I'm looking for things that help more than expected or in ways you wouldn't expect. It could be a second monitor, a really good mouse or even a microplane.
The switch from a mechanical HDD to a SDD was the biggest gain in performance I've seen from any piece of hardware. I still remember the time when HDDs were the norm and the agony of waiting on loading/accessing something from disk was real.
A good dishwasher.
I resisted getting one for years because the one I had growing up was pretty bad. Nothing would dry, items would come out dirty all the time and it was loud and would "chug" for hours.
However, a good (not even fancy, just mid-range from a competent manufacturer) modern dishwasher is night and day. Doesn't even need special tablets, it just gets things clean, even on the eco mode, which is the only one I use. Its not the quietest on the market by a dB or two, but its basically not noticeable.
So much better than having a huge pile of dishes taking up the entire draining rack until dry enough to put away, getting splashed with more water every time the sink is used (and the water is medium-hard so that makes a mess, but the dishwasher has a water softener).
The latest iPad Mini.
It was meant to be a Moleskine replacement. I draw a lot but I can't carry all sorts of pencils with me.
I made it a dedicated drawing and reading device. No notifications, no emails, etc.
Holy moly is it good. Procreate and Notability are incredible apps. Having different pens, layers and an undo button is fantastic. It replaced the paper pad next to my computer, as well as my Moleskine.
The size is perfect. I carry that thing everywhere. I rarely leave the house without it.
The best part is that it asks nothing of me. It never bothers me or does things worse than what it replaces.
Oh and fully committing to USB-C. It saves a lot of luggage space, and everything is a power bank.
An Intel Optane NVME SSD. <10µs latency for both reads and writes even at low queue depths. There are newer NVME SSDs with more IOPS, but only at high queue depths, and their latency is a lot worse. If you put your swap on your Optane drive, you can use hundreds of gigs of swap without making your machine unresponsive. Makes a great place to put a database too.
Check out this screenshot http://db48x.net/temp/Screenshot%20from%202019-12-09%2013-27...
See where it says “avio 3.53µs” and “avq 0.61”? That’s 284,000 IOPS even with nothing queued up. With any other drive you would be lucky to get a tenth of that at QD1. Even better, this is a mixed read and write workload; most drives are fastest when you are only reading or only writing.
This might not be what you want to hear (i.e. too little tech), but here's a list from Bruce Sterling's talk at Reboot 11 (2009) [1] that stuck with me:
* Number one, a bed. You're spending a third of your life in the thing.
* Get a chair. I shouldn't have to tell people who work with computers to get a chair.
* (things that go on your skin like clothes and cosmetics)
* Apart from that, beautiful things, emotional things, tools.
His (minimalist) message is to get rid of everything else.
[1] https://www.wired.com/2011/02/transcript-of-reboot-11-speech...
My ZSA Moonlander keyboard [1].
When I bought it, I was just looking for a sleeker and more ergonomic keyboard with a split design, but the ability to easily reconfigure every key on the layout brought a new meaning to the word "ergonomic" for me.
It means that when a particular motion or shortcut that I frequently use is puts too much strain on my hands, I can simply change the layout to make the keys more natural too use. And it's just an overall incredibly well made product.
Air purifiers and air monitors. It is shocking and disgusting how much dust and particles these air purifiers suck out of the air. The air monitors detect when to open windows for CO2, among other things.
My allergies no longer exist.
Edit: A few people have asked for recommendations. I recommend the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH for larger spaces and Blueair Blue Pure 411 for smaller spaces. For the air monitor I have the Qingping.
I've spent a long time engineering, and adapting my workspace. It's at the point now that going to an office is a horrible experience, compared to my home office. Here's my setup
* Ikea Standing desk (I never sit). I know plenty of people who use these for sitting, simply because the height of the desk is finally suited to their specific frame.
* As many monitors as will make you happy (to each their own, but I'm happy with 2)
* Kinesys Freestyle 2 keyboard (wired, I hate wireless things, I never want to think about batteries)
* A laptop stand to lift my laptop - it turns out this made an enormous impact to my neck
* Monitor stands - most monitors are stationary, but the wrong height, even when compared with arm layout in an ergonomic setup.
* Kensington Expert Mouse
* Wacom One tablet - Now I can draw on digital whiteboards in Zoom, or even on shared websites and it's significantly better than the mouse experience.
* Sony WX-1000XM3 headphones - I use it for both music and the noise cancelling. Just having in on an cancelling noise has been an incredible improvement
* Whiteboard - This is by far the most important one in this list.
Midi devices. I have lots of the cheap ones for controlling my software with hardware wheels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umO-Bwzl3f0
I also control software like blender using those, even my emacs use that. It is always in the same place and once you learn it, you are so fast.
I also use sheets of paper and color pens.
If a microplane counts as "hardware", then I can't not bring up my whetstone!
Cost all of around $40, is a genuine joy to use, and keeps all of my knives sharper-than-sharp.
I started out with a very expensive knife (Wusthof classic 8", around US$150 or so at the time) but nothing to sharpen it with, and this was a mistake.
If I could do it again I'd recommend young cooks on a budget start out with a $20 IKEA knife and a stone to keep it sharp. You'll get better long term results than you would with an expensive knife on its own any day of the week.
The Apple Watch surprised me in how much awareness of my health it generated - mainly how much and what quality sleep I was getting, but also other general signals. It helped me pay more attention and make some good health improvements. Presumably any other smart watch offers similar benefits.
A subwoofer.
No matter how high end your headphones, bookshelf speakers, or studio monitors are, they will never be able to punch you in the chest in quite the same way as a decently sized dedicated subwoofer.
It's a night-and-day difference for listening to music and watching movies, or even just listening to human voices in youtube videos.
Just, be careful not to bother your neighbours with it.
A tiling window manager. I settled on dwm. It helps me utilize more of my monitor. Gone are the days of overlaying windows, everything is front and center, and on it's own virtual desktop.
A non-mechanical keyboard. I moved off of cherry style switches, and went with a topre clone. For me, the cherry mechanism makes too much noise when keys return back up. For me it was high pitched noise. A much more thocky keyboard actually keeps me from having noise induced headaches on heavy typing days.
Blue light reduction apps on phones, tablets, and monitor and blue light reduction coating on glasses. This removed a ton of eyestrain. Yes, my phone and iPad now have a reddish brown hue to them, but most of the time, I don't care. I hardly notice it anymore unless I use my partners device.
A color accurate monitor (with a good reader/blue light reduction mode). Having a monitor that wasn't close to having correct colors, even across the panel was maddening. Old LCD monitors are the worst. I don't need color correctness all the time, so the monitor needs a good mode to turn down the blueness. Having a setting in the monitor makes it a breeze to switch back and forth as needed.
* An ereader (Kindle, now Kobo)
* Stadler Form George air washer. Not a full on humidifier, but does help keep humidity up in my dry bedroom. Also judging by the state of the water during my weekly cleaning it really does help to "clean" the air somewhat.
* More recently, a high quality drying rack (inspired by the drying rack article linked here a few weeks ago). Helps me keep humidity up in my apartment and prevents me from trying to hang partly-moist laundry on my doors. In general makes laundry day a lot more tolerable. Didn't realize it'd make such a difference to laundry satisfaction.
* A Roomba, currently S9 with the self-empty base that I've had for a couple of years.
* A Litter Robot. No more scooping, cats always have a fresh box.
Make your own giant, the entire wall, whiteboard for practically nothing. Go to your local lumber, home building supply store and purchase "laminated particle board, shower wall panels". Last time I did this, they were about US $23 for a 6'x9' panel. Two of these completely cover an ordinary single bed sized room from wall to wall. I just drill the thing right into the wall, and grab white-board markers. I showed the building maintenance manager this trick at an animation studio I worked, and in a week the entire studio's walls, every wall, became a whiteboard. Scribbling ideas, any idea, on one's wall is liberating.
Open ear headphones that use what they describe as bone conduction technology really added some value to my life. It's tough to go running in normal headphones because you can't hear danger (cars, animals, people, etc) but it's a lot easier to push yourself with some good background music. This gives the best of both worlds.
1) Got rid of my second monitor and use just one 27” 4K monitor. My neck feels better and I’m less scatter brained.
2) whenever possible, I try to buy used pro/prosumer/premium things. They will usually last for years and years, be more comfortable/pleasurable in use and will be repairable/maintainable when they do break down.
Long, LONG ago I got a MicroSolutions 300 Megabyte External Hard drive, you could plug it in to a parallel printer port, boot the driver disk, and BAM... all of your tools were available.
A decade ago, I got my first SSD drives, those were game changers. Boot times dropped like a rock, and performance went through the roof.
I got a 32" HDMI monitor just before Covid hit... I'm VERY glad I did so. I've been stuck at home with Long Covid for almost 2 years now, it makes it so much easier to see what's going on. It was well worth the money.
As for software, GIT is the best thing since Turbo Pascal. I assume you use it already.
Oh, and consider getting a 3d printer of some form, along with a CNC router. Those might come in handy for home projects.
A set of cheap magsafe style USB connectors for MicroUSB and USB-C
I ruined one wireless headset by ripping out the usb socket from the PCB after tripping over the charging wire. After getting a replacement I put the "magsafe" micro USB connector in and not only is it trip safe now, charging is soo much easier since the cable can be oriented either way.
After that unexpected success I also outfittet my MX Anywhere and my Kindle with them and just throw a few in my laptop bag for use on the go or to share with other people.
The new GaN transistor power brick charger thingies. Surprisingly small with high power output means no more carrying around a huge laptop power brick. Anker sells them on amazon under the “Nano II” brand
Some things for me:
- A large water bottle. I don't drink enough water and this has been game changing for me. I first got a 1 gallon (which I never finished) water bottle but learned that .5 gallon is the right size and I always finish it and often refill. I'd say pick one that meets your needs, but I've tested a number and can highly recommend this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094X6N4PG/ It's easy to carry, has a built-in straw and cheap ($20).
- Multiple MacBook chargers. I purchased additional charger for my MacBook Pro at different parts of the house where I sit for long periods of time. Not having to go get my bag and dig out a charger is surprisingly rewarding.
- A second set of AirPods so I have one dedicated for work and one for the gym that I keep in my bag, rather than occasionally forgetting them. It also helps that I can swamp pairs if I have a particularly long day of meetings.
- A robust case for my MacBook Pro. I take my MacBook to and from the office, use it all around the house and have small kids. I've been through multiple cases, including the sleek expensive ones. For me, nothing beats this cheap one I found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083XZ3HP3/
- A rowing machine. The latest Concept 2 is ~$900 which is surprisingly cheap for a great workout I can do at how and relatively quietly while listening to a podcast or watching a game.
- A lapdesk. I use this daily and have multiple around the house wherever I end up sitting. They have fancy ones, but I've found the simple one is the best: just a piece of wood and a pillow: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K1L3RNK/
Some great answers here.
Mine: Air Pods Pro. Takes the edge off of traffic and other city noises while walking around. Makes it easier to consume audiobooks/podcasts. Plane/bus/train trips++.
Wool pants, shorts (with gussets) and boxer briefs (Wool and Prince). Gussets make movement easier (walking) and wool pants/shorts go longer between washes. BB can be hand washed in sinks while traveling and dry quickly. Bonus, you can wear wool wet in a pinch. Magic stuff.
Wool t-shirts from Duckworth.
Tilley Hat for beating the heat (SPF 50) (again, great for walking or biking). With straps so it doesn’t fly off in the wind. Handsome looks, not (that) dorky.
Brompton folding bike. Resisted this for years because I love non-folders but this thing feels like a proper bike, better even. Get it with a generator hub and lights and the six speed gearing (absolutely fine for hills, like in San Francisco).
USB-C 20 watt charger for the iPhone. My goodness this thing charges the phone (12 Pro Max) fast. Worth the money.
Thanks for listening.
About ten years ago, I lived in an area where power outages were a common occurrence, sometimes lasting up to a week. Naturally, during those times, I found it necessary to own some sort of flashlight or headlamp, along with whatever batteries it took. Unfortunately, being that this was in rural America, all of the available headlamps (coleman/energizer/craft, at walmart, at lowes, at DG, etc) are of such low-quality that they basically start out being trash. As a rule, they take three AAA's, and also, as a rule, they flicker out all the time so you have to give a technical-tap every few minutes to jiggle the loose connections, and that's when they're actually working. Over the course of two years, I went through five headlamps. I had one explode on my forehead after only five minutes of use.
It made me very sad, that we as a species appeared to have forgotten how to build a simple apparatus consisting of a light-bulb, a switch, batteries and wires. So then I got a Fenix. It's machined out of a single block of aluminum and it takes 18650 cells instead of triple A's. I've used it on a regular basis for the last decade and it still works every time I need it, the whole time I need it. No more technical taps.
A simple Pok3r mechanical keyboard, I think mine has blue Cherry switches. I recently changed to an even cheaper (ca. $40) mechanical tenkeyless. People might flame me for saying this, but it really doesn't matter to which mechanical keyboard you switch when you're used to cheap rubberdome keyboards. Typing is so much better on any of them.
Herman Miller Aeron (Remastered). It's a hefty price if you look at 'regular' chairs, but once you have had one for a while, you can't go back to anything else. The amount of time you spend in that chair is insane. So, naturally, that, and whatever it takes to get good sleep.
Also, a Logitech MX Master 2S, again because I use it all day, every day. They tend to become a bit stiffer over time it seems like, so I've had to replace them occasionally, but far, far better than Apple's approaches to mice or touchpads.
I finally gave in to reality and got reading glasses for coding. Didn't realize how much I was suffering.
A bunch of 1L glass bottles with wide openings so that they're easy to clean in the dishwasher - has reduced the friction to getting enough water in, and I can't remember the last time I felt that type of tiredness that comes from dehydration.
BenQ ScreenBar Plus - It's just a light that goes on top of your monitor, but it makes working much more pleasant. There's probably a clone that's cheaper and does the same thing, but I'd buy this one again without hesitation.
About $200 worth of home workout stuff (exercise mat, adjustable dumbbells, resistance bands, pullup bar) - I had to stop running for a while due to some injuries and I hate going to the gym, so this has been a game changer in terms of staying fit.
The 3dFX Voodoo2 - amazing leap in 3D gaming
The oculus quest 2 - VR for the masses, so much fun, actually works well for the first time without $$$
The Intel Core CPU - multi core computing for the masses, huge performance and efficiency gains over prior gen merging pentium M tech
Most recently Apple Silicon, specifically the Apple M1 MacBook Air:
- it runs dead silent
- it runs cool on my lap
- it has a tiny charger
- but mostly the performance blows away all non plugged in laptops besides other m1s and most desktops consuming many more watts at much higher temps and noise level
Its amazing how much a difference having full performance while on battery makes compared to x86 counterparts. I was a linux on thinkpad guy for years but this made me flip back fullstop.
Dishwasher. Never really had one growing up, and never managed to rent an apartment with one, or one that worked. I'm now finally in a place with a working dishwasher, and it makes life so much easier. I don't feel guilty about not doing dishes immediately after using them (I only have a set for 2, so if I don't clean it immediately, I'll quickly run out of usable dishes in a day.)
Folding Shopping Carts. Literally only had a car for the past 3 years so I could go grocery shopping (Before pandemic, took train to work. Parking wasn't free.) Now that I live in a place near a grocery store, I purchased a shopping cart, and don't really need the car anymore, which I sold last year. So, I don't care about gas prices, don't have to worry about maintenance, no insurance, and most importantly, I don't have to worry about parking!
Ethernet cabling in the house, esp to desk and TV. Nice to avoid all wifi problems .
Makita Brushless 5amp drill combo set. I have used a wide variety of battery powered drills and drivers for decades. If you do a lot of home projects building things, you will use these tools often. Never was dissatisfied with other brands (Ryobi, Bosch), but decided to treat myself one year as I believe Makita Brushless is top of the line today and I wanted more powerful batteries. Best decision ever. So much power, the 5 amp batteries last so long. I have driven 1/2 x 6 inch lag bolts into fence posts with the driver and it did not complain. Just an amazing upgrade (notably because of the 5 amp batteries). If you are starting out building a tool set, splurge and get these. Just remember to store them in your house not the garage as heat/cold cycles can really reduce the batteries cycle count. Only negative is that the driver is so powerful one must be careful when driving smaller screws. Also, spend the extra money to get a good set of bits. I went with Makita for this as well, and the bits are very, very good relative to the many, many others I have used (Dewalt, Milwaukie, etc.) Links (I bought the drill/driver set at a good price thru Amazon with the smaller/lighter drill which proved a very good decision for me): https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/XT269T https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/E-01644
It is a bit of a combo, but the Blackmagic eGPU was way underrated and slept on.
I use the standard Blackmagic eGPU. But the Pro, Vega 56, (which was removed from sale) still offers the greatest __Apple supported__ graphics performance available for non-pro macs. IIRC, the most beefcake macbook pros don't beat performance on that Apple-supported eGPU that only runs with Intel machines.
There were many voices saying the dollars per performance weren't there, but they did not take into account the silent design and excellent stability of those products. Nor that there would be such a long wait for any officially supported alternative to get graphics to the Mini.
I started with a 4k but then went up to the XDR Pro Display on the 2018 Mac Mini. It remains a monster setup in a small, near-silent footprint.
I really enjoyed getting a mechanical keyboard (Keychron K2), it has a really nice typing experience when compared to membrane keyboards. There's something to the tactile + sound feedback that triggers some emotional response in us, it just feels good.
It also improved my posture a lot from writing on a laptop (but for this objective, any keyboard would do the job ofc).
A QMK or a similar programmable keyboard. Often found in mechanical ones. I believe QMK supports 32 layers. So far I've only needed 4 or 5 but the boost in productivity is night and day.
Wireless charger - it doesn't really save time, and I still have a ton of cables everywhere, but it totally eliminates battery anxiety and provides a surprising amount of peace of mind. Obviously, you have to have hardware that's capable of charging wirelessly, but it's becoming more common these days. Also, you never lose your phone anymore.
Ebook readers - I've been using them for years, and recent models with flat bezels are very much designed to break, but it makes reading electronic documents so much nicer than bright backlit screens. I've resigned myself to buying a new one every year until the technology comes out of patent and readers get nice unbreakable screens like modern cellphones.
Retractable metal poker - got this off Amazon for my weed paraphernalia, listed as a metal toothpick. It's incredibly useful and has saved my ass countless times. Need to poke that reset button? Scrape some gunk out of a USB port? Clean your nails? It's good for everything except picking your teeth, which is just unnerving.
Fridge-magnet box opener - not really a game-changer, but very convenient!
Tennis balls.
I get a lot of shoulder and neck pain and I don’t know how I managed before I discovered tennis balls for working out knots in my upper back. I lay on one, and move it around until I find the knots causing muscle strain in my neck. They have just the right firmness to give ratio to really work on tough knots near my shoulder blade that I used to use wall corners to try to work out.
A floor heating pad. $30 and my feet will never be cold at the computer again!
It's a fairly recent buy so I don't know how much impact it'll have, but I'm quite happy with my new keyboard without numeric keypad (they're also sold as "tenkeyless"). I never use the numpad, so this means my mouse is closer to my body and it's all more ergonomic.
The list could be very long, but here are a few things which I have started using lately and which have proved more useful than expected:
- A dish draining rack: that's very inexpensive and I'm wasting way less time and space than before arranging dishes.
- A vertical desktop file sorter: exactly the same thing, but for papers.
- Thin, fingerless gloves I can type with: while this has not solved my dry hands problem in winter, it has helped a lot.
- Monitor and speakers stands: that has bought me a lot of desk real estate.
- Pan lids: cooking is faster, smells less, and consumes less energy; also some food is less dry.
And the thing I've been using for a few years now, but which has been waaaay above my expectations:
- A headset with ANC and multipoint Bluetooth: a real life changer for work, gaming and phone calls; the most expensive item in this list, but definitely worth the price for me.
I remember when my husband brought a TiVo 1.0 to the house and hooked it up. This was 1999. I didn't understand why I'd need one.
Within a few days, I couldn't live without it. I could pause Live TV, and watch shows when I wanted to. I can't imagine any other way. When I see my 88 year old mother watching "live" TV, I get frustrated.
The second piece of hardware that was a "game changer" was a Toto Neorest toilet. No more wiping!
A mmotorized standing desk. Clamp style monitor mounts. A laptop mount adapter for the VESA bracket.
Bone conduction headphones. I can wear these all day and not feel my ears hurt.
A Samsung Galaxy S7 Plus tablet. It's got the most screen size for any tablet and I love reading tech books on it.
A kindle Oasis. I've used the Kindle Touch and Paperwhite but the Oasis is something else.
A grill-style sandwich maker. I can heat up anything and grill just about anything with it. It's amazing.
Because a knee injury has prevented me from running, which was my go-to exercise previously (and because it’s too cold and snowy right now to cycle), I purchased a kettle bell on a whim. I find working out with it is much more enjoyable and challenging than I expected. It’s super small and compact, so it takes up no space in my home, and it is always there in my office waiting for me whenever I need to blow off some stress.
If you play an instrument as a hobby:
A proper König & Meyer sheet music holder (10068).
It's not foldable, but very stable. If you only ever used foldable sheet music holders, you don't even realize what misery you could simply avoid. Beside not dealing with falling sheets all the time, you can also properly write on it without descending into madness.
If you have to deal with larger pieces, something like the Berolina Manufaktur Magic Music Board will also come in handy.
Alongside with that: A magnet ring you can put your pencil into, so you can attach it to the underside of your sheet music holder. This way, it won't get into the way of flipping pages. Or, if you have to deal with the finicky ones, you can increase the stability of your sheets with it by fixing them with the pencil somewhat.
A dog. Our previous dog passed away in November 2020 and we adopted a new family member late last year. It has been a joy watching his intelligence and personality blossom as he's gotten more comfortable with us (his previous living situation was not an entirely happy one.)
Google Stadia - I got a free controller & chrome-cast in a promotion a while back and sceptically tried it expecting massive latency and poor image quality, but ended up being blown away. Being able to play RDR2 on my MB Air and then switching over to the TV (without any interruption) is something that never gets old. It's such a shame that the product seems to be in its death throes.
A small macropad, in my case a CU7. I’ve mapped keybindings that I commonly forget like mute/unmute for Teams, delete/archive for Outlook, and I have a macro for putting in my username and username+work email. Makes signing into things a bit faster.
I have enjoyed my DJI Mini 2 far more than I expected. Drones over 250g need registration/certification in many places (including the US). The Mini 2 weighs 249g and has a 4k camera.
You do mostly get the same shots in one area so if you don't move around much it might get boring quickly. If you take weekend trips, or are nomadic, it will be a lot of fun.
My Specialized Turbo Vado e-bike. I can get to work comfortably and get some exercise and not be constrained by the limited bus schedule or be stuck in car traffic burning expensive fuel and generating pollution.
Also our Urban Arrow cargo bike. We can get our kids the 3km to school in a few minutes while everyone else looks for a footpath to obstruct in their SUVs.
Nitrokey [1]. Paired with the right software (pass [2]) it finally made password management sustainable and easy for me.
A 3rd monitor lets me see live preview, documentation, and code all at once. I'm out of desk space to test the effectiveness of a 4th
An nvme drive made everything boot faster
A good chair (either herman miller or steelcase) fixed my back pain
A 43" monitor from Dell. https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-ultrasharp-43-4k-usb-c-.... It's wide enough that you can comfortably have three panes of code side by side and also tall enough that you can see a lot all at once. It's 4k, but it's so big you don't need much scaling to be comfortable.
A good coffee machine at home. Unbelievable ROI, one of my favourite purchases.
* an Onyx Boox Nova Air. It's an Android tablet with an e-ink display which i use mainly for reading web articles and RSS feeds, although I've tried the note taking ( with stylus and OCR) and it's fine, but not really my thing ( I like taking notes with my keyboard).
* A small waterproof speaker for the bathroom which i use to listen to short podcasts ( like Revolutions by Mike Duncan, in the 20-30 minute range) during my morning routine, shaving, taking showers, etc
I spent more than I should have for a pair of ErgoDox Infinity keyboards ... they've made a tremendous difference in the health of my hands, wrists and elbows!
12" tablet with a pen like samsung galaxy s7 fe.
I can read programming books in the top half while taking notes or running code in a repl in the bottom one.
It's also okay coupled with gitpod or github teams (via codespaces) for "entertainment" or light coding.
Xiaomi roborock. Amazing how much dust it collects and how easily it works unattended.
Years ago of course, but the original Core 2 Duo CPU (a Desktop E6300 in my case). Fast, power efficient and came with a nearly silent CPU cooler. Being able to assemble a (then) fast deskside machine that you could hardly hear was radical.
Even earlier, the Canon EOS 300D "Digital Rebel" SLR. Single-handedly restored the joy in photography after a detour through early, limited digital cameras.
A keyboard where the keys are symmetrical, and allow greater use of the thumb (and allow less usage of the pinky fingers). -- Maybe it's not for everyone, but I wish I'd gotten a keyboard like this years ago.
Air quality monitor and air purifier. Helps me to have cleaner air at home by e.g., reminding me to open the windows more regularly.
Probably my split keyboard running QMK. It's a Sofle I built from a kit. It forced me to learn to touch type, and after taking some time to setup layers I can now reliably type code at 65+ wpm. That's a big improvement for me, and more importantly I can now type without the interruption of having to look at the keyboard.
Switching from a mouse to a multitouch trackpad completely resolved my wrist pain, and I find gestures essential to productivity now.
I started off with a Fingerworks trackpad; this is the company Apple bought to bring in multitouch technology. Then when Apple’s trackpads got big enough and supported enough gestures, I switched to those.
And 18650 powered flashlight, such as one made by Fenix. (Also note they make a keychain flashlight which could stand in for the device in another toplevel comment.) The 18650 is more your standard flashlight though. I used to have a flashlight, who doesn't? But now I consistently take one when hiking, looking for stuff, etc. The brightness and even cast of the beam, plus the long battery life, mean it has a lot of utility for working at night or in a poorly lit space. You can use it as a lantern, too, just stand it up or hang it. Bonus points for USBC charging.
An insulated mug. I didn't think it would change the way I drink tea. Now I can bring it to my desk and take small sips. This helps me get back to work and stay focused, and probably reduces my overall consumption because I don't feel like I have to chug while warm and then go brew more.
A very large display. I got a 4k 43” display, with a bit of retina magnification, and I can sit properly without slumping, my back fully straight on my seat.
I don’t suffer back pain anymore.
The Logitech G305 mouse for $40 (or any current gen wireless gaming mouse). I don't play game competitively but I have always felt latency with previous gen wireless mice. The recent wireless mice feel like wired to me.
It's quite nice to use a wireless mouse with a large mousepad. A large desk is also a must imo.
These super-cheap headband/earphones
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09NPL7V7R/
The sound quality is surprisingly OK, they are more than good enough for Audible & podcasts, and you can comfortably lie on your side.
I bought them on a whim after considering options that cost 10x the price.
I've tried listening to speakers (can't hear when lying on my side), my phone (falls between pillows, gets tangled in my limbs), regular headphones (can't lie on my side, wake up with them being squashed beneath me). These stay put, are comfortable and actually work.
I won't wear them in public (for, hopefully, obvious reasons) but in the privacy of my own bedroom they've been a game-changer.
Did I mention they were only ÂŁ17?
A self-emptying Roomba. It's unreal how much time this has saved our family. Well worth the money, and it's been going strong for years now.
A Mac Pro (2019) - I was/am using the 2019 Macbook Pro, but under heavy load (compiling rust/flutter mostly) the machine would get slower and slower as it became more and more heat saturated, and worse, when driving an external monitor the GPU would get hot as well and the whole UI becomes slow.
The mac pro is ~2.5x as fast in compilation but more importantly it doesn't lose responsiveness when the CPU is fully loaded, so I can still browse the web while waiting :D
EDIT: I said 2016 MacBook but it's the 2019 16" (2.3 GHz/8Core/i9) and to be clear, I know the 8-core Mac Pro on paper, has faster clocks, but it's surprising how much of a difference the thermal headroom makes to responsiveness and productivity
A whole house steam humidifier, if you live in cold climates. That feeling you have getting off a plane in a tropical zone, escaping the winter; you can bring that home. Sinus and allergy issues go down, mucus membranes stay healthy, and skin stops cracking.
One Mix 4 micro laptop. I bought i5 version of it on aliexpress however amazon has higher end version of it (i7) available.
9" or so screen, full blown windows 11 laptop, extremely well built, solid. I upgraded it to Windows 11 Pro myself just for fun so I could RDP to it and control it remotely.
I bought it for narrow use case (need to control hardware device that doesn't have mobile app) and extremely pleased on how fully functioning, well built it is.
It could fit into large enough pocket and if you're in need of SMALLEST device as fully featured Windows-based computer - that's the answer.
Drawbacks: no webcam (this is plus for me actually) and small battery life (ask me which power bank i chose to solve this issue).
A good ink jet for printing photos and greeting cards.
Previously I had bad experience with ink jet being the ink keep drying up, and laser is always better for black and white. However two use cases really make it worth to remember turn on ink jet and clean it regularly: - print photo by yourself, like passport photo, photo needed by forms. You may still need to adjust color/brightness a little bit, but it's way better than CVS. I didn't realize you can print 4x6 with this kind of quality. - print greeting cards. with quality paper it's looking very good.
I use Cannon MX 922, regular 4x6 photo paper. For greeting card I use 44lb Epson Premium Presentation Paper MATTE.
Anker PowerCore 26800 (26800mAh) - 3 USB outputs, 2 inputs for charging. Removed away all worry about not having phone charging capability if you're on the move.
There's likely better options available now with USB-C inputs, but the product is still fantastic.
Oral-B Genius 9000 - looked like an overpriced & gimmicky toothbrush (with AR + Bluetooth). It is, but the carry-case is useful to double as an extra shaver->USB option, it's got a long battery life, and it has a good number of modes for brushing.
Oculus Quest 2 - initially I wasn't sure if it'd be a gimmick, but it's an effortless & fun way to burn calories
A colorimeter.
I bought a ColorMunki a few years back to correct the overly blue display on my only Razer Blade and it fixed so many issues with my photography and having color discussions with my designer--giving me the confidence to know it's not my screen that was the problem. I've since had friends borrow it and even TN panels can really use the color improvement. I've also used it to correct hotel TV color recently and you'd be amazed at how much of difference it can make. I know it's a WIP, but the color management in Wayland cannot come soon enough to me.
An Android phone with a physical keyboard. It's a night and day difference for me with fat fingers and who likes to look at the text I'm writing, not the keyboard I'm using to write.
RIP BlackBerry Key2.
The Logitech MX Ergo "thumb ball" mouse. A normal mouse requires your entire arm to move to make the mouse operate properly. You might notice that the repetitive motion can cause muscle pain all the way from your shoulder blade, through your neck, down your arm to your wrist. A thumb ball requires just your thumb to move and makes life a lot easier on your arm. It takes two to three hours to transfer your motor memory skills from the standard mouse to the thumb ball and after that you're away to the races.
The Amazon Kindle has completely transformed the way I read for pleasure.
It is not as satisfactory for technical books, or anything with a lot of illustrations, but for standard novels it was a real game-changer.
Not exactly the question, but disabling my doorbell and my answering machine. Absolutely not joking. My life has improved so greatly. I am not a thrall to the interrupting whims of others.
A large, dark deskpad. It marks the area of my desk where only mouse and keyboard are allowed and other detritus is prohibited. Trying to use a mouse while subconsciously shoving junk aside can be done. But it's like coding while you have to pee: you won't be fully in the flow until you fix it (no pun intended).
The dark color was unexpectedly useful because it provides a clean and dark but well-lit area for scanning documents with my phone, including checks for deposit on a banking app.
In terms of strictly personal "game-changing" impact, it's my ReMarkable2 tablet. Happy to explain why (when I have more time) if anyone's curious...
Electric guitar - it's been a game changer. Fun and stress relief at a low price. I play along to songs on YouTube. This has opened up a whole new world of music.
Logitech Keys to Go keyboard is my absolute favourite device to type on mobile devices. I thought I won’t use it a ,but I find it quite handy. Most common occasions are : traveling, siting on a park bench, waiting in Metro or Airport.
Most common tasks : Writing long email (i have this bad habit), replying/giving feedback on IM apps, Editing blog posts, Quick note taking, Transferring notes from pocket diary to digital software (Athens in my case)
I still use a mouse pad made of hardwood and a hempen cover, and find it by far the most pleasant mouse pad I have ever used, with its very slightly rough surface that feels natural to the hand. You can even put it slightly over the edge of your desk and it won't go floppy. Easily cleaned every few months with some water and dish washing soap. In the age of mechanical mice, it also kept the mouse ball clean, but it works fine with optical mice too. I have two, one at home and one for work, and must have used them for more than twenty years now. Very durable, I am sure there would be a market for these things, but I have never seen anything like it before or since.
I bought it from the now-defunct Hober folk web radio, one of the earlier internet radio stations, which only recently finally turned off their stream. Here's an archive page describing the mouse pad: https://web.archive.org/web/20021013110318/http://banqa.uaqa...
This year we moved new apartment, so I had opportunity to renew most of the staff I was planning, from multi-monitor stand, some powerfull homelab server to robocleaner. From all of this, the cheap trash box I bought with sensors always make me smile whenever I use, I didnt even notice I needed before. Its quite big so enough storage for 1-2 day and when your hands get closer even in dark it opens automatically.
remarkable 2. I use the chrome extension to send HN articles and read it there mostly. It has cut down my article surfing/skimming significantly.
As a writing pad, it’s a perfect set of functions and is the origin device of all my ideas.
Kinesis Advantage Pro ergonomic keyboard.
Thumb cluster modifier keys.
Staggered Ortholinear keys.
Split, tented, cupped keywells.
Remappable key assignments.
Basically forcing you to touch type properly.
Those are all individually amazing, but together a revolution.
You can do better key remapping with software or qmk style firmware these days. There's more choice than ever for hardware variations with all or some of these features, but this was my entry point and I'll always be grateful.
A vertical mouse did amazing things for my wrist.
Bidet.
A Blue Yeti microphone on a Rode shock mount arm paired with Bose speakers.
This has made meetings from home amazing. No headphones or mic issues.
My Das Keyboard 3. I bought it in 2008. Still using it. So glad quality mechanical keyboards made a comeback.
A four-input KVM switch. Lets me switch between my main machine, my work computer, and a couple of other things easily.
The VIC-20 my parents bought me when I was 5. No games, just BASIC on that rinky-dink thing. But it made me a programmer.
Oura ring. Stopped having to guess how much fuel I got for the day. My subjective feeling has a shit correlation with how productive I really am, but the stats from the ring are pretty spot on. I have chronic insomnia so it might help me more than others, but I take quite a lot of decisions based on it. Over 7 hours measured sleep is a good day, 6-7 is standard, 5-6 means modafinil for the day (which turns it into a very productive day), under 5 hours I just chill without any expectations. I also up or lower my meds based on multi-day trends.
It's coping and not a cure, but it's very high quality coping. And I couldn't do it without something to measure sleep - bad nights often have me wake up wired, and 9 hours in bed don't mean much without knowing how much of that I tossed and turned, which I don't always remember.
Two things stand out for me:
A really good daypack. I was using book bags for family days out, but they were uncomfortable and impractical. When the National Trust reopened their outdoor spaces during the pandemic, I sunk ÂŁ80 into an Osprey backpack. It has made a huge difference. I used to get very sweaty, and I have a broken collarbone that would ache. These are no longer issues for me. It has made being out in nature for a full day even more enjoyable.
Bose Sleepphones II. I got them for a good deal on open box clearance. I usually listen to a sleep story on Calm.com to get to sleep. I have these for if I wake up in the middle of the night. They're comfortable, and great at blocking sound. I don't love the sounds–they're a bit overcompressed and some have really obvious looping points–but the things work.
Wireless ANC earbuds. (Airpods pro or similar)
Having high quality silence and/or music available in my pocket at all times was definitely more of a game changer than I expected.
Using a 8K 55" tv as a monitor.
I usually run it scaled, so I have basically the pixel area of a 4k screen but with retina resolution. Everything is crisp and large enough that even content placed in the corners is easy to read. Truly a game changer for work, so much so that I am puzzled why there are basically no 8k proper monitors available at sensible prices. This TV was manufactured and shipped halfway across the world where I bought it brand new for less than 1000 usd. And its a TV, with a TV OS, remote control, TV tuners and whatnot - HDR even. A normal monitor without all the TV stuff and sensible inputs (I have to use HDMI 2.1) should be even cheaper.
Induction stove, now my kitchen is totally free of combustion.
Comma Three by Comma.AI
Reduced my engaged driving time by like 90%. Coming from a history of <$1k vehicles, it’s amazing IMO that most of my trips to and from places now consist of me setting the cruise speed (even in midtown) and letting my vehicle worry about stop and go traffic. Could not recommend enough.
Someone here mentioned a flashlight, so I'll mention what's by far the best headlamp I've ever bought, and I've tried a lot - the Nitecore NU25. Red LEDs, white LEDs, high-CRI LED, and it weighs under an ounce (although the headband adds 0.7 oz or so.)
ESP8266. I've been tinkering with dev boards to control all kinds of dumb devices. It's also ubiquitous among smart devices and can easily be flashed and customized. Enabled me to build a nest little offline home automation system.
1) A coffee grinder and espresso machine. Keeps me going. Wasn’t expensive ($200 all up) 2) A good chair with proper back support 3) Two screens, 27” each. Nothing fancy but makes me quite productive
An ISO stick. Looks like a DVD player to the OS but loads ISO images off a micro SD card. So I have lots of images in a USB stick form factor that are read much faster than a real DVD drive does.
A reverse osmosis water filter and a cheap glass pitcher.
I've found that I'm pretty sensitive to the taste of water (good and bad). I don't mind the water in many places, but it can be very hit or miss. Over the years, the amount of water I would drink tended to change quite a bit from location to location.
Instead, I use a reverse osmosis water filter to get completely neutral water every time I know there isn't anything reducing the amount of water I drink.
It's HUGELY affected the amount of water I drink over soda, milk, tea, etc.
A tiny bluetooth adapter for good old earphones. I know analog + wires is often simpler, but tangled broken wires are hell, being tethered removes opportunity for simple multitasking.
Small passively cooled home server with loads of RAM and a hypervisor on it.
The amount of practical learning that has enabled has been so worth it. (Think ansible, gitlab ci/cd etc).
In no particular order: Trackball, mechanical keyboard, IPS display, SSD, coffee bean grinder, e-ink reader, nifty fifty lens, electret XLR mic, DAC for stereo system.
Amazon Kindle (only bought two devices over 10+ years of usage), even the cheapest version. I find myself reading much more, I love having dictionaries and Wikipedia built-in. Travelling is so much easier than even with a paperback novel.
Bluetooth keyboard and wireless mouse. I have (maybe unreasonable) dislike for cables on my desk. Currently my Thinkpad is raised on a mount, with just one USB-C cable coming out. It hides nicely under the mount's arm.
Opening my ThinkPad e590 all the way and using a pair of push up bars[1] as a stand. The result is an ergonomic workspace wherever I go thanks to the top of the screen being slightly above my eye level (it wouldn't work with a smaller laptop).
[1]: https://www.alza.cz/sport/sharp-shaper-spiral-push-up-bar-d5...
In the early 1990's I worked for a communications company and I recall saying that the cell phone was a game changer and that it would be used for more things than the current computer which was the biggest tech item being purchased at the time. Flash forward to 2022 and I am travelling across the world and I noticed that everything one needs to do requires a cell phone app from seeing a menu (QR codes) making reservations, to ordering tickets, ordering an Uber ride, to getting directions, getting on a plane, showing your vaccination status, checking your health vitals, face timing appointments. EVERYTHING! The cell phone became more important and powerful than I ever imagined and the cell phone has still not reached full maturity as a communications device.
I love the laptop factor, but I need a good GPU sometimes. There are ways to plug one using USB-C, and I wanted to go for that first.
But my little bro, a gamer, told me it was a waste of money. For $29 a month, I can get a remote beast of a computer with Windows 10 on it and use it as much as I want.
At first, I wasn't convinced. Primo, I'd have to upload all of my stuff. Secondo, what about the latency ?
Well, I'm not playing multiplier online games, so it turns out the latency is imperceptible for my use cases. It's not your typical VNC setup, they optimized their client and protocol and I sometimes forget I'm not on a local machine.
Second, OVH is behind the brand, so their uplink is crazy good. Which means uploading and downloading things is very fast. Sometimes it's even better to stream movies from the shadow and watch it remotely than to use my local connection O_o
Eventually I saw the $2000 GPU I wanted to buy, and realize that it would take me more than 5 years of shadow usage to reach that price. After which my GPU would get old anyway, and I would need another one.
Bonus: it takes no space on my desk, doesn't make noise, doesn't heat, and I can use it when I travel, so I have the buffed up GPU at my disposal at my clients sites, in holidays, anywhere with decent wifi.
Because yes, the latency is good enough that I actually don't bother to plug my ethernet cable anymore: wifi works fine. Hotel wifi sucks though :)
Unlike gaming streaming services, you are not limited to a gaming provider, you can reuse your steam account or gog games. You are actually not limited to game, you have a full Windows 10 at your disposal. You can do video edition, model training or 3D rendering. Not crypto mining though, according to the terms of use. In fact, nothing that requires background tasks as the computer shuts down as soon as no human use it (I assume they make money by sharing the hardware).
But if you do want to play, it's nice. I tested Borderlands 2 with all settings cranked to the max, it works smoothly, including a with a controller plugged with BT into the laptop!
It's not without any problem, obviously:
- one or twice a day, the image will glitch, and I will lose control for a few seconds. So don't do remote surgery or bank your MMR on it.
- the linux client just doesn't work on the lastest Ubuntu. I have to reboot every time to my windows session.
- I'm in France, so YMMV, since I have no idea how good the ping to their server is from the US. Work fine from Germany.
- if you alt tab for too long the shadow client (from the laptop windows, not the shadow windows), it will consider you are not using the machine and disconnect (probably part of their business model). I lost data this way.
- the GPU you get depends of where you are. Some get a P5000 with 16GB GDDR5X, some a GTX 1080 with 8GB GDDR5X and some a RTX4000 with 8GB GDDR6
- if it gets through, it can act as a VPN. Unfortunately, the ports it uses may be blocked.
- their support is google-level terrible. If the answer is in the FAQ, you are good to go. If not, you are on your own.
For me it is the Nintendo Wii Balance board [1]. It is still running strong even after more than 13 years of usage. I hope Nintendo will introduce a new balance board for the Switch console and together with the new Ring Fit it will be a blast for indoor fitness and exercise.
[1] Wii Balance Board:
I bought a greyscale eink tablet that I use as a monitor. It is fantastic. I find myself much more able to concentrate while using it.
I find this type of helping hand (made from flexible air nozzle tube) really handy for soldering - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07233QBBS/ .
I imagine there are heavier duty ones though, that use a mechanism other than that tubing.
Microsoft Trackball Optical. Borrowed one 20-years ago when I hurt my shoulder snowboarding. The person who loaned it to me then left the company and told me to keep it. Still using it.
Haven't had to use a mouse since. Never did like mice as used to find when overly focussed on something I'd end up half way across the desk without noticing.
A pair of headphones: Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. I'm still using the same pair I bought years ago (maybe a decade?), but bought another pair recently because I like them so much. Clean sound, comfortable, and lets me enjoy and appreciate sounds, music, and even silence. (I often keep them on with no sound, haha..)
Countertop air frier. It’s equally good for cooking and reheating food. In my household we use it about twice a day.
If it qualifies, Apple M1 series has been a real game changer for me. Its doesn't interrupt my thought process due to computing overload. Very rarely hangs and makes my idea to implementation and visual feedback process very seamless.
My productivity is up so much that I bought two M1s (one for office and one for home)
* streamdeck (with AutoHotkey) saves more hot loop critical tasking than i could have dreamed of
* Microsoft X6 keyboard - the original hot action key
- svn st, svn diff, svn ci -m “”<space><back><back> as an example of the very frequent things replaced by a discrete key each
Impact driver
My Kobo ereader has been great. I read around 50-60 fiction books a year and they've almost entirely been in electronic format for a decade now.
The Pocket integration has also been expectantly useful for reading various articles.
Adjustable stand for your phone (gorilla stand or tripod). Helps to position your phone during video chats such that everyone is in the picture. When buying make sure it supports both vertical and horizontal.
Big ass display, Microsoft Surface keyboard, fancy chair, silicone based lube
Galaxy Fold3 -- I can use tablet every time when I had used smartphone.
I love my Fully Jarvis standing desk. It has a curved edge so I can “stand” into it.
The Capisco Hag chair is even better. Tens of ways to sit/stand on it. Which is perfect for me since I can’t sit still.
For me, it was elgato key lights air. I can't tell you much more I enjoy spending time in front of my desk, and in my room in general. It's basically daylight during nighttime.
A laptop with an R7 5800 series CPU (or M1 Pro if it works with your workflow).
10+ hours of battery life, absolutely silent outside of load, more powerful than my desktop, cheap, and works on any OS.
a) Satechi Dock5 Station - holds and charges your phone, tablet, computer and AirPods. Wake up and everything is charged.
b) Bose Sleepbuds II - comfortable, tiny earbuds that last all night and play white noise or repeating melodies.
c) Anker PowerConf - video conferencing speaker which means you aren't having to fiddle with headphones and the giant red light makes it easy to see when you're muted.
d) Mogics Power Donut - combination travel adapter, power extension board, extension cable and USB hub in one tiny device.
A raspberry pi when the GPIOs are used. So much of your home can be automated with such a cheap hardware. Plus the ability to ssh in and tune the code anytime.
I'm rather fond of my RollerMouse. Not sure I can claim it is a game changer. But, the stable position of it relative to keyboard is quite comforting.
1. Rechargeable everything.
2. Snow pants that I can pull on over my regular pants to keep warm during the winter.
3. Puncture resistant bike tires.
4. Carbon fiber bows for stringed instruments.
A decent fabric mousepad. Night and day difference.
My cheap mandolin. Makes cutting things thin while cooking fast and fun, and isn’t dangerous if your fingers are connected to your brain.
- Airpods Pro: Sound really good, walking around freely during calls has been great, solid noise cancelling. Most useful and fun pair of headphones I've ever owned by a long shot.
- A single 27" 2569x1440 screen on a monitor arm. Had a 34" Ultrawide, an Apple Cinema Display and several combinations of multiple displays, but that's my sweet spot. Would love to have 5k, but these are still too pricey.
- Metabo PowerMaxx BS 10.8v cordless drill. Almost as powerful as a big one but so small and light that it's suitable for delicate work and cramped corners. I've used it to screw small servos to an acrylic robot backplate and drill 12mm holes through 100mm of wood.
- Philips Hue: I'd never have thought how much of a difference being able to have warm, dim light in the evening and cold, bright light in the afternoon makes, but it's huge. Also makes it easy to have half a dozen dimmed small lamps instead of a single big one. I have LED strips behind my screen that have cured my nightly headaches.
- A small Victorinox Alox knife with just a blade and bottle/can opener/flat screwdriver. Lives permanently in my coin pocket and I wouldn't have believed just how often this comes in handy. It's also totally non-threatening, which is a must in an office environment.
- A tiny flashlight on my keychain. I use this a lot in the darker months, it's so much quicker to get to than fumbling with my phone.
- Victorinox Bike Tool: A 6mm or so hex key, a bit adapter that goes onto either end of the hex key, a number of metric bits (hex, philips, torx) and a pair of plastic tire levers. Snaps together into a package so lightweight and small that I actually have it with me when I need it and versatile enough to be useful, with bits for just the screw heads I actually have on my bike.
- A tarp poncho for summer/fall hiking. Much airier than a rain trousers/jacket combo, keeps me dry even in torrential downpours, backpack fits underneath, plus it doubles as a simple shelter in a pinch with a few tent lines and a hiking pole. Has saved the day more than once.
- A proper microphone (Elgato Wave 3), turns out I sounded like shit on calls and such but no one had the heart to tell me, but finally someone did and I got that microphone, mostly because it has an integrated pop filter (that also works). I've compared recordings with the old setup and the new microphone and it's night and day. I can't quantify it, but I believe not sounding awful has made at least some positive difference in how people interact with me. These days, audio is often as not the only way people get to perceive me.
- A TS80P USB-C soldering iron. I run this off a spare Macbook power adapter, so my soldering setup hardly takes up any space now. Being able to dial in just the temps I need has made for much better and more consistent solder joints, and I haven't even started digging into custom firmware.
Guitar tuner
I'm a beginner/intermediate hobby guitarist. Makes the guitar sound much better. Makes it easier to keep guitar tuned
Wifi and SSDs
Radar cruise control is pretty awesome. It certainly reduces my stress levels when driving!
- a wrist support brace: no more wrist pain when using a keyboard/mouse
There are three, maybe four. The 3, from least to most important, are:
1) My kneeling chair. Between the pandemic and a new job started a few months before, I am at my desk more than ever. I wondered about the ~acute angle between legs and torso in a regular chair, so I borrowed a kneeling chair from a friend. I figured I'd go easy on it/me and use it for just 15 minutes at a time at first. After a quarter hour or so, I switched back to my chair and was immediately all NOPE NOPE NOPE! Bought my own, adjustable one, later that day. Amazing. Best $100 ever spent.
2) My Delonghi bean-to-cup coffee maker. Had been looking for one after falling in love with the really high quality ones at European hotels, but didn't have a spare €7000. Found this Magnifica on sale at CostCo 5 years ago. Its nits and nuisances are so minor, I accept them happily: Great coffee, every time, exactly as I like it (grind and water volume are adjustable). Best $1000 ever spent. So good, it was one of only two possessions I wrote into my separation agreement. The other was....
3) My Jeep. In 2009 I replaced my car with a old-style CRV and loved the extra height and clearance. I started to venture a little further afield. I had friends who off-loaded, and it intrigued me. Knowing nothing and knowing I wanted to try more serious off-roading, in 2014 I made myself the gift of a JKU Rubicon. Drove it through a swamp the first night and was hooked. It has literally changed my life. I did not know I was handy, or could be handy, now I wrench on it myself and like a lot of members of my club, I'm learning to weld (though more slowly than I would like), and I've gotten pretty good at trail repairs, macgyvering things well enough to get someone off the trail, whether that means just out of the way, or as far as a trailer, or maybe even home.
I also did not expect to be really, really good at it. I've been a trail leader with my club for years, am club secretary, and am one of the guys who figures out new trails in our area, some of them, well, insane (really technical off camber climbs, high damage probabilities, etc.).
And the people! Literally all walks of life and all views, and all amazing.
King of the Hammers just ended; yesterday was my high holy day. My Jeep introduced me to KotH. My Jeep introduced me to some of my best friends, people who would drop everything at a moment's notice and help (my moving crew was all off-road buddies). My Jeep introduced me to going nowhere slowly, to rock crawling, and to discovering views otherwise accessible only by strenuous multi-day hikes. My Jeep is the reason my post-divorce house has an oversized garage stocked with tools. My Jeep is the reason I do so much of my own hands-on around the house.
Between the relaxation that comes from really technical rock crawling and the confidence that comes from both doing that and from cutting holes in to and cutting things off of a very expense piece of machinery, and from the camaraderie and friendship and love within my off-road family, my Jeep has literally changed my life.
Best never ending expenditure ever. Just Empty Every Pocket.
(The fourth? Anti-climactic, but a set of Bose noise cancelling headphones. They were my daughter's welcome gift when she started a new job, but she already had a set, so she passed them on to me. I would never have believed they were anywhere worth the price, it all seemed such hype. I was wrong. They are very cool, very comfortable, and work very well. Best hand-me-down ever. :->)
80% mechanical keyboard (Vermillo). Fountain pen. 5k monitor.
Talalay latex pillow. Memory foam sucks in comparison.
steamdeck '__') PC as handled combined with monitor + keyboard + mouse can be main development PC also as portable game station
Reading glasses.
An ergonomic Anker mouse that stops me getting RSI
steamdeck '__') PC as handled combined with monitor + keyboard + mouse can be main development PC also as g
headphones with noise cancellation (Bose).
Remarkable 2. For reading and drawing stuff e.g. new kitchen arrangement.
learning to build your own stuff.
its the only way to get quality when it comes to certain items.
The Remarkable tablet
3440x1440 monitor.
I now own 3. :)
switching from a gaming chair to a couch
Chromecast
Zynthian audio/synthesis platform: I got it to act as an FX processor, and it has become an extremely rich resource for creative instruments and digital music-making. Not just an FX box, its really more like an entire studio.
Synthstrom Deluge: so incredibly deep and complex, it also started life as a simple tool that is now becoming a lynchpin in my studio operation - not just for drums and sequencing, also for recording quick takes and samples and so on. This machine has replaced the DAW for pure creative modes.
NORN+Grid: Again, was purchased for one thing and is now being pressed into use for so many other purposes, un-dreamed of previously.
Arturia AudioFUSE Studio: THIS was just supposed to be a neat desktop mixer that fit on the table, but it has become so, so much more - the STUDIO in the name is no nonsense! Again, way more power than expected, and it has expanded beyond the original purpose of having a quick desktop mix available - now practically everything in the studio is going through it (ADAT for the win) and it is the central console for production. I haven't touched the other mixers in weeks ..
Rice cooker - so convenient
Ducky One S2 mechanical keyboard - compact but a delight to code on
Raspberry pi was quite a game changer. It pushed the creation of so many similar cheap boards; which proliferated around the world and enabled IOT, it enabled so many things.
SSDs will inevitably destroy spinning rust. The war was over long ago but spinning rust is still a thing.
The next one that's happening right now is digital cameras. Consumer film is roughly around 87 megapixels. The pros use stuff that's in the gigapixels but 88 megapixels is the line to beat. Samsung S22 Ultra 5G has 108MP rear cam. This is a new generation that will make waves and it's happening now. Film still matters for your stanley kubricks but its not anymore.
oculus quest 2 - product of the decade
A 2560x1440 monitor running at its 1:1 native resolution. The screen real estate improvement over 1080p is substantial. You get so much more vertical space and you can easily fit 4 side by side code windows at 80 chars. At 24" or 25" the PPI is also quite nice for reading text.
I wrote up a very big monitor selection guide at https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-good-monitor-fo..., I try to keep it up to date by supplying alternatives to the ones I've purchased. Some of the monitors I recommended were $330 when I bought them but are now $500-700, although sometimes they come back in stock at $350ish.
I made the switch around 5-6 years ago and still think it was one of the biggest upgrades for general quality of life improvements when using a computer.
The only reason I haven't gone 4k is because using one at 100% scaling at 27" or less isn't really feasible due to how small the text is and using a 36" one to be able to comfortably view it at 100% scaling feels too big for using it in a normal desk environment. Personally I'd rather have the flexibility of 2x 24-25" 2560x1440 monitors, plus 120hz / 144hz 2560x1440 monitors are very abundant if you're into games (although you can make a strong case that 120hz+ is very noticeable and useful for general usage too).