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Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Smart Microwave Read Barcodes
We've always sneered at "smart" appliances. After all, what is the point of hooking your refrigerator to the Internet? But here's a simple solution that may bridge the technology gap. Smarthome.com sells a microwave oven that can read 4,000 pre-programmed UPC barcodes.

More info from the online catalogue: "Microwave ovens make cooking a breeze, but even though they're quick, sometimes it's hard to know exactly what "half-power" means on your microwave, and who can always remember how long to cook those frozen meals? The Beyond Microwave Oven takes all the guesswork out of microwave cooking, letting you cook meals perfectly and evenly every time. You just scan the barcode on your food package, and the Beyond Microwave Oven does the rest! It's preprogrammed with over 4000 UPC barcodes, and it has a learn function that allows you to program new items as they hit the shelves. What could be easier? This attractive microwave oven features a stainless steel front and has an LCD screen with a bright blue backlight."

Not bad for $149.00.

# Permalink Posted at 3:06 AM 6 comments Email this Link

Comments on this Item:

Maybe this device wouldn't be so absurd to hook-up to the internet. If there wasn't something in its 4000 UPC database, it would be nice to scan the bar code and have it connect to the internet to look it up instead of having to program it myself...

# posted by ClarkBHM 8:02 AM

nice! one step closer to bringing my "Invention" to reality.

# posted by gabe 8:09 AM

I thought everybody used the "1 minute on high" button on the microwave and that was it, except when you used the "5 minutes on high" button for popcorn.

# posted by James 8:14 AM

Great. First they tracked our purchasing with those 'store cards'. Now they're tracking if we cook the food properly.

# posted by rg 8:36 AM

I actually wrot a piece for the NY Times about "smart appliances." As one guy in my piece said:

" The point, Fiddler said, is not whether this first round of smarter appliances will succeed, but that this first wave is the start of a new generation of machines.

"I can't imagine that a microwave connecting to the Internet will ever be useful, but we're at Generation Zero right now," he said. "There are combinations that are yet to be discovered. But we're going to see a lot of interesting devices by Christmas, and even more right after that."

According to Fiddler, a rapid evolution for machines that previously progressed at glacial speed is now possible, thanks to advances in embedded chips and software. "The technology is there now," he said. "The cost is incredibly low and the added connectivity means you can connect things to the real world. The problem is figuring out what is useful and what will make the consumer say 'This will make my life better."'

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/07view.html

# posted by Alice 10:09 AM

So would the microwave also correct for elevation? My popcorn high up Nevada, is going to take a different time to pop than it would down by the beach in California. That is assuming there was a place to plug in a microwave at the beach. :)

# posted by Nathan 10:30 AM

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