231–237 of 237 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
or maybe you should just cold wash
I was just having this discussion with my wife. I was under the impression that using the dryer to dry clothes is what causes items to shrink. Does the water temperature in the wash make a difference too if you hang dry?
Wash on cold and hang dry is best if possible.
Within a second of seeing the 'improved' ones I spot what is, to my mind at least, an immediate failure - the detail resolution is far too small. It doesn't account for the printing limitations on small fabric tags, never mind the ability of old fogeys such as myself to be able to squint that hard and actually read them. I have no idea even looking on my screen here what the difference between the first three is supp…
The failure of this UI/UX "expert" to grasp this most basic common sense detail is why modern websites and applications are generally speaking top-heavy UI/UX disasters. Over the last 15 years or so I think we've taken a few giant steps backwards as we let freewheeling artists take over. Yet go back to the early 80s and look at the original Macintosh UI which was designed by an artist - Susan Kare - with complete ele…
So many comments even straight out dismissing the necessity of the labels altogether, which 1. is not the point at all and 2. would definitely not be the sentiment from those who are actually in charge of the laundry and care about taking care their clothes well over the years.
Maybe HN doesn’t necessarily have the intended audience for this kind of post then.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I found one possible answer online -- Euro washing machines may actually have water heaters built in, while American washing macchines may just use the existing house "hot water supply". So Euro machines can heat to desired temp, while American ones just have to take what they get! Ah so it’s the same deal as the dishwashers, I should have figured. > Euro houses don't usually have a central "hot water tank" like US…
> might be the same as the kettle thing: the US being on 120V, I think you could be right about washing machines/dishwashers, but as far as electric kettles... even at US 120V, an electric kettle is WAY faster at heating water to boiling than even my fairly powerful (bigger than traditional burner) gas range. (Not to mention much more energy-efficient). I have no idea why electric kettles aren't more popular in the U…
His main conclusion: Americans have less use for kettles since they don't drink tea (as much).
He also observes that electric kettles turn out to be faster and more efficient than other means of heating water for other purposes that are not obvious at first sight, as you also mention.
Not all European electric kettles are faster than American ones BTW. Mine is 1200 W (I think) which is in the range of what American ones can deliver. There are more powerful models available too of course.
It's a lost cause, looking for 'intuitive' symbols. It depends on your culture, your experiences, heck your generation. Just look at the symbols for 'save' (a floppy disk) or 'make a call' (an old phone handset). Kids just have to memorize them, they mean nothing 'intuitively'. I liken these attempts at symbol sets, to ancient hieroglyphics - a different picture-writing for everything. Even the Egyptians gave up and…
But then you need different labels for different markets, and even then often lots of different languages on the same label. That's the whole point of using symbols instead: they are universal.
At least in theory. In the real world labels do contain instructions in multiple languages, and I do read those instead of trying to decipher the symbols.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The tags aren't that hard to remember, either. Do not bleach is the only one that you have to think, oh right the triangle is a bottle of bleach. The circle in a square is describing spin cycle. The circle with no square is describing drying without heat. The iron is describing an iron. The dots always represent the three levels of heat, just like on your iron. I remember this in spite of not having done laundry in 5…
> The dots always represent the three levels of heat, just like on your iron. Just to highlight how non-universal these symbol are, I have never had an iron that has three levels of heat or that represents the levels with dots.
Funny thing, those two do not match. For example, on my current iron "Cotton" is marked at three-dots, whereas all my cotton clothes have labels that insist on ironing them on two-dots.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I really find the idea that "having to know, or lookup stuff", as a problem, offensive. I tend to agree. As a culture we have the knowledge of the world in our pocket day in and day out yet we have become lazy and even obstinate about using it. I've started turning gardening and landscaping into a bit of a hobby with my new house. I'm constantly looking up specifics on plants, how to prune, and etc. It is so much e…
> I tend to agree. As a culture we have the knowledge of the world in our pocket day in and day out yet we have become lazy and even obstinate about using it. What do you think the problem (one of them) with the Information Age is? The affordance of lookup makes it so that we have to look up more and more. And then we have to arrange more and more information in order to make the frequently-needed information conveni…
Part of my generation and most of the previous generations IMO have never fully embraced a connected world. Just watching how much quarantine crushed some people and how some of us doubled down on online lives that were already fulfilling (discord, watch parties and online interaction). I've always felt judged by my older friends / folks my age about how I live my life. (I met my wife in an MMO a decade ago and we moved across the country to be together.)
When forced to go online, the generation that rejected online have an allergic reaction. I can't even count the number of times I have been texted or called for something personally or professionally that could be found in a 5 minute search by people who reject the idea of even searching first.
Long story short, I think it will literally die out.