Scott's Pet Peeve #2519
by Scott Hardie on December 21, 2010
Why do some microwaves have a convenient quick-start option if you press 1 or 2 or 3, so that they instantly start cooking with 1:00 or 2:00 or 3:00 on the clock... but DON'T have this same functionality programmed into 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, which do nothing when pressed alone? How does an engineer possess both the vision to provide the former and the lack of imagination that results in the latter? If it's about cutting cost, is it really that expensive to add a few more instructions to the same circuit board? This doesn't bother me because I'm too lazy to press time-four-zero-zero-start so much as because I'm baffled how a machine could have turned out this way.
Eight Replies to Scott's Pet Peeve #2519
Matthew Preston | December 21, 2010
My guess is that it's a safety-don't-want-to-be-sued issue. Some legal person somewhere along the line probably figured that cooking things over 3 minutes could cause problems. Either with destroying food, or causing damage to the microwave itself. Americans are quick to sue for the littlest things.
Ours has the same thing, but pressing the same button more than once usually compounds the time. For example when I want to cook something for 4 minutes, I press 3 - 1.
EDIT: whoops, sorry Denise. I had this window open for a bit and hadn't noticed you had replied. Looks like we were on the same wavelength! :-)
Denise Sawicki | December 21, 2010
Another question, why do microwaves have a popcorn button when every bag of microwaveable popcorn says "do not use the popcorn button". Do the microwave instructions also say not to use the button? If so, why do they have the button? If not, why are they risking getting sued? By the way, I use the button and it works fine :P
Matthew Preston | December 21, 2010
A marketing gimmick perhaps? I always secretly think the popcorn button is just set for 3 minutes.
Lori Lancaster | December 21, 2010
[hidden by author request]
Erik Bates | December 22, 2010
[hidden by author request]
Scott Hardie | December 22, 2010
I guess since I eat frozen entrées for most meals (diet status: haven't lost or gained weight since last message), I'm accustomed to 3-7 minutes being a pretty standard use for a microwave.
At the apartment we just moved out of, the quick-start buttons went up to 5, which was a little more reasonable. But this new one has a little spinning carousel that cooks my food evenly and doesn't require me to stir halfway, so I guess it's a step up.
I don't recall ever using the popcorn button or the number of minutes written on the box. I just put the bag in the microwave and stand there until I can hear the popping stop.
Denise Sawicki | December 22, 2010
I didn't think there still were any non-spinning microwaves in this century. :)
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Who's Got (Car) Trouble
I'm not even halfway through paying off my new car and already it's being towed to have the engine worked on, since it won't start tonight. It didn't deal well with Kelly's camping event last weekend, coming home with creaking suspension and broken power locks, and now this. He's hoping all four tires (just replaced in the spring) make it through GooCon this time. Go »Garfunkel and Oates
Kelly and I had a good time last night taking out two old friends for their birthdays to see Garfunkel and Oates in Tampa. I'm only familiar with the duo's songs, so it was refreshing that only maybe a third of the show consisted of music. The rest was stand up comedy, storytelling, audience interaction, and a weird extended commercial for their sponsor Monster Energy Drink, tall boys of which were being handed out for free, because that's just what my heart needs at ten o'clock at night. Go »Fun with Vacation Planning
I think I have discovered a new interest: Vacation planning. Most people enjoy daydreaming about possible future trips, but not everybody enjoys working out the fine nitty-gritty details of every last part of the trip. I have found that I do. Go »Other Contents Under Pressure
"So this guy is on a dinner date, and he has terrible gas, but he waits because he doesn't want to be embarrassed. When they get back to her house, he can't wait any longer. He desperately asks where her bathroom is, and she says first door on the left. Go »Nooooooooooodge
You know what would be nice? If Google, one of the most web-savvy companies in existence, could manage to remember my goddamn user settings for more than 48 hours. I'm getting really sick of discovering them reset to defaults and having to change them all over again. Go »
Denise Sawicki | December 21, 2010
Our microwave is like that. I assumed maybe it's a safety thing like 4 minutes would generally be too long for many purposes and would burn something. It is odd though.