9 ms·

IPad: The Microwave Oven of Computing

116 points by maguay 16y ago

Jun8 16y ago
People who argue that microwaves has/had no clear use have clearly not worshiped their microwave for sterilizing baby bottles in no time at 2am with a screaming baby at hand. Therein lies the interesting fact: The new, "in the middle" device may trigger new approaches and ways of life that may indispensable. The baby bottle sterilizer is an unexpected but vital byproduct of the microwave.
- maguay 16y ago
  Great points. As a funny side point, for a time my parents didn't have a microwave after moving once when I was a kid. The killer use of microwaves that got us to get one? Reheating baby food. There's just no efficient way to do it on a stove, other than putting it in a small jar in a pot of boiling water :)
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    Now they generally recommend not using a microwave for baby food, because people too often would forget to stir it before feeding the baby.
    - maguay 16y ago
      Ouch; that's one thing you should definitely never forget. But I guess you'd burn the food if you didn't stir it on a stove :)
    - jerf 16y ago
      Solution: Stir it. (And check it, and also microwave less; small amounts of food may require single-digit seconds, so don't just smash the minute button.) There's actually a number of ways to make your parenting life a bit easier if you dig past why you're getting certain bits of advice, then take action based on the underlying facts rather than the resulting "official advice" suitable for parents with an IQ of 90 (and I do not mean that as a joke in the slightest, they are real, and I don't really begrudge the official "advice givers" for the resulting advice). Cough medicine in particular was a real life-saver for us one week when I dug into why we couldn't use it. It turns out that just about the only reason not to give it to your two-year-old is that somebody else ignored the clear directions on the label and either gave them too much or used it on purpose for the sleep-inducing side effect. Solution: Don't do that.
      - kenjackson 16y ago
        The problem with parenting is sleep deprivation. And honestly, having a high IQ isn't sufficient for attention to detail, like stirring food. I know it sounds dumb, but I know prominent physics professor personally who had made a cake without eggs... and even when it came out looking funny served it and wasn't until people started eating it did they realize, "Wait... I didn't use the eggs on the counter!" Regarding cough medicine, the issue appears to be effectiveness. Most doctors now recommend honey for babies (older than one) as it actually appears to be as effective. See: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/honey/AN01799 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/honey/AN01799 There have also been studies that show that cough medicine may simple have the placebo effect. Unless there are allergies or other conditions, honey just seems like the better choice.
        jerf 16y ago
        "And honestly, having a high IQ isn't sufficient for attention to detail, like stirring food." Part of the problem here is that if you type it all out it sounds horrible. In reality, the world is not as dangerous as an Internet debate can make it sound. Type out the full description of what's involved in walking down the stairs and you'll make an emotionally-appealing for banning them ("my god, any one muscle fails to work and you can fall to your death!"), but it has no correspondence to reality. In my judgment, I am not even remotely endangering my kids in the real world. You are welcome to your opinions, but in my opinion turning my judgment over to others is itself not a good judgment. "There have also been studies that show that cough medicine may simple have the placebo effect." Right. Kid goes from a hacking cough that kept him awake for three nights straight to fast asleep (and resumed coughing the next day & night, so "he just got better at the same time" isn't on the table either) and it was all placebo, for a kid who can't even talk yet. Sure. Honey's an interesting thought which I may consider, except that there's no evidence that cough syrup is a problem, except vague nervousness because there haven't been any "scientific studies" on the topic. However I consider the abundant real-world experience that preceded the hand-wringing about it not being "properly" studied to trump it; on the scale of evidence scientific studies are not the highest good, the real world trumps it (which is actually a core tenant of any decent theory of science, any theory of science missing that isn't worth anything), and it was extremely widely deployed for a long time before some people got nannyish about it. If it were noticably bad, we wouldn't have to theorize, we'd know. (At best it can have a small below-the-noise-floor effect; widespread experience can't prove 0 bad effect but it can and does put a rather low upper bound on it.) (In fact I'm rather strongly of the opinion that there are numerous real-world examples in the field of medicine and nutrition in which science has "studied" itself into wildly wrong beliefs that nobody would have taken seriously but for the failures in the scientific process and the misapplication of its authority, and as much as I love science and wish I didn't have to do this, I've really deprioritized science in this area.)
    - pnp 16y ago
      That's a good warning. My wife always did a quick spoon-to-her-lips check on the food temperature as precaution. Similar idea to squirting the milk on your wrist. As always, pay attention to how the child reacts, too.
      - metageek 16y ago
        >My wife always did a quick spoon-to-her-lips check on the food temperature as precaution. You still need to stir, because microwaves can heat unevenly.
- katovatzschyn 16y ago
  I realize the frustration in receiving any parenting advice at all, but please bear in mind that being too strict in what germs the baby comes in contact with early on can have negative long term effects. I'm sure you know this already, just a thing to keep in mind.
  - raganwald 16y ago
    George Carlin on the Fear of Germs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmMNdiCz_s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmMNdiCz_s
  - JunkDNA 16y ago
    The issue with sterilizing bottles isn't to protect the kid from germs as much as it is to make sure that if mom has to pump into a bottle and store the milk for extended periods of time (often frozen eventually) it doesn't spoil. It's not any different than making something like freezer jam and sterilizing the jars. In general, pump parts themselves also can be sterilized this way in a special bag with a bit of water.
  - Vivtek 16y ago
    Feeding the baby yogurt too early is a bad thing, too.
    - Ratfish 16y ago
      Product idea?
- raganwald 16y ago
  This. The very best gifts are the ones that you didn't know you wanted until you received one, and thereafter you discover that you can no longer live without them. My first microwave was a gift from my sister, and it followed this pattern. I scoffed at them as being convenient but taking up counter space for a function that my stove could accomplish already. Soon after she gave me one, I started wondering how I lived without it. Great products fit this mold exactly. People scoff until they try it, then they become attached to it, and finally dependent upon it.
  - zubazuba 16y ago
    Great point! I feel like smartphones were like this too. When the iPhone first came out I scoffed at my buddy for paying $600 for a phone (in an age when a large variety of phones were available for free with contract). Now I can't live without my smartphone.
- s3graham 16y ago
  Stretching the metaphor even farther off-topic, Mummy's boob has proven itself an even more impressive invention for this particular problem in our house. :) No (extra) sterilization, no manual refilling, no going to the store to get formula, etc. I don't expect we'll evolve an embedded display that can run Flipboard anytime soon, however.
  - bigiain 16y ago
    There's gotta be a joke in here about "the only intuitive user interface is the nipple", but it's too early in the morning for me to make it...
    - bzbarsky 16y ago
      It's only sort of intuitive. A fair number of kids have latching issues and have to be taught a bit how to do it properly.
- bliss 16y ago
  Actually, I had a microwave and didn't like it, hardly used it, eventually got rid of it. Even for your use case above. I instead have a standalone steam sterliser that's as quick as the microwave and a better user experience because it's much less fiddly and therefore quicker to load the bottles. One mans killer feature is another's meh.
- arethuza 16y ago
  I don't think we ever sterilized bottles other than picking out a fresh one that had been through a hot cycle on the dishwasher (i.e. the same as every other pot, pan, plate, fork, knife etc.).
steverb 16y ago
Oddly enough, the microwave is the least used appliance in our kitchen. If it weren't for the fact that they are so cheap now as to be virtually free we probably wouldn't have one. When the iPad gets to that same price point we'll probably get one as well.
- lloeki 16y ago
  In yours maybe. In mine there's at microwave/regular oven combo which I use as an oven only when cooking cakes and pies or the odd dish requiring it. Electric stove for rumsteaks and pastas. The rest is microwave, microwave, microwave, cooking all sorts of liquids and vegetables. It is so much more energy and water efficient.
  - recoiledsnake 16y ago
    >It is so much more energy and water efficient. Is it? Maybe for small meals. http://www.terrapass.com/images/blogposts/450-POWER-GRAPH.html http://www.terrapass.com/images/blogposts/450-POWER-GRAPH.ht... I think a pressure cooker on a stove is much more energy and water efficient.
    - lloeki 16y ago
      Which is precisely my use case. Me and my wife often eat small meals, sometimes even different for each of us. Many a time only one of us is at home for lunch and sometimes even for dinner. Even when we cook larger quantities the 'traditional way' we end up heating them again the next day. Besides it's just outrageous to boil half a teapot for a singe tea cup when just filling the cup and popping it into the microwave. When cooking vegetables with steam in the microwave we use a (provided) accessory with which you lay vegetables on a grid, fill the bottom with one glass of water, cover with a metallic lid and throw in a few minutes of power. A pressure cooker requires more water, a longer heat up time and a longer cooking time. It is also extremely bulky. We have one but never use it.
    - cma 16y ago
      not to mention more deadly
akashs 16y ago
Poptarts instructions: "Microwave on high for 3 seconds". Probably my favorite use...what else can you make in 3 seconds? http://www2.kelloggs.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=439 http://www2.kelloggs.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=439
- Groxx 16y ago
  My favorite: sparks with grapes / CDs (though those smell), or making plasma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7RFyh5ABcQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7RFyh5ABcQ
  - metageek 16y ago
    My vote: microwave metallurgy.
- zefhous 16y ago
  Brian Regan comedy sketch about that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U
- zecho 16y ago
  Grapes.
- bliss 16y ago
  That would make them Pingtarts
yannickmahe 16y ago
Great article. It really explains to me the success of the iPad, which from my geeky, feature-centered, cheapskate perspective made little sense. I bought a netbook one year after the iPad came out, which seemed to correspond more to my use of a lightweight computer. Incidentally, I stopped using microwaves a few years ago. I wonder what that means my future relationship with tablets will be.
- cooldeal 16y ago
  I don't know how far the analogy holds up. After all, microwave is not very programmable(in the computing sense) nor so restrictive. Did the microwave only cook food that was specially labeled microwaveable(and food grocers had to pay 30% of the price of food to the microwave manufacturer to get that special label) ? Isn't that what happens with the iPad? Eg. The free Sony e-reader app was rejected, Readability was rejected. Kindle and Netflix are on the chopping block if they don't pay up by June 30th, same with any apps for magazine or content subscriptions. Microwaves never had these restrictions.
  - ugh 16y ago
    As of yet, no one cares. That might change but it hasn’t already.
  - joebadmo 16y ago
    My concern is actually in a different direction: that people will enjoy the restricting tool too much. In the microwave analogy it would be that people enjoy the convenience of microwaves so much that they abandon reguarly cooked food for packaged microwave-ready food completely. Not that that happened with microwaves, but it seems like the danger's greater with the iPad. The iPad is designed for consumption (yes, I know there are instances of people creating awesome stuff with the iPad, but I think it's generally true that its basic purpose is consumption) and the interaction bandwidth is so low that it discourages content production by users, which is what makes the internet so great. It degrades the great promise of all of the new technology we've been creating.
    - 16y ago
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JakeSteele 16y ago
i m not a apple fan, but this analogy really do justice with the iPad. though there is one major flaw with it - last time i checked, the iPad cant be activated without other computer. you need to connect it to some computer and activate it via itunes. so not really microwave. microwave with DRM maybe?
- wmboy 16y ago
  Microwave = iPad Oven = PC/Mac computer Normally people wouldn't buy a microwave without also owning an oven... well, unless you're really cheap and don't care about your health!
- bliss 16y ago
  I've read all the arguments against the iTunes activation step, not many for to be fair, but I believe I represent the silent majority that just doesn't mind that imposition. The iPad is book matched with it's sync software, ipad owner will then continue to use their sync software because it provides all the access to the music, movies, photos, apps, ... As I remember, my US Robotics palm pilot did work without the initial sync, but I wouldn't have like to have trusted my data without sync and backup. What's your particular problem with the initial sync stage?
  - roadnottaken 16y ago
    Plus you can just have them activate your iPad at the Apple store and then never go near a computer again.
- jsz0 16y ago
  Your microwave doesn't need to be backed up or software updated on a regular basis. Syncing data between the iPad and a computer (photos, books, music, etc) is optional at this point. In the future I assume backups/software updates will not require a computer either but it is a challenge to backup 16/32/64GB to the cloud on a regular basis for most people with mediocre broadband connections and basically impossible over 3G due to data caps/throttling. I guess if we want to stick with the microwave analogy we could say the microwave cannot be activated before being plugged into an electrical socket. It's a practical consideration. We could have microwaves that ran on batteries but what's the point? If you own a microwave you probably have a spot to plug it in. If you own an iPad you probably have a computer of some kind. Worse case Apple will activate it for you. For the larger issue of DRM I must say I've never used a microwave that was more open than an iPad. I can't load any third party software into my microwave. I can't even find any schematics for the internal designs to allow for my own modifications. I'm pretty sure companies like GE own patents for many of the components inside so I couldn't reproduce them and sell my own open source microwave.
th0ma5 16y ago
I don't care for microwaves, except for heating up water for tea, which it is great for, but I like breads, and microwaves cook away the water inside the gluten making bread rather rubbery. I do like my Dell Mini 9 netbook, and my XDA-found custom ROM for my Nook Color! :D
- heyitsnick 16y ago
  Heating up water for tea?! I recommend never suggesting this if you ever visit England.
  - th0ma5 16y ago
    I have a kettle, and it is just as quick, but is there a fundamental difference? Does the microwave "scorch" the water? Whatever that might be (ie, make it hotter than it needs to be, manipulate the minerals in the water in a way that affects taste?)
    - heyitsnick 16y ago
      Water should be boiling, not just hot. When you say 'heat up water', it suggests it's not at the point of vigorous boil to really extract the flavour. Allow me to quote Douglas Adams: "One or two Americans have asked me why it is that the English like tea so much, which never seems to them to be a very good drink. To understand, you have to know how to make it properly. There is a very simple principle to the making of tea and it's this - to get the proper flavour of tea, the water has to be boiling (not boiled) when it hits the tea leaves. If it's merely hot then the tea will be insipid. That's why we English have these odd rituals, such as warming the teapot first (so as not to cause the boiling water to cool down too fast as it hits the pot). And that's why the American habit of bringing a teacup, a tea bag and a pot of hot water to the table is merely the perfect way of making a thin, pale, watery cup of tea that nobody in their right mind would want to drink. The Americans are all mystified about why the English make such a big thing out of tea because most Americans have never had a good cup of tea. That's why they don't understand. In fact the truth of the matter is that most English people don't know how to make tea any more either, and most people drink cheap instant coffee instead, which is a pity, and gives Americans the impression that the English are just generally clueless about hot stimulants. " http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A61345 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A61345
swampplanet 16y ago
I still can't understand how to use the iPad. It doesn't do what my Mac Book can and I can do what it does on my iPhone. For eBooks I have my Kindle which is much better to read on. The only use I've seen so far that it excels in is in use in debates. The speaker can have more than one document up at a time. Other than that?????
- bliss 16y ago
  I'm the opposite, I have an iPad, but no iPhone - am actually considering an iPhone now (might as well wait for the next tech refresh). But to quote my mate Dave, since I got my iPad, I just use my iPhone as a phone! Everyone should have a mate called Dave, think I'll just stick to my nokia classic for telecoms.
Entlin 16y ago
Maybe, but the iPad is a microwave that will only heat Apple certified food. And while Apple said it will only use their certification program to prevent the heating of cats, it took only a few days until Apple prohibited heating aluminium foil, then raw eggs, alcohol (bad for you anway!), and finally - any meat. Tofu and mineral water is fine by Steve, though...
- azernik 16y ago
  I think the argument of the article applies not just to the iPad, but also to similar devices (I'm thinking the coming Android tablets), which provide the same combination of instant-on and touchscreen.
  - Entlin 16y ago
    I agree that "similar devices" might live up to become as commonplace as microwaves. But if the iPad with its control freak attitude stays at its 90% penetration in this market, I've got no trust in humanity anymore.
RedDeckWins 16y ago
Did microwaves become mainstream when they were 600+ dollars? Also, a microwave helps you with the basic necessities of life (making/eating food) if you lack cooking skills. The IPad is an entertainment device. IMO this analogy is very weak.
- bodyfour 16y ago
  Accounting for inflation, I'm sure they were more than $600 2011USD when they became popular. My family was a relatively late adopter of the microwave.. I think we got one around 1984. It was a used model that (IIRC) cost $300 which would be about $611 now. If you bought a new one in the 70s it would have been quite a bit more than that.
natmaster 16y ago
Waiting ages for your computer to boot? What are you - living in the 90s? There's this thing called sleep mode, and that's how the iPad works as well. Upgrade to a real OS, and then maybe your article won't sound like retarded drivel.
- maguay 16y ago
  In my opinion, anything more than instant now feels like waiting for ages. Sure, my netbook comes out of sleep mode within 2 seconds, but it's sure more sluggish for the first several seconds after that. Even Macs aren't fully instant on, unless you perhaps have an SSD. Sorry, I'm running fairly modern PC hardware with Windows 7 and Ubuntu, but there's just no way it's going to feel as fast to grab and check email as my iPad.
  - usaar333 16y ago
    But the computer wins when you factoring in the far faster webpage loading it offers.
    - maguay 16y ago
      Sure. So perhaps it's not a net win or lose either way. The iPad is quicker to get up and going with, perhaps like a car with higher octane fuel. Long haul, the computer's going to win out for sure. But that initial feel of faster, and the way you can just grab it and go instead of sitting down at a desk to check email or get online, will make most consumers prefer tablet computers to full comptuers. Same as oven vs. microwave. It's much faster to bring 10 gallons of water to boil on a stove, but your cold cup of coffee would be reheated much easier in the microwave. Complementary devices, some similar use cases, but for the most part the microwave let us warm food we otherwise would have just eaten cold. The iPad brings computing in an non-intrusive manner to areas we otherwise would have not used computers. And it's not just the iPad; Android Tablets will play a big part, and HP/Microsoft/RIM/others will as well. But for now, the iPad is the 900 lb. gorilla in the room, pushing tablet computing forward.
deleted 16y ago
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brianobush 16y ago
If i can get an ipad w/o a having a mac, then I will agree it is akin to a microwave. I can't buy one for my parents, since they have no mac. how would they update it? activate it, etc?
- metageek 16y ago
  It doesn't update over the air? I know I've read you can activate it in the store before taking it home. (Edit: I know my mom has an iPad and no Mac.)
grishick 16y ago
Good analogy. To add to the analogy - I don't have an iPad and I very rarely use a microwave, because freshly prepared food tastes better then microwaved food, movies look better on the HD projector, and it is much more convenient to read and type on a macbook pro then on an iPad (with or without a wireless keyboard). And yet, at some point everyone will have an iPad, when it is cheap enough to replace the magazine basket.
JonoW 16y ago
I enjoyed the article, but I just can't completely agree. The microwave is seen as essential because it gives us humans such a valuable asset - time. Our time is hugely valuable. I don't see tablets, iPad or other, having that same impact. Sure they have some great qualities and they can make some tasks easier and more convinient, but not significiantly quicker. That doesn't mean they're not going to successful of course, I just don't seem them becoming ubiquitous.

116 points by maguay 16y ago

Jun8 16y ago

People who argue that microwaves has/had no clear use have clearly not worshiped their microwave for sterilizing baby bottles in no time at 2am with a screaming baby at hand. Therein lies the interesting fact: The new, "in the middle" device may trigger new approaches and ways of life that may indispensable. The baby bottle sterilizer is an unexpected but vital byproduct of the microwave.

maguay 16y ago
Great points. As a funny side point, for a time my parents didn't have a microwave after moving once when I was a kid. The killer use of microwaves that got us to get one? Reheating baby food. There's just no efficient way to do it on a stove, other than putting it in a small jar in a pot of boiling water :)
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Now they generally recommend not using a microwave for baby food, because people too often would forget to stir it before feeding the baby.
  - maguay 16y ago
    Ouch; that's one thing you should definitely never forget. But I guess you'd burn the food if you didn't stir it on a stove :)
  - jerf 16y ago
    Solution: Stir it. (And check it, and also microwave less; small amounts of food may require single-digit seconds, so don't just smash the minute button.) There's actually a number of ways to make your parenting life a bit easier if you dig past why you're getting certain bits of advice, then take action based on the underlying facts rather than the resulting "official advice" suitable for parents with an IQ of 90 (and I do not mean that as a joke in the slightest, they are real, and I don't really begrudge the official "advice givers" for the resulting advice). Cough medicine in particular was a real life-saver for us one week when I dug into why we couldn't use it. It turns out that just about the only reason not to give it to your two-year-old is that somebody else ignored the clear directions on the label and either gave them too much or used it on purpose for the sleep-inducing side effect. Solution: Don't do that.
    - kenjackson 16y ago
      The problem with parenting is sleep deprivation. And honestly, having a high IQ isn't sufficient for attention to detail, like stirring food. I know it sounds dumb, but I know prominent physics professor personally who had made a cake without eggs... and even when it came out looking funny served it and wasn't until people started eating it did they realize, "Wait... I didn't use the eggs on the counter!" Regarding cough medicine, the issue appears to be effectiveness. Most doctors now recommend honey for babies (older than one) as it actually appears to be as effective. See: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/honey/AN01799 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/honey/AN01799 There have also been studies that show that cough medicine may simple have the placebo effect. Unless there are allergies or other conditions, honey just seems like the better choice.
      - jerf 16y ago
        "And honestly, having a high IQ isn't sufficient for attention to detail, like stirring food." Part of the problem here is that if you type it all out it sounds horrible. In reality, the world is not as dangerous as an Internet debate can make it sound. Type out the full description of what's involved in walking down the stairs and you'll make an emotionally-appealing for banning them ("my god, any one muscle fails to work and you can fall to your death!"), but it has no correspondence to reality. In my judgment, I am not even remotely endangering my kids in the real world. You are welcome to your opinions, but in my opinion turning my judgment over to others is itself not a good judgment. "There have also been studies that show that cough medicine may simple have the placebo effect." Right. Kid goes from a hacking cough that kept him awake for three nights straight to fast asleep (and resumed coughing the next day & night, so "he just got better at the same time" isn't on the table either) and it was all placebo, for a kid who can't even talk yet. Sure. Honey's an interesting thought which I may consider, except that there's no evidence that cough syrup is a problem, except vague nervousness because there haven't been any "scientific studies" on the topic. However I consider the abundant real-world experience that preceded the hand-wringing about it not being "properly" studied to trump it; on the scale of evidence scientific studies are not the highest good, the real world trumps it (which is actually a core tenant of any decent theory of science, any theory of science missing that isn't worth anything), and it was extremely widely deployed for a long time before some people got nannyish about it. If it were noticably bad, we wouldn't have to theorize, we'd know. (At best it can have a small below-the-noise-floor effect; widespread experience can't prove 0 bad effect but it can and does put a rather low upper bound on it.) (In fact I'm rather strongly of the opinion that there are numerous real-world examples in the field of medicine and nutrition in which science has "studied" itself into wildly wrong beliefs that nobody would have taken seriously but for the failures in the scientific process and the misapplication of its authority, and as much as I love science and wish I didn't have to do this, I've really deprioritized science in this area.)
  - pnp 16y ago
    That's a good warning. My wife always did a quick spoon-to-her-lips check on the food temperature as precaution. Similar idea to squirting the milk on your wrist. As always, pay attention to how the child reacts, too.
    - metageek 16y ago
      >My wife always did a quick spoon-to-her-lips check on the food temperature as precaution. You still need to stir, because microwaves can heat unevenly.
katovatzschyn 16y ago
I realize the frustration in receiving any parenting advice at all, but please bear in mind that being too strict in what germs the baby comes in contact with early on can have negative long term effects. I'm sure you know this already, just a thing to keep in mind.
- raganwald 16y ago
  George Carlin on the Fear of Germs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmMNdiCz_s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmMNdiCz_s
- JunkDNA 16y ago
  The issue with sterilizing bottles isn't to protect the kid from germs as much as it is to make sure that if mom has to pump into a bottle and store the milk for extended periods of time (often frozen eventually) it doesn't spoil. It's not any different than making something like freezer jam and sterilizing the jars. In general, pump parts themselves also can be sterilized this way in a special bag with a bit of water.
- Vivtek 16y ago
  Feeding the baby yogurt too early is a bad thing, too.
  - Ratfish 16y ago
    Product idea?
raganwald 16y ago
This. The very best gifts are the ones that you didn't know you wanted until you received one, and thereafter you discover that you can no longer live without them. My first microwave was a gift from my sister, and it followed this pattern. I scoffed at them as being convenient but taking up counter space for a function that my stove could accomplish already. Soon after she gave me one, I started wondering how I lived without it. Great products fit this mold exactly. People scoff until they try it, then they become attached to it, and finally dependent upon it.
- zubazuba 16y ago
  Great point! I feel like smartphones were like this too. When the iPhone first came out I scoffed at my buddy for paying $600 for a phone (in an age when a large variety of phones were available for free with contract). Now I can't live without my smartphone.
s3graham 16y ago
Stretching the metaphor even farther off-topic, Mummy's boob has proven itself an even more impressive invention for this particular problem in our house. :) No (extra) sterilization, no manual refilling, no going to the store to get formula, etc. I don't expect we'll evolve an embedded display that can run Flipboard anytime soon, however.
- bigiain 16y ago
  There's gotta be a joke in here about "the only intuitive user interface is the nipple", but it's too early in the morning for me to make it...
  - bzbarsky 16y ago
    It's only sort of intuitive. A fair number of kids have latching issues and have to be taught a bit how to do it properly.
bliss 16y ago
Actually, I had a microwave and didn't like it, hardly used it, eventually got rid of it. Even for your use case above. I instead have a standalone steam sterliser that's as quick as the microwave and a better user experience because it's much less fiddly and therefore quicker to load the bottles. One mans killer feature is another's meh.
arethuza 16y ago
I don't think we ever sterilized bottles other than picking out a fresh one that had been through a hot cycle on the dishwasher (i.e. the same as every other pot, pan, plate, fork, knife etc.).

steverb 16y ago

Oddly enough, the microwave is the least used appliance in our kitchen. If it weren't for the fact that they are so cheap now as to be virtually free we probably wouldn't have one. When the iPad gets to that same price point we'll probably get one as well.

lloeki 16y ago
In yours maybe. In mine there's at microwave/regular oven combo which I use as an oven only when cooking cakes and pies or the odd dish requiring it. Electric stove for rumsteaks and pastas. The rest is microwave, microwave, microwave, cooking all sorts of liquids and vegetables. It is so much more energy and water efficient.
- recoiledsnake 16y ago
  >It is so much more energy and water efficient. Is it? Maybe for small meals. http://www.terrapass.com/images/blogposts/450-POWER-GRAPH.html http://www.terrapass.com/images/blogposts/450-POWER-GRAPH.ht... I think a pressure cooker on a stove is much more energy and water efficient.
  - lloeki 16y ago
    Which is precisely my use case. Me and my wife often eat small meals, sometimes even different for each of us. Many a time only one of us is at home for lunch and sometimes even for dinner. Even when we cook larger quantities the 'traditional way' we end up heating them again the next day. Besides it's just outrageous to boil half a teapot for a singe tea cup when just filling the cup and popping it into the microwave. When cooking vegetables with steam in the microwave we use a (provided) accessory with which you lay vegetables on a grid, fill the bottom with one glass of water, cover with a metallic lid and throw in a few minutes of power. A pressure cooker requires more water, a longer heat up time and a longer cooking time. It is also extremely bulky. We have one but never use it.
  - cma 16y ago
    not to mention more deadly

akashs 16y ago

Poptarts instructions: "Microwave on high for 3 seconds". Probably my favorite use...what else can you make in 3 seconds? http://www2.kelloggs.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=439 http://www2.kelloggs.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=439

Groxx 16y ago
My favorite: sparks with grapes / CDs (though those smell), or making plasma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7RFyh5ABcQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7RFyh5ABcQ
- metageek 16y ago
  My vote: microwave metallurgy.
zefhous 16y ago
Brian Regan comedy sketch about that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U
zecho 16y ago
Grapes.
bliss 16y ago
That would make them Pingtarts

yannickmahe 16y ago

Great article. It really explains to me the success of the iPad, which from my geeky, feature-centered, cheapskate perspective made little sense. I bought a netbook one year after the iPad came out, which seemed to correspond more to my use of a lightweight computer. Incidentally, I stopped using microwaves a few years ago. I wonder what that means my future relationship with tablets will be.

cooldeal 16y ago
I don't know how far the analogy holds up. After all, microwave is not very programmable(in the computing sense) nor so restrictive. Did the microwave only cook food that was specially labeled microwaveable(and food grocers had to pay 30% of the price of food to the microwave manufacturer to get that special label) ? Isn't that what happens with the iPad? Eg. The free Sony e-reader app was rejected, Readability was rejected. Kindle and Netflix are on the chopping block if they don't pay up by June 30th, same with any apps for magazine or content subscriptions. Microwaves never had these restrictions.
- ugh 16y ago
  As of yet, no one cares. That might change but it hasn’t already.
- joebadmo 16y ago
  My concern is actually in a different direction: that people will enjoy the restricting tool too much. In the microwave analogy it would be that people enjoy the convenience of microwaves so much that they abandon reguarly cooked food for packaged microwave-ready food completely. Not that that happened with microwaves, but it seems like the danger's greater with the iPad. The iPad is designed for consumption (yes, I know there are instances of people creating awesome stuff with the iPad, but I think it's generally true that its basic purpose is consumption) and the interaction bandwidth is so low that it discourages content production by users, which is what makes the internet so great. It degrades the great promise of all of the new technology we've been creating.
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JakeSteele 16y ago

i m not a apple fan, but this analogy really do justice with the iPad. though there is one major flaw with it - last time i checked, the iPad cant be activated without other computer. you need to connect it to some computer and activate it via itunes. so not really microwave. microwave with DRM maybe?

wmboy 16y ago
Microwave = iPad Oven = PC/Mac computer Normally people wouldn't buy a microwave without also owning an oven... well, unless you're really cheap and don't care about your health!
bliss 16y ago
I've read all the arguments against the iTunes activation step, not many for to be fair, but I believe I represent the silent majority that just doesn't mind that imposition. The iPad is book matched with it's sync software, ipad owner will then continue to use their sync software because it provides all the access to the music, movies, photos, apps, ... As I remember, my US Robotics palm pilot did work without the initial sync, but I wouldn't have like to have trusted my data without sync and backup. What's your particular problem with the initial sync stage?
- roadnottaken 16y ago
  Plus you can just have them activate your iPad at the Apple store and then never go near a computer again.
jsz0 16y ago
Your microwave doesn't need to be backed up or software updated on a regular basis. Syncing data between the iPad and a computer (photos, books, music, etc) is optional at this point. In the future I assume backups/software updates will not require a computer either but it is a challenge to backup 16/32/64GB to the cloud on a regular basis for most people with mediocre broadband connections and basically impossible over 3G due to data caps/throttling. I guess if we want to stick with the microwave analogy we could say the microwave cannot be activated before being plugged into an electrical socket. It's a practical consideration. We could have microwaves that ran on batteries but what's the point? If you own a microwave you probably have a spot to plug it in. If you own an iPad you probably have a computer of some kind. Worse case Apple will activate it for you. For the larger issue of DRM I must say I've never used a microwave that was more open than an iPad. I can't load any third party software into my microwave. I can't even find any schematics for the internal designs to allow for my own modifications. I'm pretty sure companies like GE own patents for many of the components inside so I couldn't reproduce them and sell my own open source microwave.

th0ma5 16y ago

I don't care for microwaves, except for heating up water for tea, which it is great for, but I like breads, and microwaves cook away the water inside the gluten making bread rather rubbery. I do like my Dell Mini 9 netbook, and my XDA-found custom ROM for my Nook Color! :D

heyitsnick 16y ago
Heating up water for tea?! I recommend never suggesting this if you ever visit England.
- th0ma5 16y ago
  I have a kettle, and it is just as quick, but is there a fundamental difference? Does the microwave "scorch" the water? Whatever that might be (ie, make it hotter than it needs to be, manipulate the minerals in the water in a way that affects taste?)
  - heyitsnick 16y ago
    Water should be boiling, not just hot. When you say 'heat up water', it suggests it's not at the point of vigorous boil to really extract the flavour. Allow me to quote Douglas Adams: "One or two Americans have asked me why it is that the English like tea so much, which never seems to them to be a very good drink. To understand, you have to know how to make it properly. There is a very simple principle to the making of tea and it's this - to get the proper flavour of tea, the water has to be boiling (not boiled) when it hits the tea leaves. If it's merely hot then the tea will be insipid. That's why we English have these odd rituals, such as warming the teapot first (so as not to cause the boiling water to cool down too fast as it hits the pot). And that's why the American habit of bringing a teacup, a tea bag and a pot of hot water to the table is merely the perfect way of making a thin, pale, watery cup of tea that nobody in their right mind would want to drink. The Americans are all mystified about why the English make such a big thing out of tea because most Americans have never had a good cup of tea. That's why they don't understand. In fact the truth of the matter is that most English people don't know how to make tea any more either, and most people drink cheap instant coffee instead, which is a pity, and gives Americans the impression that the English are just generally clueless about hot stimulants. " http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A61345 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A61345

swampplanet 16y ago

I still can't understand how to use the iPad. It doesn't do what my Mac Book can and I can do what it does on my iPhone. For eBooks I have my Kindle which is much better to read on. The only use I've seen so far that it excels in is in use in debates. The speaker can have more than one document up at a time. Other than that?????

bliss 16y ago
I'm the opposite, I have an iPad, but no iPhone - am actually considering an iPhone now (might as well wait for the next tech refresh). But to quote my mate Dave, since I got my iPad, I just use my iPhone as a phone! Everyone should have a mate called Dave, think I'll just stick to my nokia classic for telecoms.

Entlin 16y ago

Maybe, but the iPad is a microwave that will only heat Apple certified food. And while Apple said it will only use their certification program to prevent the heating of cats, it took only a few days until Apple prohibited heating aluminium foil, then raw eggs, alcohol (bad for you anway!), and finally - any meat. Tofu and mineral water is fine by Steve, though...

azernik 16y ago
I think the argument of the article applies not just to the iPad, but also to similar devices (I'm thinking the coming Android tablets), which provide the same combination of instant-on and touchscreen.
- Entlin 16y ago
  I agree that "similar devices" might live up to become as commonplace as microwaves. But if the iPad with its control freak attitude stays at its 90% penetration in this market, I've got no trust in humanity anymore.

RedDeckWins 16y ago

Did microwaves become mainstream when they were 600+ dollars? Also, a microwave helps you with the basic necessities of life (making/eating food) if you lack cooking skills. The IPad is an entertainment device. IMO this analogy is very weak.

bodyfour 16y ago
Accounting for inflation, I'm sure they were more than $600 2011USD when they became popular. My family was a relatively late adopter of the microwave.. I think we got one around 1984. It was a used model that (IIRC) cost $300 which would be about $611 now. If you bought a new one in the 70s it would have been quite a bit more than that.

natmaster 16y ago

Waiting ages for your computer to boot? What are you - living in the 90s? There's this thing called sleep mode, and that's how the iPad works as well. Upgrade to a real OS, and then maybe your article won't sound like retarded drivel.

maguay 16y ago
In my opinion, anything more than instant now feels like waiting for ages. Sure, my netbook comes out of sleep mode within 2 seconds, but it's sure more sluggish for the first several seconds after that. Even Macs aren't fully instant on, unless you perhaps have an SSD. Sorry, I'm running fairly modern PC hardware with Windows 7 and Ubuntu, but there's just no way it's going to feel as fast to grab and check email as my iPad.
- usaar333 16y ago
  But the computer wins when you factoring in the far faster webpage loading it offers.
  - maguay 16y ago
    Sure. So perhaps it's not a net win or lose either way. The iPad is quicker to get up and going with, perhaps like a car with higher octane fuel. Long haul, the computer's going to win out for sure. But that initial feel of faster, and the way you can just grab it and go instead of sitting down at a desk to check email or get online, will make most consumers prefer tablet computers to full comptuers. Same as oven vs. microwave. It's much faster to bring 10 gallons of water to boil on a stove, but your cold cup of coffee would be reheated much easier in the microwave. Complementary devices, some similar use cases, but for the most part the microwave let us warm food we otherwise would have just eaten cold. The iPad brings computing in an non-intrusive manner to areas we otherwise would have not used computers. And it's not just the iPad; Android Tablets will play a big part, and HP/Microsoft/RIM/others will as well. But for now, the iPad is the 900 lb. gorilla in the room, pushing tablet computing forward.

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brianobush 16y ago

If i can get an ipad w/o a having a mac, then I will agree it is akin to a microwave. I can't buy one for my parents, since they have no mac. how would they update it? activate it, etc?

metageek 16y ago
It doesn't update over the air? I know I've read you can activate it in the store before taking it home. (Edit: I know my mom has an iPad and no Mac.)

grishick 16y ago

Good analogy. To add to the analogy - I don't have an iPad and I very rarely use a microwave, because freshly prepared food tastes better then microwaved food, movies look better on the HD projector, and it is much more convenient to read and type on a macbook pro then on an iPad (with or without a wireless keyboard). And yet, at some point everyone will have an iPad, when it is cheap enough to replace the magazine basket.

JonoW 16y ago

I enjoyed the article, but I just can't completely agree. The microwave is seen as essential because it gives us humans such a valuable asset - time. Our time is hugely valuable. I don't see tablets, iPad or other, having that same impact. Sure they have some great qualities and they can make some tasks easier and more convinient, but not significiantly quicker. That doesn't mean they're not going to successful of course, I just don't seem them becoming ubiquitous.