Monday 1 October 2007

Why do microwaves have so many features?

I was using the microwave today and I looked at all the buttons I do not use. There were plenty. It seems like such a waste. I only need a power setting (high medium low), time setting and maybe a defrost mode. I suspect that other people barely use all the features of their microwaves. There is always the chance that everyone uses a different 5% of the features. Either way I'd like to see more products with less feature bloat. I am fed up of superfluous features for the sake of "value adding" or making it more "marketable".

3 comments:

  1. I use every single feature of my microwave every day. I'm sick and tired of you featurephobic types with your 'just cook it for 30 seconds on high power' philosophy on life! If I want to defrost an emu egg, I don't want to have to work out how long to microwave it myself! I want the machine to have a button specifically for emu egg defrostation! Simplified technology causes global warming

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  2. I have a 20 year old microwave I inherted from a guy I used to share a house with (same one we had when I was a kid actually) - even it has heaps of functions I never use. However, I find it much easier to use than the newer model ones, the newer ones appear to be design driven by 'marketing morons' and poorly engineered.

    I thought of getting a new one cause they are so cheap and take up less space in my kitchen, but all things considered, it doesnt make sense...

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  3. Here's a link to a book that agrees about the problem of feature bloat in design: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0465067107?tag=useitcomusablein

    This book is 20 years old. Apparently no one read it!

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