I have a stupidly cheap microwave which I bought a few years ago (because I moved homes and the last one, a rental, included a microwave) and it has no clock.
In fact, it doesn’t even have the simplest of displays - it has one analog rotary control for power and another for microwaving time, the latter rotating back by itself at a fixed speed.
Sometimes simpler is better.
HubertManne@piefed.social 1 day ago
I mean its vaguely useful to have another clock but yeah if it did not I would not exactly cry.
cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 23 hours ago
The clock is only useful if the time is correct. They could at least put a small super capacitor in there to keep the time during short power outages.
subignition@fedia.io 22 hours ago
Or like, a CR2032.
Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 hours ago
Yeah, even cheap microcontrollers nowadays with support for clock functionality have an ultra low power mode were the only thing running is the clock crystal and the clock functionality which uses so little power that it can run for years from such a button battery.
The thing could do the same as my stupidly cheap alarm clock that has some batteries as power backup and just keep on counting time without displaying whilst mains power is down so that when mains power comes back up it still has the right time.
The extra $1 for the hardware needed for it is hardly going to matter next to the overal cost of anything but a stupidly cheap microwave.
HubertManne@piefed.social 23 hours ago
honestly just having it remember the last time it last had would be big. my toaster oven does that so no time adjustment if it was a little brownout.
locuester@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Eh that’d be horrible. 30 min power outage and your clock is off enough to really throw you off.
i_am_not_a_robot@discuss.tchncs.de 20 hours ago
I think this is an important feature for religiously observant Jews. There’s a loophole where you’re not allowed to use appliances or something, but if the appliance just happens to operate itself on a prearranged schedule then apparently that’s okay. In the manual it may be called Shabbat or Sabbath mode. Without a battery backup it adds next to no per-unit hardware cost if the device already has a cooking timer or automatic safety shutoff feature so it’s probably standard on most ovens and microwaves in markets that have Jewish customers. You may also notice this behavior with elevators that automatically travel on a schedule.
BCsven@lemmy.ca 6 hours ago
My old oven had Sabbath mode. It just stays on at a baking temp, and apparently because its considered a “golem” operating the “fire”, then no work is done by a human so it is allowed.
To me that’s just finding loopholes in your religion because you don’t like its restrictions
HubertManne@piefed.social 11 hours ago
I would be scared as fuck if a microwave started on its own. I mean so they are ready to put some slice of pizza they had the other day in at a specific time because they set it up to start the day before??? Also how many additional sales would they actually see with that feature. Im sorta aware of these things and I thought they were a bit premium and used even dumber setups. Like one was the thing is constantly trying to start itself and there is a thing that blocks it so you are not starting it but taking away the thing that keeps it from working automatically and then reblocking it.
drcobaltjedi@programming.dev 21 hours ago
My mom visited me once and asked me why I didn’t set the time on the stove, since, you know, it’s a clock. “Mom, I have never once gone ‘oh man what time is it? I better check the stove.’ Especially after I had a smartphone on me all the time”
TehPers@beehaw.org 4 hours ago
On the oven, I’ll use the clock to see how long something has been baking for without pulling up my phone. Otherwise, the time it says doesn’t mean much to me.
I’d rather just see a stopwatch-style function on it. Ovens usually have timers already, but sometimes it’s nice to just manually track it, especially if you have to pull the food out to flip it or something mid-way.
ButteryMonkey@piefed.social 11 hours ago
I’m in your boat. I don’t even change my clocks for DST anymore. It doesn’t really matter beyond a ballpark what time it is most of the time (and keeping to standard time means my animals’ schedules don’t get messed up every 6 months). If there’s an appointment or something that I need an actual time for, I have my phone with tons of alarm options so it’s fine.
I haven’t set my stove clock in ages, tho I get why it has one since I can program it to start at a certain time, but beyond that appliances shouldn’t even have always-on displays. What’s the purpose other than wasting electricity?
HubertManne@piefed.social 11 hours ago
I mean I do use clocks around the house and don’t have a smartphone on me all the time but still the clocks on appliances can be off for awhile before I bother to set them again.