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Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#401

Post by dekhn »

riddley wrote: post #372
masto wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't all have nothing that isn't required. My toaster runs Android, has a touch screen, WiFi and an app, and a camera for the AI to identify what you put in it and so you can watch a live stream of your toast or play back recordings from the cloud. It was a pre-order in 2015 that didn't ship for two years. Unfortunately they sold out to Weber a couple of years ago and the product has been discontinued, much to…

>They don't all have nothing that isn't required. I'm not smart enough to parse that sentence, I think.

Upthread somebody asserted modern toasters have no unnecessary components (see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntzing) and this sentence is saying "not all toasters have only the minimal required components".

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#402

Post by dekhn »

benj111 wrote: post #268
floren wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When too many OOOOLOOO brand toasters start fires, they just close their Amazon profile and create a new one selling FOLGARP brand toasters. You can't have quite that level of untouchability as a US manufacturer, so you have to do it right.

Is FOLGARP an IKEA thing?

this thread is now the #1 hit on Google for 'FOLGARP'

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#403

Post by tomjakubowski »

vidarh wrote: post #211
43920 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are already companies that make nice-looking, higher-end kitchen appliances though - Breville comes to mind, there are probably others. Speaking from personal experience, I have a toaster oven from them that’s lasted close to ten years with zero problems; I’d have a hard time being convinced to pay more for a “made in USA” one unless there was something truly exceptional about it.

That's why I think you need a compelling story about it. How the poor inventor struggled against the odds to fix the scourge of bad toast, to bring you an exquisite product that makes you feel good to own for the story more than any tangible reason. It needs to be a personal story to set him apart from the other brands.

throw in some tenuous connection to reviving the industrious spirit of Old Detroit ("It Never Died") and you have yourself a brand!

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#405

Post by ultra-jeremyx »

ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #361
masto wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't all have nothing that isn't required. My toaster runs Android, has a touch screen, WiFi and an app, and a camera for the AI to identify what you put in it and so you can watch a live stream of your toast or play back recordings from the cloud. It was a pre-order in 2015 that didn't ship for two years. Unfortunately they sold out to Weber a couple of years ago and the product has been discontinued, much to…

>My toaster runs Android, has a touch screen, WiFi and an app, and a camera for the AI to identify what you put in it and so you can watch a live stream of your toast or play back recordings from the cloud. You—you're kidding, right? Right?

They are talking about a June oven, which is a smart oven and far more advanced than a toaster. https://juneoven.com/

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#406

Post by jszymborski »

Lio wrote: post #218
jszymborski wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would by a $75+ toaster that: - was made in a free Democratic country - is of quality I often pay a premium for such items.

I think a Dualit is what you want. I have a 4 slice Dualit[1] I bought in 2004 and it still works perfectly. It's an unchanging point of reliability in our kitchen. The Classic model is basically an old catering toaster design from the 1950s. So it has "anti-features" that make it suitable for a commercial setting where you're making lots of toast to order. e.g. you can pop the bread to check it without resetting the…

very cool, will probably patronize them next I'm looking for a toaster. Might even make for a nice wedding gift.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#407

Post by ericpauley »

jen20 wrote: post #391
PaulHoule wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your inlaws had the best information in '97 and wealth of knowledge about specific products but the right entrepreneur might see it differently these days. (e.g. your inlaws could sell out and get into another business because their brand still had value) I went to Best Buy to buy a microwave oven last weekend and noticed that all the microwaves: (a) had a Proposition 65 label (see https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net…

There was an interesting segment on the Accidental Tech Podcast [1] recently about microwaves, I did not realise that there were effectively only a couple of actual microwave units on the market and everything else is brand wrapping around it. I replaced my need for a toaster recently with a Breville Joule oven, and am quite impressed, I'd definitely buy one of their microwaves if I ever needed one. [1]: https://atp.…

AFAIK Breville microwaves are also made by Midea.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#409

Post by dublin »

sgarland wrote: post #354
lorax wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bagel button makes only one side of the slot get hot (or at least makes one side hotter than the other). Your toaster probably has a bagel icon on the top showing you which way to put the bagel in (cut side towards the center in every toaster I have seen). Source: I'm not married to toaster moguls but I do peer into operating toasters to see which wires turn red. Feel free to replicate my research and post your o…

Mine doesn’t have a bagel icon, but I do put them cut-side towards the center. Looking closely during operation, the elements facing out from the center didn’t appear to change color with the bagel button depressed. It toasts the bagel just fine (as well as bread), though. I should get a wattmeter and see if power draw changes.

I don't think I've ever before been party to any conversation where the words "toaster mogul" ever appeared in the exchange, and yet, here they are, in all their golden brown and delicious glory!

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#410

Post by sotix »

arghwhat wrote: post #399
sotix wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a different experience than the other commentator with my toaster’s bagel button. Both sides still get heated. My bagel button makes the toasting cycle last longer than normal, which is perfect for defrosting a frozen bagel and then toasting to the setting the wheel is set to.

Is it labelled "bagel", or is it a symbol that could be interpreted? What you describe is what the "defrost" feature of the linked circuit would do. I have certainly misinterpreted iconography completely before...

It's labeled bagel, and there is a separate defrost button. According to this[0] manual from Cuisinart, "The bagel feature adds extra time to the toasting cycle to allow for thicker breads." So there's our answer!

[0] https://www.cuisinart.ca/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-ca-cui...

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