For many things you just can't beat a dedicated tool designed for the task at hand. Which may well explain why the spork is not a staple in every home.
One physical calculators have over virtual ones would be the muscle memory aspect of interaction that is far harder to gain with any virtual touch screen affair. Aspect of UI distraction like that, however small, do go a long way.
Author here: I think 4 weekends worth of time is a reasonable estimate, though it was spread out over a longer period — iterating the PCB manufactured in China takes time!
The most time consuming part was the enclosure design.
Hey, thanks for responding! I know it would take me some more weekends than that! :) Have you documented the process somewhere in greater detail perhaps? I'm working on something relatable on my weekends, also involving PCB design and enclosure design/printing (albeit on a more amateurish level of course), so I'm very curious about other people's experiences.
Sorry, but that's all I managed to write — and even that took a while, I kept putting it off. It's always more fun to actually do the projects than write them up later... Also, finding the time to do it properly is more and more difficult.
Well it's on a company blog, and not about its business, so I think it's fair enough to try to distinguish it; I don't think it's trying to claim it was achieved in just a couple of days. Apart from anything else, you wouldn't be able to get a professionally produced PCB.
Yeah I did assume that, I just meant like maybe it would be a redundant prefix if it were your personal blog, but since it isn't it's a succinct way of saying 'this post is not about PartsBox but I think you'll like it anyway'.
Also, re dupes: an HN repost only counts as a dupe if the story has had significant attention already. We want good stories to get multiple cracks at the bat.
Muffled-clicky but firm, very satisfying !