Humans aren’t digital, dials have a feel that you get used to.

My toaster oven has a dial, I have no idea of the values, just how far I turn from muscle memory. I love it

Very quick and easy to turn it to where I want and precise time isn't very important on a microwave. Idealy the scale wouldn't be linear so that you have more accuracy under 1min and more range available.

Disagree. The perfect amount of time to cook my favorite brand of Hot Dog in the Microwave is exactly 12 seconds. Shorter and it's too cold, longer and it starts to split.

For such a short amount of time, you could count the seconds - or note how far the turntable rotates in that time. Even with a digital dial, I doubt I would take the time to input 12 seconds - I'd just whack the +30 second start and stare at it for 12 seconds.

>Even with a digital dial, I doubt I would take the time to input 12 seconds - I'd just whack the +30 second start and stare at it for 12 seconds.

...which is far easier and more consistent than trying to counting seconds in my head.

It's also more repeatable and transferrable when someone else is cooking the same thing and asks me how long I heated it for.

It really doesn't matter whether you heat your food for 28 or 32 seconds.

No, but 10-15 seconds vs 30 seconds is a huge difference in some cases. 15 seconds will take butter from fridge temp to room temp. 30 seconds will take butter from fridge temp to melted.

While I know this is a bit crass to say, there was a time where people just knew how long things took, via internal clocks.

It's a skill like any other, which of course has vanished, much like reading maps and math in head.

Much of the progress of civilization has involved tools that turn things from skills which require focus into things that are automated. It frees the mind to focus on other, more important things.

I could also just have an "on" button I have to hold, count seconds in my head, and stop when I think it's done, but thankfully no one is advocating for regressing UI quite that much....yet.

And 33 seconds is boiling molten lava.

I love how microwaves work, there’s a real art to it. 25 seconds , everything is cold but 40 seconds is boiling.

25x2 seconds , with a very short break in between the two, is not equal to 50 seconds.

Making these numbers “up” but anyone who has used a microwave with skill and attention will understand me.

Also, free tips: 1- put a moist paper towel over pizza and bread to keep it from hardening like a rock later on. 2 - microwave stale bread for a second life.

This is especially true when heating soups or similar things.

1x120 seconds means it's completely cold in the middle, but molten lava at the sides and even the dish is too hot to touch.

1x30-45 seconds, mix with spoon, 1x30-45 seconds and it's just right.

there are things that I heat for 11 seconds. If it is in there for more than 12 seconds, it starts to overcook. An analog dial is a poor choice in this case.