(Click picture to see full-sized)
A few weeks ago I was fortunate to have one of those “ahhh…*this* is how it should work!” moments. What happened? They replaced a few of the microwaves in the break room at my office. Two of these rotary-knob beauties turned up one day. It made me realize just how wrong-headed the “standard” UI microwave is for the most common use scenario, which is of course to nuke leftovers quickly.
The typical microwave oven UI has a touchpad – strike one right there – and requires at least 3 button pushes to get your food a-heatin’. And since half the microwaves in the world are designed “verb-noun-verb” (“Time Cook-Put your time in-Start”) and the other half are “implicit verb-noun-verb” (“Put your time in-Start”), you’re constantly experiencing negative learning between home and work. See below for a pic of the typical microwave UI.
(Click picture to see full-sized)
The unit with the rotary knob, in contrast, is drop-dead simple to figure out and even simpler to operate. Just twist and wait. If you’re like me and hate to over-zap food in the micro, it’s easy to undercook, check the food, undercook again, check the food, etc.
On the standard microwave, that process is a total drudge. And all the while my food is cooling down while I “reprogram” the microwave. Which totally messes up my obsessive-compulsive calculations about optimal heating time.
The timer knob on this unit is nice and weighty, like the old stereo volume knobs from the early 80′s. And it has perfectly-designed detents at each 10-second interval. Not too deep but not too shallow either.
Sure, you lose a little bit of fine-grained control because you can only set it in 10-second chunks. But for me, that tradeoff makes perfect sense. And anyway, if you’re anything like me you always press “33″ for a 30-second zap, “44″ for 45 seconds, and “55″ or “66″ for a one-minute nuking. Because it’s a *pain* to jump from one number to another on the touchpad, that’s why…
If ever there was an iPod-like feeling of deep satisfaction to gain from using a microwave, it can be gained from this unit.
{ 4 comments }
