My microwave has two knobs. One for power, one for time. It turns on automatically when you turn the timer and turns off automatically (sounding a mechanical bell) when the timer hits zero.
I used one of those microwaves once. Best interface ever, and so much simpler than the high-tech beepy button matrix! Do microwave manufacturers just not realize that they're making their products worse by complicating them? I don't get it.
Actually, yes. Anything with a moving part is painfully expensive, which is why cheap monitors try to reduce the number of buttons or use capacitative touch-sensitive controls.
Touch-sensitive membrane buttons like the ones the use on the front of microwaves are much cheaper than mechanical timers.
My family had a microwave like that for ages, and I loved it. I think it was over 20 years old by the time they got a new one, because it was so rugged and easy to use.
