Another reason why I wish more appliances still had physical buttons and knobs, aside from the obvious tactile one, is that it's an easy way for you to have a personal default setting.

My countertop dishwasher for example has only touch buttons. They are a pain to trigger, especially with wet hands, and it always starts at the energy- and water-saving programme, so helpfully named "1", which takes about 2 hours. Whereas I prefer the short programme, which takes only 30 minutes, since it's the only programme that doesn't include a drying cycle, and it usually cleans well-enough. I usually prefer to just open the door afterwards, pull the rack out on top of it, and let it air-dry while its contents are still hot. It's programme 3 though, so I'll have to press that programme-select button twice. every... single... time...

Whereas if the programme-select was just a physical knob, I could just leave it on programme 3. I also like to always have it start with a 5-minute steam, which could also just be a physical switch, instead of a non-tactile area I have to press every time. Hell, make it a knob that sets the duration of the steam session.

Even better; instead of mildly different predefined programmes, give me a whole bunch of knobs for pre-wash temperature and duration, main programme temperature and duration, rinse cycle. Put a nice, user-replaceable, LED above each of them that indicates which cycle it's currently in, and one shared countdown timer display, and I'm a happy camper.

#FiXatoRants #appliances #accessibility #a11y #kitchenAppliances #kitchen #DearDesigner #knobhead

Today in my series of (#YouTube) comments that I may some day turn into a proper blog post, #FiXatoCommentsOn @olafurw's video with Tips for a Nordic Winter:

When I tell people "it's snowing 😭", they tend to react confused: "but snow is so beautiful!".
Yeah, no, snow is a treacherous sneaky bastard. From a distance, or in the low light levels, it's hard to tell if that patch of snow will gently compact when you step on it, whether you'll sink up to your knees through it, or if it's solid. Are those threadmarks fresh, or will they make your teeth dance violently in your mouth while you vibrate up and down as you cycle over those frozen ribbed-for-no-ones-pleasure textures.
Spikes for your shoes (or better yet, shoes with permanent spikes so you don't risk losing them halfway your journey in the dark, in the middle of the snow) are excellent and worth the expense though. However, they are not much use if the ice is hidden underneath treacherous (fresh) snow, which compacts around the soles and spikes of your shoes, so now you have snow soles making contact but no grip with the slippery ice, rather than the metal nublets gripping into it...

As for "oh, snow is so beautiful!": yeah, sure, the first 1 or 2 days after it has fallen. But especially in the city, that pristine white soon turns into disgusting grey-brown sludge when it mixes with mud, exhaust, and other grime as the result of people and cars moving through and past it. Which then freezes over and you'll be stuck with it for the remaining 4–6 months of winter.
Snow is beautiful, out in nature, when I have free time. Not in the city, when I have to walk for half an hour to work daily, or to the shops, to buy milk (with a little jam on the side).

#FiXatoRants #snow #rant #Norway #NordicWinter #LifeInNorway