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A History of Microwave Ovens
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ramon156 2y agoThank you, mark knopfler /j
- recursive 2y agoThat's the way you do it.
- fuzzfactor 2y agoIn case people are not aware, a good 1974 microwave weighed about 75 lbs. Custom kitchen delivery could be kind of a weightlifting experience. Don't ask me how I know . . .
- Nition 2y agoGreat article. I thought it was particularly interesting that there are two approved frequencies for microwaves, and apparently the longer-wavelength 915MHz option provides much deeper heat penetration (~4cm vs. ~1.5cm) that better avoids situations like cooking the outside of something you're defrosting while the middle's still cold. You can even still buy a few of them, but they all seem to be giant industrial machines.
- xattt 2y agoThis unit(1), with dual waveguides, looks crazy! (1) https://industrialmicrowavesystems.com/microwave-systems/ https://industrialmicrowavesystems.com/microwave-systems/
- Nition 2y agoI love the stats. I wonder what kind of business actually needs something like 1,800lb of cooked bacon per hour.
- james-bcn 2y agoA history of microwave ovens without mention of reanimating cryogenically frozen hamsters?
- A4ET8a8uTh0 2y agoOk, my google search is becoming increasingly weird now[1], but apparently that did happen[2]. Now I am compelled to share it with people at work. [1]https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=J+Physiol&title=Reanimation+of+rats+from+body+temperatures+between+0+and+1+degree+C+by+microwave+diathermy.&author=RK+ANDJUS&author=JE+LOVELOCK&volume=128&issue=3&publication_year=1955&pages=541-546&pmid=13243347& https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=J+Physiol&... [2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1363505/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1363505/
- surprisetalk 2y agoI definitely didn't forget the hamsters :) Maybe crtl+f didn't work correctly? Here's Lovelock's original paper if you're curious: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1365902/pdf/jphysiol01396-0132.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1365902/pdf/jph...
- james-bcn 2y agoOh yes! I missed it, sorry.
- itsmemattchung 2y agoAwesome article and glad you pointed towards the YouTube video, where Lovelock was interviewed, which ultimately answered my question: can Cryogenics be used to freeze humans? According to that fascinating and interesting video, answer (for now) is no because "it's partly a matter of how quickly you can get anti-freeze agent to diffuse into the cells ... humans too big."
- xattt 2y agoNitpicking, but 0° to 1°C isn’t cryogenic, merely deeply hypothermic. Therapeutic near-body temp hypothermia is often used post-cardiac arrest, while recovery from hypothermic states as a result of misadventure has often been documented. (1) https://acls-algorithms.com/post-cardiac-arrest-care/ https://acls-algorithms.com/post-cardiac-arrest-care/ (2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7387271/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7387271/
- robocat 2y ago> 2015: Breville makes a beautiful microwave oven with "a bit more". It really is better - it has a well designed UI unlike virtually all microwaves (except the cheap 80s ones with a mechanical timer knob). The Breville has one knob for time and one knob for power and you can vary either while it is running. All the specialty buttons still exist but are just inside the door so not visible unless you want to use them. The two knobs are digital spinner knobs - with acceleration on the time knob something like mouse acceleration - fairly intuitive. The start button does 30 seconds at full power by default if you just tap it and adds 30 seconds each tap - as a secondary UI. I do wish they used a slider for the power level. Presumably not used because harder to keep clean and not as cheap as optical rotary encoders. I gave one of these microwaves to my elderly parents and no complaints. This has made me passionately hate every other microwave with buttons - it's so commonly a fight to set 100% power for a minute. And had also opened my eyes to spending more when I find well designed UI on appliances. Most manufacturers are horrific.
- surprisetalk 2y agoYou totally get it! So many underappreciated little details I'm giving a talk this week specifically about microwave oven UI: [1] https://ndcporto.com/agenda/a-history-of-knobs-on-microwaves-08g4/0bc4laxs43b https://ndcporto.com/agenda/a-history-of-knobs-on-microwaves... I'm pretty sure Breville UI was the original reason I went down this rabbit hole haha
- throw0101d 2y agoYou may be interested in some of America's Test Kitchen observation in their review: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IRAi6Nzxbk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IRAi6Nzxbk "Who needs extra buttons labelled things like 'Kids Meals', 'Healthy Cooking', or 'Snack'? What does that even mean?"
- sublinear 2y agoLater in this review they briefly praise and point at those same preset buttons. Many ATK reviews resemble fortune telling more than actual reviews. They aren't all that helpful and you use your confirmation bias to cherry pick whatever you want to hear. Their specific model recommendations also tend to drive sales to the point of unavailability or price gouging.
- chriscappuccio 2y agoWhat microwave doesn't suck in 2024 that's what I'd like to know
- is_true 2y agoI got a new one and it doesn't even have a timer for the door light, so it's on until the door is closed.
- vundercind 2y agoPeople leave their microwave doors open long enough for this to matter? Why?
- is_true 2y agoto allow the condensation to evaporate and vapor to get out
- leejoramo 2y agoIf you want some better options for microwave ovens, try checking out you local food service suppliers or websites like Webstaurant They will be a bit more expensive, but often have better controls and are easier to clean. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14351/commercial-microwaves.html https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14351/commercial-microwaves...
- ansgri 2y agoSome Panasonic inverter microwaves don't suck. I have Panasonic NN-DS596M and its both featureful (almost a proper oven) and simple to control if you don't try to use every mode.
- surprisetalk 2y agoBased on all my recent research: Best UI: Breville Best "normal" microwave: Panasonic inverter Best for people who enjoy cooking: any microwave with convection/broiler (IIRC Miele speed ovens are popular) Best for early adopters: Miele Dialog
- anotherhue 2y agoThis is not entirely correct, Raytheon were going for a slightly higher frequency (2.6 IIRC) and the FCC ordered them down (forcing the recall of their trial ovens) because GE wanted to use crystal oscillators (klystrons) in the 1.2GHz range, and they wouldn't need to worry about the awful klystrons harmonics if they could bleed into 2.4. GE moved to magnetrons shortly afterwards anyway, I expect they hadn't had the radar manufacturing scale that Raytheon did at the end of the war.
- surprisetalk 2y agoThanks for the fact-check! Just added this clarification to the article. Should be live in a few minutes
- anotherhue 2y agoNice. I'd also suggest moving the spencer patent further down since it came several years later then the frequency allocation. Check my early early HN submissions for more info. Edit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/why-2-4ghz-chasing-wireless-history#/updates/all https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/why-2-4ghz-chasing-wirele...
- JKCalhoun 2y agoAnything to the story (urban legend?) I grew up hearing about the origin of the microwave oven being from sailors witnessing sea birds being cooked by the radar dishes on their ships?
- hyperdimension 2y agoFunny. The story I was told was a soldier's chocolate bar melted in his pocket when next to a radar antenna. Who knows, maybe it was neither.
- richk449 2y agoIt’s a well documented story: https://www.technologyreview.com/1999/01/01/236818/melted-chocolate-to-microwave/ https://www.technologyreview.com/1999/01/01/236818/melted-ch... It was Percy Spencer - fourth employee at Raytheon (third employee was Vannevar Bush, for reference)
- gcanyon 2y agoThe Antique Microwave Oven that's Better than Yours [video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 I owned one of these, it was indeed awesome. It really did cook food intelligently.
- shiroiushi 2y agoThis video was a real eye-opener. Amazing how this tech is basically gone now when it's so clearly superior to microwave ovens today.
- MarkusWandel 2y agoWhen it comes to microwave UIs... our cheap Panasonic (turns out Midea, and the insides look just like that photo) was out of commission due to fuse/door switch issues (since fixed). So I grabbed a cheap, clunky, noisy microwave off FBM for a stopgap. While not a nice machine, its UI was great! Pushing a digit button adds that many minutes, and there's a separate "+30s" button that adds half a minute. Most microwaving tasks could be started in 1-2 button presses. Doing an odd number like 45 seconds needed more. That's even better than the commercial dial timer microwaves at work. Whereas the Panasonic, for style reasons, has "dark grey on black" legends on its membrane keypad... sigh.
- paulinejq47 2y ago[dead]
- throw0101d 2y agoTom Scott has a video on microwaves where he interviews James Lovelock about the frozen hamsters: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y Lovelock passed away a year later (in 2022): * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lovelock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lovelock
- jmward01 2y agoThat is one of his best videos. The title says it all: I promise this story about microwaves is interesting.
- jakbradf 2y agoTaylor will be delivering a presentation on this topic at NDC Porto this Thursday. Find out more at https://ndcporto.com/agenda/a-history-of-knobs-on-microwaves-08g4/0bc4laxs43b https://ndcporto.com/agenda/a-history-of-knobs-on-microwaves...
- sQL_inject 2y agoFun fact, you cant set your microwave to 100 seconds.
- bluGill 2y ago99 is close enough and only 2 button presses, and the same button at that.
- joezydeco 2y agoI recently worked on a control panel for a large commercial oven and asked the design team if they wanted the ability to enter "99" as a valid time (1m39s). They said their customers expected it. They also said that converting it to 1:39 and counting from there was disorienting, so it actually had to time down while showing :99, :98... What an odd corner case. But your microwave does the same thing, go try it.
- lrivers 2y agoI remember vividly the first meal I had made with a microwave. Early 70s. Went to someone’s house for dinner. Dinner was meatloaf. Cooked in a microwave. If you like steamed ground beef you would have LOVED this meatloaf.
- lsy 2y agoI was surprised to see an “Alexa-compatible” microwave listed as released in 2010 when Amazon didn’t buy Alexa until 2013. The linked reviews of the oven were both in 2018 so perhaps it came out around then.
- surprisetalk 2y agoThanks for catching that! Fix should be live in a few minutes
- jerlam 2y agoI'm surprised that this list: - contains the GE Advantium - has anything good to say about it I have one in my kitchen right now. The Advantium bulb and normal bulb broke within the first year of use. I probably used the Advantium function less than five times and wasn't particularly amazed with the results. The control dial is also broken, so all inputs register as a counter-clockwise. If you want to microwave for one minute, turning the knob in any direction starts you off at 99 minutes and you have to rotate it until it decreases to 1 minute. Needless to say I only use the "add 30 seconds" button now.
- winternewt 2y agoDoes anyone except Panasonic make inverter microwave ovens these days?
- rob74 2y agoReading this article reminded me of a song from my Spotify playlist: I've been thinkin' 'bout catchin' a train Leave my phone machine by the radar range "Hello, it's me, I'm not at home If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone" (https://genius.com/Sheryl-crow-a-change-would-do-you-good-lyrics https://genius.com/Sheryl-crow-a-change-would-do-you-good-ly...) So she's singing about the phone [answering] machine by the microwave - that makes much more sense now (actually the Genius Lyrics site also has a "footnote" on that, but I haven't looked it up before). Is "RadaRange" a genericized trademark in (parts of) the US, same as "Xerox machine"? Reminds me of a similar revelation I had long ago, when I discovered the trademark Frigidaire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigidaire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigidaire), which (I assume) is the origin of to the Romanian word for refrigerator (https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigider https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigider).
- joezydeco 2y agoIs "RadaRange" a genericized trademark in (parts of) the US, same as "Xerox machine"? It might have been in the early days, but it's not anymore. Americans just say "microwave". I would hazard to guess that "radarange" was a good enough rhyme for Sheryl and that was it.
- maxglute 2y ago>Miele's technology was originally developed by Goji (demo) to thaw frozen human organs (for medical use). https://spectrum.ieee.org/israeli-startup-goji-is-planning-the-oven-of-the-future https://spectrum.ieee.org/israeli-startup-goji-is-planning-t... Seems pretty exciting, waiting for the day you can combine AI image recognition and some sort of AESA radar to computationally zap whatever you put into the the microwave.
- dr_dshiv 2y ago> Microwaves cook meat well. At the time of writing, you, dear reader, are unfortunately made of meat. It is therefore of utmost importance that the box keeps microwaves inside the box, while also offering a convenient door to open the box. I love writing like this. Informative, polite and unhinged.
- alanbernstein 2y agoIt seems that almost all consumer microwave ovens have hinges on the left. Is there some historical reason for this? Note, this isn't really related to humans being predominantly right-handed. The placement of a microwave inside a kitchen is a much more relevant consideration.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y agoThey started out hinged on the bottom. That didn't work for overhead cabinet mounted models when they were introduced and right hand dominance did it's usual thing.
- alnwlsn 2y agoEqually intriguing, I've noticed that most fridges have the hinge on the right.
- brk 2y agoMost single door fridges are setup so that the hinges are reversible to invert the door opening direction. If you look at the top/bottom edges of your standard refrigerator you will likely see the pre-drilled mounting holes to invert the hinges, covered with decorative caps or stickers or something.
- joezydeco 2y agoI could totally see it being based on handed-ness. If the hinge is on the left you will open the door with your recessive (left) hand while pulling a hot plate out of the oven with your dominant (right) hand.