A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher • Hacker News Board

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#171

Post by crumbshot » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 1:37 PM UTC

je_bailey wrote: post #168

crumbshot wrote: post #162

> She designed her first model in the shed behind her house in Shelbyville, Ill. Her lack of formal engineering education, however, became an obstacle, so she sought out someone who could help. Mechanic George Butters agreed to assist her in building the prototype. So the engineer did all the actual hard work here in coming up with a working prototype, but the wealthy funder takes almost all of the credit, and puts t…

No. She came up with the idea, she built the prototype, she had the vision. To name some lackey who only did what they were told an inventor is a disservice.

They both built the prototype. Without a proof of concept that has the actual details figured out to make it work, it's just an idea.

Downplaying the essential role of an experienced and knowledgeable engineer as merely being a "lackey" is the real disservice.

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#172

Post by Xylakant » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 1:42 PM UTC

tommymachine wrote: post #145

Symbiote wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So fuck the environment, the rules are for other people?

It seems like you’re implying that laws in California apply also to people who live in other states?

Indirectly, they do. Same thing as ES rules. The EU rules do not apply to the US, but by virtue of being a huge market, products are designed to follow those requirements. And companies will want to avoid creating entirely different product lines for different markets - so at least some of those rules and restrictions will end up in those products.

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#173

Post by phonypc » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 1:47 PM UTC

andai wrote: post #55

Does anyone have experience with big industrial dishwashers? We had one at a school I visited, based in an old military barracks. It was about the size of a large fridge, extremely loud (used high pressure) and cleaned dishes spotless in about 15 seconds. I've wanted one of those ever since, along with one of those giant laundromat washing machines with shock absorbers that run a spin cycle in complete silence.

In addition to the downsides noted by other responses like electricity and maintenance costs, it's worth noting these industrial machines don't clean food residue nearly as well as domestic machines.

There simply isn't enough time in contact with the chemicals to break down things like starch and protein. You're meant to preclean dishes that go into these things quite well, then they degrease and sanitize them.

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#174

Post by je_bailey » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 1:47 PM UTC

crumbshot wrote: post #171

je_bailey wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. She came up with the idea, she built the prototype, she had the vision. To name some lackey who only did what they were told an inventor is a disservice.

They both built the prototype. Without a proof of concept that has the actual details figured out to make it work, it's just an idea. Downplaying the essential role of an experienced and knowledgeable engineer as merely being a "lackey" is the real disservice.

Your making assumptions here. There's no details on what exactly was needed from an engineering perspective. Was it design? Was it merely the knowledge to work the tools? She hired this person, but would any engineer have worked? If all he did was follow instructions and a plan and build what she designed then he was a lackey. Now he may have been more then that. But all the information I've seen so far has pointed to her being the designer, her being the driving force for this.

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#175

Post by rsynnott » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 1:50 PM UTC

prawn wrote: post #147

It amazes me that after widespread adoption of dishwashers, we still build very customised bathrooms into houses that require manual labour to clean each surface - tiles/grout, basins, benchtops, toilets, floors, etc. A bathroom that could be sealed and cleaned as though it was a dishwasher would be great. For everything but the toilet, lightly pressured spray of hot water would probably be sufficient. Throw the towe…

As you say, this is already a thing for public toilets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanisette

For a whole bathroom, it would be quite expensive; you'd need a fully watertight room (most bathrooms, even wetrooms, are not) and you'd risk contamination. Would also be difficult to retrofit unless you had a wetroom already. Also the failure modes are quite bad; what happens when the drains clog? You'd need the whole thing sunken to prevent water egress to the rest of the house.

Definitely not saying it's impossible, or even impractical, but it wouldn't be cheap.

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#176

Post by pwinnski » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 1:53 PM UTC

prawn wrote: post #147

It amazes me that after widespread adoption of dishwashers, we still build very customised bathrooms into houses that require manual labour to clean each surface - tiles/grout, basins, benchtops, toilets, floors, etc. A bathroom that could be sealed and cleaned as though it was a dishwasher would be great. For everything but the toilet, lightly pressured spray of hot water would probably be sufficient. Throw the towe…

After visiting Asia a few times, I can't look at American bathrooms the same way.

Why can't I just turn a hose on in the bathroom to clean everything? Argh!

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#177

Post by rsynnott » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 1:55 PM UTC

crumbshot wrote: post #162

> She designed her first model in the shed behind her house in Shelbyville, Ill. Her lack of formal engineering education, however, became an obstacle, so she sought out someone who could help. Mechanic George Butters agreed to assist her in building the prototype. So the engineer did all the actual hard work here in coming up with a working prototype, but the wealthy funder takes almost all of the credit, and puts t…

Normally the person who comes up with the idea and basic design is considered the inventor. For anything even vaguely complicated, it's likely that multiple people are involved in building the prototype.

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#178

Post by rsynnott » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 2:01 PM UTC

pinot wrote: post #104

Scoundreller wrote: post #20

I wish they invented the dual side-by-side dishwasher. I want separate dirty and clean units. I’m tired of using the sink or shelves as a buffer. Just pull from the clean unit and push into the dirty unit and rotate which is which. Voilà, dramatically less handling.

What you're looking for is called a "kosher kitchen"

Though, of course, if you want to both do this _and_ use it as a kosher kitchen, you'll want _four_ dishwashers :)

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#179

Post by rsynnott » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 2:05 PM UTC

srgpqt wrote: post #52

Xcelerate wrote: post #22

I find that recent models of dishwashers don’t work nearly as well as older models. They don’t heat up enough to dry water off of plastic, and the enzyme based detergents don’t seem to clean as well as the old phosphate detergents. Also, the dishwasher in our current apartment (a cheap Whirlpool) often leaves a wet dog smell on the glasses, and we can’t figure out where it comes from or how to get rid of it. Apparent…

As strange as it may sound, it could be because you use a little too much detergent.

It doesn't help that the detergent manufacturers, who have an interest in selling more detergent, tend to be generous with their dosing instructions. Always follow the appliance manufacturer's dosing, not the detergent manufacturer's.

Re: A socialite who hated washing dishes invented the automated dishwasher

#180

Post by vianneychevalie » Wed, Oct 07, 2020, 2:05 PM UTC

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #150

andai wrote: post #55

Does anyone have experience with big industrial dishwashers? We had one at a school I visited, based in an old military barracks. It was about the size of a large fridge, extremely loud (used high pressure) and cleaned dishes spotless in about 15 seconds. I've wanted one of those ever since, along with one of those giant laundromat washing machines with shock absorbers that run a spin cycle in complete silence.

Unless you can uninstall someone else's broken one, fix it and install it in your home without F-ing it up you likely have no business owning industrial appliances. These things aren't made to plug and play anywhere any everywhere like consumer appliances are and you're gonna have to consider a bunch of little details in order to make them deliver good service. If you don't already know what that entails you're proba…

> if you're not gonna do all your own maintenance just forget about it and buy cheap disposable appliances

Besides the physical waste that I can already see accumulating behind this advice that I find quite poor, it also makes no economical sense. I own high quality home appliances and they don't break down, or need replacement. My washing machine is 30 years old and runs once or twice a day.

Don't buy cheap shit would be my advice. If you can't afford a good quality appliance, wait for a couple extra months.