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Previous: Ticketmaster feature | Main | Next: Software error
November 5, 2003 03:01 AM
Broken: Techno-toaster
Laurie Gray writes:
On a recent business trip, I wanted toast for breakfast. I had no trouble putting the toast INTO the toaster; however, I thought it was running long and attempted to get the toast OUT of the toaster. Finally, after 5 tries, I managed to get it out, thanks to the help of a tiny little button on the front of the toaster called "cancel".I am not sure that I want a toaster that is so technologically advanced that it needs a "cancel" button!
I've seen this before. Although it does take some getting used to, the reason for the change in the design of the toast cycle cancel is a good one. Newer toasters rely on a solenoid to keep the toast down, so rather than just pulling up on the toast lever as you're used to with your old mechanical toaster, you'll need to push the cancel button. If you can't find it, simply pulling the plug will release your toast as well!
Question is, what's easier for the user? Hunting for a cancel button, and maybe unplugging the whole thing, or simply pulling down a big, obvious lever?
I have the 2-slice version of this toaster, and actually had to return the first one I bought. You see, when I did what the author did, it broke mine! The cancel button would no longer work at all. So, literally for me it WAS broken--or led to it being broken :)
I'm waiting for the new talking model so I can sit and discuss philosophy over it whilst eating crumpets. http://www.geocities.com/realm_of_toast/
Tim, I would have pulled the plug but given that the toaster was in the middle of the buffet line and not my kitchen, the plug was hidden! (It DID cross my mind...)
Seems to me that the toaster is violating a design principle. The big lever is used to push the toaster down, so it stands to reason that it should also be usable to push the toast back up. And in toasters of a bygone era, that is exactly how things worked.
seems the obvious fix is to make the upward action of the lever trigger the cancel switch. Yes a rather poor design
My toaster has a cancel button, and the only reason I know it's there is because I RTFMed when I set the toaster up. The cancel button is not intuitive, the toaster makes awesome toast. For some reason, this is not a common trait of toasters. My real beef with the toaster is that it blows the kitchen fuse if I toast while microwaving ...
My $10 Toastmaster toaster (not this one fortunately! http://broken.typepad.com/b/2003/08/toaster_oven.html ) has a cancel function as well, but they cleverly placed it as the lowest setting of the darkness dial - so you have three labels, Cancel, Light and Dark. So while not as clever as detecting the upward action of the lever, at least one can release their toast by fumbling with the dial.
I have a Cuisinart toaster with a CANCEL button. All you have to do is hit it and you understand what it does. However, I would suggest that they change the button to read EJECT, which seems far more appropriate.
Well, normally, I frown upon people who have trouble with appliances, but you SHOULD NOT HAVE TO RTFM for a toaster!!! Since their creation, all you had to do is pull the lever up to get the toast out. "Cancel" certainly fits the times, but it's a toaster!!!! There's no need to change the "interface". Not for a toaster....
While we're at it, let's call the brake pedal, the "cancel velocity" pedal... or how about the "close acceleration window" button...
Well, normally, I frown upon people who have trouble with appliances, but you SHOULD NOT HAVE TO RTFM for a toaster!!! Since their creation, all you had to do is pull the lever up to get the toast out. "Cancel" certainly fits the times, but it's a toaster!!!! There's no need to change the "interface". Not for a toaster....
While we're at it, let's call the brake pedal, the "cancel velocity" pedal... or how about the "close acceleration window" button...
The first question would be why a cancel button when I was a kid lifting the lever did this today you could break the toaster trying it. The designers of the first cancel toast button obvisously thought they could promote this as a "feature" thus charging more money.
My Sunbeam has a cancel button that is so stiff that when you push it the whole toaster slides across the countertop. so I pull the plug.
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Previous: Ticketmaster feature | Main | Next: Software error
I ran across this feature some time ago and found it quite amusing to play with... But Cancel is a techno-toaster button that doesn't look to be going away soon: most new toasters in Europe have them it seems ;-)
Charlie
Posted by: Charlie Richmond at November 5, 2003 12:57 PM