They do with the expensive ones. I know when my dad re-did his kitchen the new microwave had one, and that was only a few years ago.
The man is in his mid-80’s and has finally learned how to use an electric coffee maker. Still has not mastered the art of boiling water on a stove. The microwave is the safest means of getting warm food into him when no one is around to cook.
Wow. I had no idea! I guess they have to justify the price on the higher end electronics? Does he ever user his probe?
My father-in-law is in his early 90s and he finally learned how to use a DVD player which has greatly improved his quality of life. We have avoided a lot of fights in that household by carefully avoiding the issue of him learning to use the Interwebs (we fear of the fallout should he discover online shopping and other private pleasures) but it was so sad when he wanted to know if he had “The Amazon” on his computer.
All I know is that 1/2 cup mashed potatoes = lightbulb, which is the most beautiful thing I have seen on the internet today.
Not since the radiation for his prostate cancer, no.
(Sorry…that begged for a response!)
No, the sum total of his actions in the kitchen are:
He is better than most his age when it comes to computer usage, although that’s not saying much. He still has an aol email account, for example. Had to chuckle at “The Amazon”…it’s hard learning all this new stuff at an advanced age, and it’ll be our turn next so we probably shouldn’t laugh too loudly!
The issue of the olds having issues using technology is one I think about a lot. I work in the tech industry and there is such a tendency to add more more more features and never to simplify and make things easier to use. We laugh at older people for not being able to understand new technology, but I wonder if others are also opting out of using it because they simply find it confusing.
The older people in our lives are all intelligent and have some ability to navigate websites or use machines, but they seem to learn a few things - how to look at their bank statements online, or read and answer email, or log in to Facebook - but the things that I think would make their lives so much richer, like being able to share photos or participate in forums - seem to be just out of their reach. I see all our parents having a lot of isolation and I think using the Internet to share would help so much - but when I try to teach them they seem to get frustrated so quickly and if I try to simplify things too much they seem insulted, So, I just don’t really try anymore. I was really excited when Florence Henderson came out with her tech products for the olds and I wonder sometimes how well that is going for her - don’t hear about it much but she seems so warm and relatable for that generation and I thought it was a fantastic idea.
Anyway, we do get a chuckle about The Amazon and of course that is what we call it in our home!
You’ve reminded me to get back to the book I was reading pre-holidays: “The Design of Everyday Things”, by Don Norman.
He points out that we blame ourselves when we can’t make something work right, when in fact it is often the over-engineering to add new features that causes consumer items to be so difficult to use correctly: for example, the differences between older analog wristwatches vs the newer digital watches.
In my dad’s circle of friends – sadly, much diminished recently, although at least the last two were in their mid-90’s – there’s a huge divide between the ones who embraced new technology right up to the end and those who left it up to their support staff, wives, and/or children to navigate for them. You could see that divide in other areas too, of course: the ones who were open to new ideas and learning new activities vs the ones who were content to let nostalgia wash over their psyche every day…engaged with the world as it is in the present moment, or pissed off that it isn’t the same one they benefited from in their prime.
That’s entirely not true and directly contradicted by the thing you posted. It was originally found in workers in microwave popcorn factories (hence the name) and I’m guessing sine they’re making the product, they’re probably not constantly microwaving it.
Read the thing you posted… it uses the exact words I did “caused by inhalation of airborne diacetyl”. It’s not the microwave, it’s the diacetyl.
It’s the kind of advanced mathematics I can get behind.
I believe you can actually get microwave convection ovens that are both a microwave and a conventional oven. I’d imagine most of those come with the probe.
From “the thing” I posted: “In 2007 a heavy consumer of microwaved popcorn was diagnosed by a doctor in Denver with “popcorn lung,” the first known case involving a consumer.”
This would be the example you clearly missed, in which somebody contracted “popcorn lung” who was a consumer, not a factory worker.
Another rhetorical question: if you eat unpopped microwave popcorn, or simply inhale its scent, how much dacetyl will get in your lungs?
Yes, I agree the diacetyl is the problem. I’m not saying microwaves are evil; all I’m saying is that the process of microwaving it enables it to enter your lungs, a catalyst as it were.
Yeah my aunt has a fancy gourmet kitchen and it has a three way oven - convection oven, regular oven, microwave. What I was referring to with the probes is that early on the microwaves were all large, expensive, and they would come with probes and cookbooks explaining how to "brown’ a chicken in the microwave and bake brownies (I seem to recall a lot of tips about “shielding”) and all sorts of things that people used real ovens for and microwaves are terrible at. But there was so much excitement with the new technology and it seemed like people thought they’d almost replace their regular ovens with these newfangled machines - not in the way they kind of have today by putting in a frozen dinner or a styrofoam cup that you add water to and nuke for 1 minute and a half, but in the way that people were cooking in their regular ovens at that time.
Heating the same popcorn in a convention oven would, to the best of my understanding, release the exact same amount of diacetyl. The microwave oven was neither more nor less than a source heat and airflow.
The microwave we inherited when we bought our house (it’s an above-the-oven model, with built in exhaust fan) has a temperature probe, and some sort of metal rack that we can put into it (I have no idea what it’s used for). It’s not even remotely top of the line, and it’s less than 10 years old. I’m not even sure if we HAVE the temperature probe, but the rack thing is floating around somewhere. I should look in the manual for the microwave and see if there’s any explanation as to what the hell it’s for.
Here’s what I’m talking about with the probe and shizz:
This 80’s ad for a microwave “just over 30 minutes for a juicy 3 lb roasted chicken”
http://www.80sactual.com/2008/10/1980s-microwave-oven-revolution.html
Or, from here, remember all those special microwave cooking tools they sold when they first came out?
Oh yeah, I remember - I’m just saying that our (modern, non-high end) microwave also has temperature probe functionality. Though we have never used it.
I read that part… it doesn’t do much to make your argument convincing, since microwave popcorn had been around for 30 years prior to that case, without incident.
Why is the question rhetorical? If you were to sit and smell unpopped popcorn you would get sick as well. Yes, heating it will release more of the chemical but that goes for any kind of heating as dnebdal has pointed out.
Anyway… stick to your guns if you want but you sound ridiculous, considering your original point was entirely misleading in that you suggested that while cooking with microwaves doesn’t cause cancer, it does cause obliterative bronchiolitis. Only after clicking the link is it apparent that it’s for one food product and only if eaten to excess.
And in fact, it is possible to use metal containers in the microwave if you know what you’re doing. There’s only a problem if their resistance is high enough that they start to heat, or if there’s an arc. (Physicist friend of mine freaked me out the first time he tossed a metal bowl into his uwave, but if you know the physics and/or think about the fact that the oven chamber is itself metal it makes perfect sense.)
I had no idea. mind blown
Technogeek - AGAIN? - what up with the new moniker???
When they changed logon systems, some time back, I was unable to reclaim my old ID. Rather than argue with it, I created a new username. This was quite some time ago; I guess folks haven’t noticed…
… but yes, it’s me, not an impostor. Accept no substitutes. Known to cause confusion in small mammals. Void where mandatory.
The more you know. Welcome back - sad I am just noticing your new handle but good you are not being inhabited by a pod person.
