Toaster Repair

[Mr.T]

"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote in message
news:00b3fc97$0$24757$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...

I'm still waiting for a toaster that does what I thought (naively) my
first ever "electronic" toaster did, which was to watch the colour of
the bread as it changed.

That shouldn't be very hard to do. The HARD part would be getting people to
pay for it when ones that do an "adequate" (rather than great) job can be
bought for $10-$20 and thrown away when they break.

MrT.

 

[Mr.T]

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ZUPbm.3002$sC1.1921@newsfe17.iad...

They guy who runs the company and owns a patent on some aspect of this
recons that it does in trials they have done.
He said you can leave the bread in there as long as you want, provided it
follows the right temperature profile it will never burn.

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and unappealing.

My el-cheapo toaster does a fine job (and amazingly has lasted about 10
years already) I can't imagine paying far more for something only slightly
better, that still may break down. The old Sunbeams that gently lowered and
raised the bread were pretty good 40 years ago IMO, but stopped being made
because people didn't want to pay so much extra just to color their bread.

Just like the old saying "build a better mouse trap and they will come" it
completely ignores marketing and economics.

MrT.

 

[|-|erc]

"Mr.T" <MrT@home> wrote ...

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ZUPbm.3002$sC1.1921@newsfe17.iad...
They guy who runs the company and owns a patent on some aspect of this
recons that it does in trials they have done.
He said you can leave the bread in there as long as you want, provided it
follows the right temperature profile it will never burn.

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and unappealing.

My el-cheapo toaster does a fine job (and amazingly has lasted about 10
years already) I can't imagine paying far more for something only slightly
better, that still may break down. The old Sunbeams that gently lowered and
raised the bread were pretty good 40 years ago IMO, but stopped being made
because people didn't want to pay so much extra just to color their bread.

Just like the old saying "build a better mouse trap and they will come" it
completely ignores marketing and economics.

That's not a big saying, it doesn't even parse in English.

Results 1 - 10 of about 95 for "build a better mouse trap and they will come"

I think this is the one you're thinking of.

Results 1 - 10 of about 451,000 for "build it and they will come".


How about, invent something useful and make lots of money!

Herc

 

[terryc]

On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:56 +1000, Mr.T wrote:

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and unappealing.

CRUNCHY = yummy.
--

Great advances in Debian Linux; post a bug report and get spam in three
days.

 

[TT]

"|-|erc" <h@r.c> wrote in message
news:hLSbm.7986$ze1.6182@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

"Mr.T" <MrT@home> wrote ...

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ZUPbm.3002$sC1.1921@newsfe17.iad...
They guy who runs the company and owns a patent on some
aspect of this
recons that it does in trials they have done.
He said you can leave the bread in there as long as you
want, provided it
follows the right temperature profile it will never
burn.

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and
unappealing.

My el-cheapo toaster does a fine job (and amazingly has
lasted about 10
years already) I can't imagine paying far more for
something only slightly
better, that still may break down. The old Sunbeams that
gently lowered and
raised the bread were pretty good 40 years ago IMO, but
stopped being made
because people didn't want to pay so much extra just to
color their bread.

Just like the old saying "build a better mouse trap and
they will come" it
completely ignores marketing and economics.


That's not a big saying, it doesn't even parse in English.

Results 1 - 10 of about 95 for "build a better mouse trap
and they will come"

I think this is the one you're thinking of.

Results 1 - 10 of about 451,000 for "build it and they
will come".


How about, invent something useful and make lots of money!

Herc

You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.

Cheers TT

 

[TT]

"terryc" <newssevenspam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a70022c$0$67725$c30e37c6@pit-reader.telstra.net...

On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:56 +1000, Mr.T wrote:

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and
unappealing.

CRUNCHY = yummy.
--

Croutons? ;-)

Cheers TT

 

[F Murtz]

Mr.T wrote:

"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote in message
news:00b3fc97$0$24757$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
I'm still waiting for a toaster that does what I thought (naively) my
first ever "electronic" toaster did, which was to watch the colour of
the bread as it changed.

That shouldn't be very hard to do. The HARD part would be getting people to
pay for it when ones that do an "adequate" (rather than great) job can be
bought for $10-$20 and thrown away when they break.

MrT.


Aldi just had a toaster with infra red tubes that is quicker.

They had it for $60, and every aldi still had piles of them 5 weeks
later. Almost no one bought them. They reduced them to $20 and sold the
lot in a day.
The trouble with quicker is very soft centered toast. They did have a
button for hard toast which cycled on and off for a long time

 

[David L. Jones]

TT wrote:

"|-|erc" <h@r.c> wrote in message
news:hLSbm.7986$ze1.6182@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
"Mr.T" <MrT@home> wrote ...

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ZUPbm.3002$sC1.1921@newsfe17.iad...
They guy who runs the company and owns a patent on some
aspect of this
recons that it does in trials they have done.
He said you can leave the bread in there as long as you
want, provided it
follows the right temperature profile it will never
burn.

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and
unappealing.

My el-cheapo toaster does a fine job (and amazingly has
lasted about 10
years already) I can't imagine paying far more for
something only slightly
better, that still may break down. The old Sunbeams that
gently lowered and
raised the bread were pretty good 40 years ago IMO, but
stopped being made
because people didn't want to pay so much extra just to
color their bread.

Just like the old saying "build a better mouse trap and
they will come" it
completely ignores marketing and economics.


That's not a big saying, it doesn't even parse in English.

Results 1 - 10 of about 95 for "build a better mouse trap
and they will come"

I think this is the one you're thinking of.

Results 1 - 10 of about 451,000 for "build it and they
will come".


How about, invent something useful and make lots of money!

Herc

You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.

The Pet Rock is my favourite.

Dave.

--
---------------------------------------------
Check out my Electronics Engineering Video Blog & Podcast:
http://www.alternatezone.com/eevblog/

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Mr.T" wrote:

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ZUPbm.3002$sC1.1921@newsfe17.iad...
They guy who runs the company and owns a patent on some aspect of this
recons that it does in trials they have done.
He said you can leave the bread in there as long as you want, provided it
follows the right temperature profile it will never burn.

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and unappealing.

My el-cheapo toaster does a fine job (and amazingly has lasted about 10
years already) I can't imagine paying far more for something only slightly
better, that still may break down. The old Sunbeams that gently lowered and
raised the bread were pretty good 40 years ago IMO, but stopped being made
because people didn't want to pay so much extra just to color their bread.

Just like the old saying "build a better mouse trap and they will come" it
completely ignores marketing and economics.

MrT.

"Build a better mousetrap and people will beat a path to your door"

<http://www.google.com/search?q=build+a+better+mousetrap+and+people+will+beat+a+path+to+your+door&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=mozilla&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial>


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

 

[Mr.T]

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8QVbm.44746$vp.11905@newsfe12.iad...

You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.

The Pet Rock is my favourite.

Nah, Apple made far more money from the iPod.

MrT.

 

[Mr.T]

"F Murtz" <haggisz@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4a700db5$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...

Aldi just had a toaster with infra red tubes that is quicker.
They had it for $60, and every aldi still had piles of them 5 weeks
later. Almost no one bought them. They reduced them to $20 and sold the
lot in a day.

Exactly, people will buy at the right price, but that may not be profitable
for the manufacturer.

The trouble with quicker is very soft centered toast. They did have a
button for hard toast which cycled on and off for a long time

Pity I missed out then, I prefer soft centred toast.

MrT.

 

[ian field]

"terryc" <newssevenspam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a70022c$0$67725$c30e37c6@pit-reader.telstra.net...

On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:56 +1000, Mr.T wrote:

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and unappealing.

CRUNCHY = yummy.

Cook a slice of bread in the microwave and it goes crunchy in the middle.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Mr.T" wrote:

"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8QVbm.44746$vp.11905@newsfe12.iad...
You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.

The Pet Rock is my favourite.

Nah, Apple made far more money from the iPod.

Only because the pet rock didn't have a USB port. ;-)


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

 

[Andy Wood]

"Mr.T" <MrT@home> wrote:

.. . .

My el-cheapo toaster does a fine job (and amazingly has lasted about 10
years already) I can't imagine paying far more for something only slightly
better, that still may break down. The old Sunbeams that gently lowered and
raised the bread were pretty good 40 years ago IMO, but stopped being made
because people didn't want to pay so much extra just to color their bread.

Just like the old saying "build a better mouse trap and they will come" it
completely ignores marketing and economics.

MrT.

Oh, for the simple life! What I want is one of those old-fashioned pop
up toasters with one adjustment knob and a lever on the side to lower
the bread, where the lever also serves to turn it off early if you
want to do that.

We had one like that for years, but it finally died. With the new one
you can't turn it off by lifting the lever - none of that intuitive
stuff any more. Instead you have to remember which one of the array of
buttons on the side (labelled with tiny, hard to read print) is to
terminate the operation. Not only that, but for some reason it takes a
lot of pressure on this button to get to turn off, which means
stopping it is a two handed operation - one to press the button, and
the other to stop the toaster sliding away. In fact the cancel button
is so hard to press, my wife has to keep a small wooden stick handy to
prod it with.

Why it has to have so many buttons, I don't know. One is something to
do with frozen bread. I can't remember now, or perhaps I never knew,
whether this is for toasting frozen bread, for thawing it without
toasting it, or maybe for freezing bread instead of heating it...


Andy Wood
woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au

 

[ian field]

"Andy Wood" <woodag@trap.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a709c38$0$9715$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...

"Mr.T" <MrT@home> wrote:

. . .

My el-cheapo toaster does a fine job (and amazingly has lasted about 10
years already) I can't imagine paying far more for something only slightly
better, that still may break down. The old Sunbeams that gently lowered
and
raised the bread were pretty good 40 years ago IMO, but stopped being made
because people didn't want to pay so much extra just to color their bread.

Just like the old saying "build a better mouse trap and they will come" it
completely ignores marketing and economics.

MrT.


Oh, for the simple life! What I want is one of those old-fashioned pop
up toasters with one adjustment knob and a lever on the side to lower
the bread, where the lever also serves to turn it off early if you
want to do that.

We had one like that for years, but it finally died. With the new one
you can't turn it off by lifting the lever - none of that intuitive
stuff any more. Instead you have to remember which one of the array of
buttons on the side (labelled with tiny, hard to read print) is to
terminate the operation. Not only that, but for some reason it takes a
lot of pressure on this button to get to turn off, which means
stopping it is a two handed operation - one to press the button, and
the other to stop the toaster sliding away. In fact the cancel button
is so hard to press, my wife has to keep a small wooden stick handy to
prod it with.

Why it has to have so many buttons, I don't know.

They have to do *something* with all those I/O pins on the microcontroller.

 

[Don McKenzie]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

"Mr.T" wrote:
"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8QVbm.44746$vp.11905@newsfe12.iad...
You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.
The Pet Rock is my favourite.
Nah, Apple made far more money from the iPod.


Only because the pet rock didn't have a USB port. ;-)

rubbish!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/usb-pet-rock.html

d...




--
Don McKenzie

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[ian field]

"Don McKenzie" <5V@2.5A> wrote in message
news:7dbrvqF2an9ufU1@mid.individual.net...

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
"Mr.T" wrote:
"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8QVbm.44746$vp.11905@newsfe12.iad...
You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.
The Pet Rock is my favourite.
Nah, Apple made far more money from the iPod.


Only because the pet rock didn't have a USB port. ;-)

rubbish!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/usb-pet-rock.html

There's a lot of incredibly stupid people about!!!

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

ian field wrote:

"Don McKenzie" <5V@2.5A> wrote in message
news:7dbrvqF2an9ufU1@mid.individual.net...
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
"Mr.T" wrote:
"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8QVbm.44746$vp.11905@newsfe12.iad...
You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.
The Pet Rock is my favourite.
Nah, Apple made far more money from the iPod.


Only because the pet rock didn't have a USB port. ;-)

rubbish!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/usb-pet-rock.html


There's a lot of incredibly stupid people about!!!

Yet they manage to find Google Groups to bug us.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Don McKenzie wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
"Mr.T" wrote:
"David L. Jones" <altzone@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8QVbm.44746$vp.11905@newsfe12.iad...
You will make more money by inventing a piece of crap that
everyone thinks they really need ;-)

Rubics Cube, Yoyo, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, iPod etc.
The Pet Rock is my favourite.
Nah, Apple made far more money from the iPod.


Only because the pet rock didn't have a USB port. ;-)

rubbish!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/usb-pet-rock.html

d...

That's an imitation.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

 

[Farticus]

"ian field" <gangprobing.alien@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:yYYbm.14478$Th1.13022@newsfe02.ams2...

"terryc" <newssevenspam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a70022c$0$67725$c30e37c6@pit-reader.telstra.net...
On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:56 +1000, Mr.T wrote:

Maybe, but it sure would dry out and become hard and unappealing.

CRUNCHY = yummy.


Cook a slice of bread in the microwave and it goes crunchy in the middle.

Reverse engineered toast?