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Comment by guyzero | Hacker News Reader

In addition to the incredible engineering work here the OP casually flexes by showing the development happening _in an economy class airplane seat_.

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This is the most incredible part. I cannot even use a laptop adequately in an economy class seat, I cannot position the screen so that I could see it, and the keyboard so that I could type on it, at the same time. (To say nothing of connecting a Wii.)

I struggle so much to even comfortably play a handheld video game system on a plane, let alone use a laptop (I have also tried that) that I've mostly given up on even trying and just line up a few albums on my phone to listen to and close my eyes as much as possible.

I can't imagine trying to program on a laptop with an external device, even something as portable and small as a phone, on a plane. I expect my frustration and frequently bumping things about would mean I'd get nothing done aside from having a bad time.

Get a pair of XR glasses. I bought some Viture glasses a few years ago and they have been perfect for flights.

Indeed, the cost of decent good XR glasses is less than the cost of upgrade to the business class on a flight!

And the guy next to him is just staring at his phone, probably thinking, "I'm not even gonna ask".

Although if it were me I'd probably annoy the heck out of him asking why he had a Wii on the airplane!

Looks like a Switch 2 actually.

You're totally right, it's a Switch 2.

I don’t get it, how is he getting OS X running “on a Wii” on a Switch 2?

It's what the guy next to him has.

Which means no access to Claude.

Can’t wait for his sequel “I received a Cease and Desist Letter from Apple; Feeling encouraged, I registered the trademark ‘Wii subsystem for macOS’”.

"I've now received my Cease and Desist letter from Nintendo over their Wii trademark. Feeling encouraged, I've written a full seven-world Super Mario Brothers sequel for macOS on the Wii that I've titled 'Newer Super Mario Brothers Wii Subsystem for macOS'"

Why would there be no access to Claude?

I mean, you need WiFi, and that's definitely a roll of the die on flights. But the last flight I had had WiFi, and the gal who sat next to me was vibe coding something.

Meanwhile I was taking photos of the seat back infotainment system's map, which showed our ETA as being before we left. Sadly, we did not time travel.

I was on a flight next to someone vibe coding on Cursor via Starlink the other day. It was my first flight with Starlink.

You and GP must live in the Bay area. Not once in my life have I seen someone coding on a plane, let alone next to me.

I’m east coast but I just use LSP and a local environment - no need for WiFi or anything like that to get work (or fun) done

Nope. The flight was from California (not the Bay) to a popular resort destination.

I can't imagine concentrating on a complicated project like that on the go, but I went back to stare in awe at said picture and I think its a train or bus. Still a flex.

Still looks like a plane to me, with rows of 2-3-2 seats.

There are definitely no buses that wide.

My Wii has been on many planes and trains - and yes, there is a photo of each in my post.

There are buses that wide, for example those used in airports.

The picture with the black seats in on a train and the one with the green seats is on a plane.

It seems a bus to me, just look at the size of the windows. Airplanes don't have windows like that..

because of the mix of boredom, very shoddy internet that drops constantly and ANC earbuds removing distractions, I often find myself getting in the zone while riding the train back home from the office. As the kids say, I lock in

I think it is a bus maybe? I can see out a window over some seats, and the overhead compartments don't really look like ones i've seen before.

That being said, that is absolutely amazing they brought a wii where ever they were going to write and debug this while traveling! That is dedication!

EDIT: nvm, there are multiple pictures of them traveling. First one looks bus like, second one look like an airplane.

At first I thought it might be a train. “Surely he’s not doing that on a plane“.

Once he showed he went to Hawaii my idea made slightly less sense.

Apple had a commercial about this a million years ago, where a guy decides to edit a video on a plane.

https://youtu.be/LQWjxAdSsHE

Huh - I know Apple’s first PowerBook 100 had an ad with Shaq on a plane, and then later one with Yao Ming… I guess Apple really wanted to crack the “I’m working on a plane damn it” market?

That stood out to me as well. Specifically: how did he power the Wii?

Many planes have AC power outlets, the Wii uses <20W.

I'm sure an external version exists too, but USB-PD makes some amazing things possible: https://shop.giltesa.com/product/nintendo-wii-usb-c-kit/

In one of the pictures, the laptop is on his tray, and the wii is on the tray of the seat next to him, and that seat looks empty. So the wii got its own airplane seat?

Imagine if he was developing it on a laptop found at a refuse site that was still charged, just hiding in the hedge so that guards wouldn't see him.

What's flex-worthy about this? There's a lot of dev work that goes on in economy class airplane seats. Or are VC valley programmers so rich they fly business everywhere?

It's uncomfortable and awkward (the Wii was on his leg in the first shot), and often you need to break concentration and pack things up to let someone out of or into their seat.

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