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We need physical audio kill switches

rubenerd.com

401–410 of 443 posts

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#401
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every microwave I have ever owned have been under $30, purely because I didn't want to go digital. Analogue egg-timer knob - good enough accuracy, and instantly pliable

Yeah. It's one thing that does not need improving. My parents bought a new microwave with all kinds of fancy digital features that nobody uses 99% of the time. In addition to being really difficult to use, it also makes a very loud BEEEP on every button press. Insanity.

In my experience (3 out of 3 microwaves that I tried this on), there is usually an options or settings menu that lets you turn off the beep.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#402
post #331

Nothing will ever come close to convenience of analogue volume knobs. They give both immediate action and infinite granular control. Same goes for kitchen stoves. All the modern touch controls with step-based control is the absolute nightmare in terms of UI.

And it's in my opinion doubly-important in a car, where you must put all your attention on your surroundings. The tactile feedback of buttons and knobs is paramount, and touch screens are awful to operate while driving.

I've got an "older" (~12 years?) car atm, a Ford, and it's got pretty beefy controls for the radio as an extra lever on the steering wheel; it's got buttons for volume control but I can operate it without thinking or taking my eyes off the wheel at least.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#403

Nothing will ever come close to convenience of analogue volume knobs. They give both immediate action and infinite granular control. Same goes for kitchen stoves. All the modern touch controls with step-based control is the absolute nightmare in terms of UI.

I loathe touch controls. We had them on our last stove and our cats would repeatedly walk across them. They had a lock button, but every now and then one of their paws would stand long enough on the lock/unlock touch control to activate the entire panel. We resorted to flipping the breaker any time we left the house. Guess none of those engineers had a cat.

I've actually had the same happen to my gas stove, but then, it doesn't seem to have a temperature lock-out like better designed ones do. Came home one day and the house smelled of gas. It was on low but still, it could've ended very badly. Not sure if I accidentally did it or the cat managed to.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#404
post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favourite features (if you could call it a feature) of gas stoves is that you can immediately tell if it's on or not. It's a lot easier to accidentally melt a plastic chopping board onto an electric stove than a gas one, and much harder to clean off when you do.

> much harder to clean off when you do That's only true for the type of electric stove that is still (bizarrely) popular in the US, with exposed spiral heaters. At least in the EU electric stoves are all glass. And many of them are induction heaters, which means your plastic chopping board wouldn't even notice being on the heater.

I'm not sure where you got that idea? Radiant and induction cooktops are by far the most common here in my experience.

Cleaning melted plastic off of the vast majority of surfaces, including glass, is hardly easy.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#405
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coffee, Cappuccino, Latte, Frappe All of the above multiplied by small, medium, large. All of the above multiplied by weak, normal, strong, and double shot. All of the above multiplied by zone defense, man to coverage, and missile command.

That’s not 3 options. I was replying to a message which spoke of 3 options not 12000

Yes, but you still seemed surprised there are could be more than two options -- not just "what would a 3rd, given 3 options only" would be.

And for 3 options, most classic home espresso machines have 3 buttons: (a) on/off toggle, (b) coffee/hot water toggle, (c) steam toggle.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#406
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on the coffee maker there can be a dozen or more options. A home espresso maker might adjust how many "shots" to drip, different temperatures, adding milk or not, etc.

> Depending on the coffee maker there can be a dozen or more options. Yes but that’s not relevant, I’m asking specifically what the third option would be in a or with 3 options.

Yes, but you still seemed surprised there are could be more than two options. You didn't explicitly ask "what would a 3rd option, given 3 options only, would be".

That said, most classic home espresso machines have 3 buttons: (a) on/off toggle, (b) coffee/hot water toggle, (c) steam toggle.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#407
post #394
post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> much harder to clean off when you do That's only true for the type of electric stove that is still (bizarrely) popular in the US, with exposed spiral heaters. At least in the EU electric stoves are all glass. And many of them are induction heaters, which means your plastic chopping board wouldn't even notice being on the heater.

Induction hobs tend use 3 phase lanes 230v/400v, around 7kW. The US suffers from low voltage mains. It'd take around 60A to get 7kV. OTOH, leaving a plastic (PP or some other thermoplastic) board on non-induction glass heater top would smear in a horrific way, close to impossible to clear it. The heaters do have LED illumination, though.

Residential power in the US is universally (to the best of my knowledge) three pole single phase 60 Hz 240V. The (common) wall outlets are certainly 120V, but large appliances are 240V. (A typical electric dryer is ~5kW at just over 20A.)

As long as I'm ackchyuallying, I'll also point out that radiant cooktops don't have LEDs in them (at least I've never come across one like that). The red light (which I assume you're referring to) is just what happens when the element in an infrared heater (space heater, toaster, etc) gets hot.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#408
post #407
post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Induction hobs tend use 3 phase lanes 230v/400v, around 7kW. The US suffers from low voltage mains. It'd take around 60A to get 7kV. OTOH, leaving a plastic (PP or some other thermoplastic) board on non-induction glass heater top would smear in a horrific way, close to impossible to clear it. The heaters do have LED illumination, though.

Residential power in the US is universally (to the best of my knowledge) three pole single phase 60 Hz 240V. The (common) wall outlets are certainly 120V, but large appliances are 240V. (A typical electric dryer is ~5kW at just over 20A.) As long as I'm ackchyuallying, I'll also point out that radiant cooktops don't have LEDs in them (at least I've never come across one like that). The red light (which I assume you'r…

Parent is writing about induction, not radiant. In either case, they usually have additional indicator of residual heat after the heater is turned off. But yes, that's likely not a LED either.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#409
post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Autosar for automotive. The delay is a requirement and not really due to the framework.

Um, what? What kind of requirement of that? The UI lag on modern cars is a safety hazard.

I’m not sure what lag are you refering, but on physical buttons there is a minimum of 50ms - 100ms required by the customer.

I guess is the same as on iPhone where if you hold backspace, it will not zap all the text, but go one by one with a visible delay. These companies simply treat end users as babies.

Re: We need physical audio kill switches

#410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For many people, the convenience of touch controls outweigh the negatives. They're easier to clean and they can look nicer. Not that it's always a good idea to use them though.

It is technically possible to build touch controls offering comparable UX to their analogue counterparts. Smartphones have done it since 2007. Why do stoves still force users to sequentially step through 14 settings using shitty +/- buttons in order to get what they want?

Capacitive touch controls and grease do not interact well, as I am reminded every time my touch only stove hood goes to maximum ventilation until I forcefully clean the touch surface with a paper towel.
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