them to buy a camera.

If you don't know what a mixer/audio interface is, you don't need or want one

Reply on news.ycombinator.com