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AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

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Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#31

Post by lozenge »

wincy wrote: post #22

Interesting to see this here as the more expensive version of this microwave with convection baking nearly burned down my house on Thanksgiving. It was a hectic morning and we were getting ready, and I had my kid put something into the microwave/oven. She put in the metal rack and the food on top. We’d done this dozens of times before. I then used Alexa from another room and said “Alexa, bake at 400° Fahrenheit for t…

I like how you didn't report it to Amazon originally. How low are our expectations these days? "I almost started a fire, I guess I was just holding it wrong".

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#32

Post by ghusbands »

madaxe_again wrote: post #12
sublinear wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If they’re setting the time with a knob, how do they get 1:35 instead of a guesstimate of the time? A stepped dial would solve this. > How do they change the power level, use the defrost mode, the popcorn preset? A grid of radio buttons would solve this. It's not like we don't know how to engineer accessible technology. They really do just want to cram AI into everything.

I don’t know - I think for an awful lot of applications, language is the ideal interface. In 10 years, I want to be able to say “make me some toast and then go feed the cats” to my domestic robot, not sit there twiddling dials to select the toast function and accidentally combining the command with “feed cat” and ending up with “feed me toasted cat”. Interfaces should be intuitive. Human language is intuitive for all…

Look at the comment from wincy detailing very dangerous outcomes [1] to see why voice control might not always be best.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36745581

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#34

Post by ghusbands »

sgerenser wrote: post #29
yread wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Popcorn preset? Who uses that? What does it even do? Dont microwave popcorn bags just say 3 minutes at 600W?

Popcorn presets either detect steam once the popcorn is almost done popping (then runs for N more seconds), or actually use a microphone to detect the time between pops (I think the latter is more accurate). If done well, it can work well. Apparently it’s often not done well because the bags of microwave popcorn almost always say “don’t use popcorn setting!”

The problematic popcorn settings are the ones that don't have any such detection and instead ask you to enter a weight and they choose an amount of time based on that. It's very inaccurate and causes either many unpopped kernels or some burning.

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#35

Post by nolok »

LightBug1 wrote: post #21
Detrytus wrote: post #2

Forgive my ignorance, but isn't an old school microwave with knobs and button even more accessible, thanks to tacile feedback? Why do they need to put AI in everything?

I have a WIFI label on mine, had it for years ... I still don't know what it's for.

It's for a price increase by looking edgy and modern. Oh wait you meant for you the user ? No, it doesn't serve any purpose.

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#36

Post by poulsbohemian »

While we are talking about improvements to household appliances, my partner had a moment of genius yesterday: Sodastream in the fridge. Since many refrigerators today have a water dispenser, why doesn't it include an option for a carbonated water dispenser? You'd think the manufacturers would love this as they could get recurring revenue same as water filters and air filters in the form of the co2 cartridges.

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#37

Post by HeroCC »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #36

While we are talking about improvements to household appliances, my partner had a moment of genius yesterday: Sodastream in the fridge. Since many refrigerators today have a water dispenser, why doesn't it include an option for a carbonated water dispenser? You'd think the manufacturers would love this as they could get recurring revenue same as water filters and air filters in the form of the co2 cartridges.

Sodastream and Samsung(?) had a partnership which did just this a while back! I told myself that when my current fridge died I would get one, and was actually a bit too excited when it finally passed. Unfortunately, I scoured the market and wasn’t able to find a single one for sale, only references and manuals from models last produced several years ago.

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#38

Post by natebc »

HeroCC wrote: post #37
poulsbohemian wrote: post #36

While we are talking about improvements to household appliances, my partner had a moment of genius yesterday: Sodastream in the fridge. Since many refrigerators today have a water dispenser, why doesn't it include an option for a carbonated water dispenser? You'd think the manufacturers would love this as they could get recurring revenue same as water filters and air filters in the form of the co2 cartridges.

Sodastream and Samsung(?) had a partnership which did just this a while back! I told myself that when my current fridge died I would get one, and was actually a bit too excited when it finally passed. Unfortunately, I scoured the market and wasn’t able to find a single one for sale, only references and manuals from models last produced several years ago.

Yeah it was Samsung. I had one of these. It was fine like you'd expect. It really was just an expensive gimmick.

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#39

Post by pc86 »

djtango wrote: post #25
wincy wrote: post #22

Interesting to see this here as the more expensive version of this microwave with convection baking nearly burned down my house on Thanksgiving. It was a hectic morning and we were getting ready, and I had my kid put something into the microwave/oven. She put in the metal rack and the food on top. We’d done this dozens of times before. I then used Alexa from another room and said “Alexa, bake at 400° Fahrenheit for t…

...why doesn't Alexa confirm the actions it's going to take. "Starting the microwave for 20 minutes..."

I haven't used any Alexa product in probably 10 months or so but I always remember it repeating whatever command it was doing.

Re: AmazonBasics Microwave: Accessible for People with Visual Impairments (2019)

#40

Post by iLoveOncall »

pc86 wrote: post #39
djtango wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...why doesn't Alexa confirm the actions it's going to take. "Starting the microwave for 20 minutes..."

I haven't used any Alexa product in probably 10 months or so but I always remember it repeating whatever command it was doing.

You can put it in reduced interactions mode or something like that which will make it speak less, but without testing this specific case it's impossible to know if it would have repeated or not.
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