I think this sort of condescending attitude is what makes products hard to use. I did in fact look all of this up, but that doesn't make the rice maker easy to

I think this sort of condescending attitude is what makes products hard to use. I did in fact look all of this up, but that doesn't make the rice maker easy to use. (Edit) Believe it or not, yes, I can RTFM too (and did -- it still wasn't very clear, and neither were the online videos). But that's not really the point. I was more curious about why a company that clearly values the design behind its products would make these design tradeoffs. Is it the result of careful user research? Japanese cultural traditions? Thoughtlessness (unlikely?). Etc. I find Japanese automobile dashboards easier to use than most American ones, for example. Japanese watches hellish to use. Sony anything pretty complicated. Is it a model/product/company/cultural/other factor? IMO the more interesting question here isn't "How to teach HN dumbass to use a rice cooker" but "Why does this famous Japanese rice cooker company design its interface this particular way?"