5 ms·

> I don't want to slide my finger to determine heat intensity, and select which burner that applies to by pressing a soft button corresponding to the hotplate.

> I don't want to slide my finger to determine heat intensity, and select which burner that applies to by pressing a soft button corresponding to the hotplate. Just give me a physical knob for each hotplate please. The UX there is excellent. This drives me nuts as well. I'm the guy going to appliance stores and testing the knobs of every range just to see if they've managed to fuck up even that simple interface. And some manufacturers have. :-( You want to be able to turn the knob directly to max from 0, without having to go all the way around, but some have a stop in place so you can only turn it in one direction. Absolutely maddening.

kqr 9y ago
> You want to be able to turn the knob directly to max from 0, without having to go all the way around, but some have a stop in place so you can only turn it in one direction. Absolutely maddening. At first I was thinking, "Well, when there's a stop in place, that's usually because that plate has one of those turn-briefly-to-11-and-let-the-knob-spring-back-to-10-in-order-to-activate-the-outer-area-of-the-plate" but then I realised how terrible of an interface that is, too! It took me years to figure out, and I have taught it to so many people since, who wish they knew about it earlier... But what is more important than going from 0 to max, in my opinion, is being able to go in the opposite direction. When I'm holding a pot full of boiling water in one hand and stirring something with my other hand, I want to be able to turn off the plate really quickly.
- daveFNbuck 9y ago
  Doesn't the stop make it easier to go back to 0? Sure you have to turn it more, but you don't have to worry about accidentally going past 0 and leaving the stove on.
  - Treblemaker 9y ago
    That's another advantage of the mechanical knob: a large detent at "zero". Provides both tactile and acoustic feedback. So, no worries of turning past zero.
    - henrikschroder 9y ago
      Exactly, you solve the safety issue with a "groove", so it snaps to 0, and so you get tactile feedback that you did hit 0. Boom, done. No need for annoying stops.
      - kqr 9y ago
        Unless, of course, you view the increase in force required to turb past zero as a sort of soft stop.
  - homonculus1 9y ago
    This safety feature is far more important than being able to go all the way to max instantly. But it could definitely be a one-way catch for quick turn-off: ___ _____ 0 \_| Max
userbinator 9y ago
With the traditional analog controls, the knob is adjusting the spring tension of a thermostat via a screw, so going "below" 0 doesn't really make sense (it would be "more off than off"), and likewise in the other direction too.

kqr 9y ago

> You want to be able to turn the knob directly to max from 0, without having to go all the way around, but some have a stop in place so you can only turn it in one direction. Absolutely maddening. At first I was thinking, "Well, when there's a stop in place, that's usually because that plate has one of those turn-briefly-to-11-and-let-the-knob-spring-back-to-10-in-order-to-activate-the-outer-area-of-the-plate" but then I realised how terrible of an interface that is, too! It took me years to figure out, and I have taught it to so many people since, who wish they knew about it earlier... But what is more important than going from 0 to max, in my opinion, is being able to go in the opposite direction. When I'm holding a pot full of boiling water in one hand and stirring something with my other hand, I want to be able to turn off the plate really quickly.

daveFNbuck 9y ago
Doesn't the stop make it easier to go back to 0? Sure you have to turn it more, but you don't have to worry about accidentally going past 0 and leaving the stove on.
- Treblemaker 9y ago
  That's another advantage of the mechanical knob: a large detent at "zero". Provides both tactile and acoustic feedback. So, no worries of turning past zero.
  - henrikschroder 9y ago
    Exactly, you solve the safety issue with a "groove", so it snaps to 0, and so you get tactile feedback that you did hit 0. Boom, done. No need for annoying stops.
    - kqr 9y ago
      Unless, of course, you view the increase in force required to turb past zero as a sort of soft stop.
- homonculus1 9y ago
  This safety feature is far more important than being able to go all the way to max instantly. But it could definitely be a one-way catch for quick turn-off: ___ _____ 0 \_| Max

userbinator 9y ago

With the traditional analog controls, the knob is adjusting the spring tension of a thermostat via a screw, so going "below" 0 doesn't really make sense (it would be "more off than off"), and likewise in the other direction too.