Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "complicated"
Explaining the Concept of Laundry to Geniuses
I suppose this is going to sound like an old-person rant, but it really isn't. I wonder why things that we use every day have become so complicated to operate. I don't mean difficult; I can do what needs to be done. I mean complicated, as in taking ten steps to do what once took two.
My new washing machine has an array of buttons worthy of a space capsule, so I can choose dozens of combinations for optimal results. Guess what. I want to put my clothes in the washer and have them come out clean. Nine times out of ten, I want the same water temperature, like the same spin speed, have the same clothing type. On my old machine, I set those things and left them, changing only when something special was being washed. With this machine, I have to set them every time, pushing little buttons multiple times to reach the same settings. Here's the sequence: Push ON button. Turn dial three clicks, so light indicates NORMAL wash load (nothing else works until I do that). Push WATER TEMP button four times to get the setting I use. Push RINSE SPEED button three times to get my usual choice. Push START button. That's 13 clicks and pushes to get going, where I once simply turned a dial and pushed a button.
My new microwave is much the same. Old one: two dials and a button. We left the POWER button the same for most things. To heat something, we turned the timer to our estimated cook time and pushed the START button. Voila. New one: Push POWER LEVEL button 3 or 4 times to lower the power to a level that doesn't result in charred ash. Push the little NUMBER pad to set the timer. Push START. Score: old appliance two; new appliance 7, minimum.
I fear that engineers (the geniuses in the title) are so enamored of what they can do, how cool the "dashboard" can look, that they forget that people just want the stupid thing to do what it does. I wrote to the washer manufacturer, suggesting a simpler operating procedure. I got back a form-type email that said they're sorry I'm unhappy but they have a multitude of models to choose from.
That missed my point: ALL the models have gone techno, except the stripped down, mini-models designed for dormitories, laundromats, and skin-flints. I asked for (and supposedly got) the simplest washer in the upper-mid-price range. Why not quality AND functionality?
And don't even get me started on cell phones.
My new washing machine has an array of buttons worthy of a space capsule, so I can choose dozens of combinations for optimal results. Guess what. I want to put my clothes in the washer and have them come out clean. Nine times out of ten, I want the same water temperature, like the same spin speed, have the same clothing type. On my old machine, I set those things and left them, changing only when something special was being washed. With this machine, I have to set them every time, pushing little buttons multiple times to reach the same settings. Here's the sequence: Push ON button. Turn dial three clicks, so light indicates NORMAL wash load (nothing else works until I do that). Push WATER TEMP button four times to get the setting I use. Push RINSE SPEED button three times to get my usual choice. Push START button. That's 13 clicks and pushes to get going, where I once simply turned a dial and pushed a button.
My new microwave is much the same. Old one: two dials and a button. We left the POWER button the same for most things. To heat something, we turned the timer to our estimated cook time and pushed the START button. Voila. New one: Push POWER LEVEL button 3 or 4 times to lower the power to a level that doesn't result in charred ash. Push the little NUMBER pad to set the timer. Push START. Score: old appliance two; new appliance 7, minimum.
I fear that engineers (the geniuses in the title) are so enamored of what they can do, how cool the "dashboard" can look, that they forget that people just want the stupid thing to do what it does. I wrote to the washer manufacturer, suggesting a simpler operating procedure. I got back a form-type email that said they're sorry I'm unhappy but they have a multitude of models to choose from.
That missed my point: ALL the models have gone techno, except the stripped down, mini-models designed for dormitories, laundromats, and skin-flints. I asked for (and supposedly got) the simplest washer in the upper-mid-price range. Why not quality AND functionality?
And don't even get me started on cell phones.
