264. Finally Done 中
The cover photo is a shot of my hardware toy finally finished. It was a fun ride, and I wanted to document the whole process in this week’s issue. Hope you enjoy reading it.
Recording down-to-earth trending tech I see every week, filtered and published here. Follow this weekly newsletter to get update notifications
New Article
How I Deep-Dive into a New Technical Domain in the AI Era
https://tw93.fun/2026-04-06/learn.html
A follow-up to the learning writeup from last time, combined with the /learn skill inside Waza, walking through how I actually wrote that previous large model article. Hope it is useful to you.
Building a Little Robot Dog
April 4: Back to hardware basics. I want to build something that combines software and hardware.
All the parts and tools had finally arrived, a whole table full of them. Saving it all for the Qingming holiday to dig in properly.
April 4, 9:45 PM: v0.1.0-beta
The first sign of life. I was so happy I couldn’t describe it.
April 5, 12:07 AM: v0.1.0-beta1
Got the WiFi module, AI module, microcontroller module, and quad-leg module all running together. Tomorrow I’ll attach the legs and tune the screen. Going to sleep right now!
April 5, 1:45 PM: v0.1.0-beta2
Mechanical leg control is working. It can crouch, sleep, and walk. Still rough around the edges, but one of the leg motors from the order looks like it has a problem. Waiting on a replacement part.
April 6, 10:33 AM: v0.1.0-beta3
All four legs are fully under control now. But I burned the screen during debugging. Waiting on shipping. Can’t wait to release.
April 8, 11:37 PM: v0.1.0-beta4
The replacement screen arrived after work. Got it running, then tuned the temperature, CO2, infrared, and lighting sensors all in one go. Still working on WiFi provisioning. It’s basically taking shape now, just need to seal and secure everything.
April 11, 11:30 AM: v0.1.0 finally ships 🎉
Sealed up the battery pack and tied a few straps around it to keep things from falling apart. Got the WiFi and AI conversation module working too. Using DeepSeek makes it noticeably faster, response speed is decent. Next up: something with more advanced hardware.
A few photos from different angles to mark the moment
|
|
|
|
Trending Tools
App Store Price: Look up app prices across different countries and regions
https://app.vbr.me
A handy little tool. You can check what an app costs in any App Store region, like figuring out which country has the cheapest Claude subscription. I’ll probably find a use for this soon.
Random Thoughts
Let me share what I think makes for a genuinely good product experience.
There’s a followup to my lost drone story. The signal cut out mid-flight, I searched for a long time, couldn’t find it. I uploaded the flight logs and DJI couldn’t find a clear cause either. Even without being sure it was actually lost, they asked for very minimal proof and, under their Care Refresh service, just shipped me a brand new one. They even threw in a 128GB card in case it would be more convenient. Not once did anyone ask me to explain how it got lost or whether I had gone looking for it.
That experience made me a real fan of DJI. Their customer service and technical support engineers were professional and clear throughout the whole process. I want to use that story to share what I think makes a good product experience.
Good product experience is not just what people usually say: great interaction design, beautiful UI, easy to use, no bugs. Those matter, but what matters even more is this: when a user is in a tough spot, you give them something far better than they expected. Something so good that they get excited and tell their friends about it. That is what I consider truly good product experience, the kind that is good for business too. The only thing I worry about is that this culture of trust and simplicity gets taken advantage of by people trying to game the system. It’s something we all have to protect together.
Two other experiences that stood out to me involved Ctrip.
The first was three years ago during the Spring Festival. Tickets home were nearly impossible to get. They suggested I buy tickets for a few extra stops to guarantee I could board, and I was already grateful for that because nothing else had worked. But then, even better: I was at the movies that afternoon, feeling like everything was handled, when I got a call from an unknown number that I declined. Right after, a text came in saying they had found me a direct option that didn’t require the extra stops, and could I please go to the app to confirm. You could tell a real person had made that call and sent that message. It wasn’t the few dollars saved. It was the feeling that someone was genuinely working hard for me and delivering better than I had hoped. That is good experience.
The second happened recently, during National Day. I had gotten two first-class seats but they weren’t together, pretty far apart. I had noted I was traveling with an 18-month-old. Then, the day before departure, Ctrip quietly swapped our seats. Just a simple notification: we found an open seat in your carriage and moved you both together. Another moment where someone gave me more than I expected.
So if you are building a product, think about giving your users something far beyond what they expect in the moments when they really need it, rather than chasing clicks with tricks. When you do that, people will genuinely love your product and become your most loyal fans.
