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Comment by kurthr | Hacker News Reader

Next, can I have a microwave oven that has just 2 dials? Time & Power

I've recently bought two different cheap ones. They're both like that. Nothing but power and time. Timer is mechanical. I much prefer this UX over more cumbersome and expensive ones.

It's difficult to show you the relevant ads when you don't even have a screen.

Ha, comic gold (because there's truth to it)!

Are there microwave ovens with ads?

There are gas pumps with ads, operating systems with ads, eReaders with ads... it's only a matter of time.

Amen!

I had a samsung microwave like this and the ux was really solid on it. It literally had only the two dials on it, and the time dial had nice curve so you could easily set short (<1min) times precisely, and longer times quickly

https://www.thewrightbuy.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1...

I have the same and it's easily the best interface I've ever used on any microwave. I am always baffled by the ones with two dozen buttons. Who on earth uses all those modes? Even more infuriating is when they actually make it harder to enter the time you want by doing something insane like only having a 'one minute' and a 'ten seconds' button that you have to press repeatedly.

If someone could make washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and TV remotes with similarly decluttered interfaces I would be very happy. I even find fridges hard to use! Most of them seem to have a scale (e.g. 1-5) of buttons for the fridge temperature. Who can tell me (without looking in the manual) which end of that scale is 'cold' and which is 'warm'? They never label whether it represents power or temperature.

That's what I was looking for... even if I can't easily get it here. I'd also be happy with a clean/wipeable glass touch screen implementation of the same (which could have all the other controls the gadget freaks want).

I've been looking for a microwave like that for years. Unfortunately that model is not available in my country.

How about one that lets you know the food is done without waking up the house with the sound of a 1970's alarm clock?

I have been thinking of starting a service to "neuter" electronics. Like bring your microwave and the beep gets killed. Lots of devices could use this sort of thing - squeaky/annoying noises removed. Fans replaced with quieter ones. LED brightness reduced. I don't know how to handle the logistics of it though.

I always wanted to do an 'online microwave UI generator' where it generates a random typically-overcomplicated microwave-like UI and you have to figure out which buttons to press to microwave a cup of milk for 1 min

I'd say, please do it :-) I'd love to play around with something like that!

I think a single "30 second" button would accommodate 90% of my microwaving needs - it has like a dozen special mode buttons, but I almost always hit the 30 second button enough times for whatever I'm making. Maybe a second "50% power" button would get me to 100%.

The microwave at work here has a start button that triples as "Start with 1 minute" and "add another minute". So most things can be accomplished with just that one button without even touching the dial.

And that stops beeping after you've opened the door?

I recently nabbed one of these: https://www.breville.com/au/en/products/microwaves/bmo735.ht....

Dials are the entry point and all you ever have to use, but there are some quick entry points for various programs. Also, the door is just a handle instead of a mechanical button that gets gummed up and stops actually working after a while, and the "little bit more" button gimmick is really handy.

A microwave is a weird thing to be enthusiastic about but this thing ticked a lot of my design boxes.

To make my life simple, I always buy - at long intervals - a cheap microwave with those two dials.

To make it simpler, I don't touch the power dial, and just open and close the door to turn the microwave on and off. The time dial is just a safety backup.

Works for me.

My theory is that if there are sub-par designers in an appliance company, they are assigned to the team which designs microwave ovens.

Cheap ones usually have only that. I am using one - can't complain.

Of course you can... The cheap ones are like that.

I remember having one of the digital ones too, and the UX was terrible (took me a few days to understand it). It had like 12 buttons of which you only needed to use 3 or so. It also had a speaker that would beep every time I pressed a button, and it was LOUD, I felt like I was waking up the entire neighbourhood every time I microwaved something in the middle of the night. If I had to choose an adjective to describe the entire affair it would be "stupid".

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