Instruction​s...

I got a sandwich maker (croque monsiour) for Christmas, and I'm trying to use it for the first time. The enclosed manual really is a brilliant example of why manual's typically are useless:

Dutch side:
"Steek de stekker in het stopcontact : het rode controlelampje gaat branden. Wacht tot het groene controle lampje uitgaat (ca. 4-5 minuten) : het apparaat heeft dan de juiste baktemperatuur bereikt."
In English: Plug the sandwich maker in : the red light comes on. Wait until the green light turns off (approx. 4-5 minutes). The machine has now reached the correct temperature.

French side:
"Brancher le cordon de l'appareil sur le secreut : le voyant rouge s'allume. Dès que le voyant vert s'allume, le temps de préchauffage est terminé (environ 5 à 6 minutes)"
In English: Plug the sandwich maker in : the red light comes on. When the green light turns on, the preheating time has ended (approx. 5-6 minutes).

So, I leave as a riddle for the reader: just how long am I supposed to wait for the green light to do what?

see i'd probably go with the french side myself.  are there any other languages you could check to see if they go with what you currently have or offer alternative ideas. 

trial and error, trial and error

I'm guessing the French side is correct also (since the green light isn't on initially). Nope, there aren't any other languages.

Of course, there's very little you can actually do wrong making toast. It's just a humorous example of how much people that write manuals seem to smoke sometimes.

I suppose it depends on whether you read all the instructions first... or whether you read an instruction, follow it, and then read the next instruction.

"Plug it in"
OK... hmm... find an open socket... and... ah!  Great.

"Wait 4-5 minutes"
OK... find a clock... it's 8:56... so... around 9:00 or 9:01...

Presumably the interval elapsed between plugging it in and the correct temperature being reached is slightly over five minutes.  But if the user is treating the instructions as a scripted language to be interpreted at runtime, the additional read-next-step-find-a-clock etc. means they only have to wait for slightly under five minutes.

As to what the lights actually do, beats me.

Depends on the type of bread:

French, Belgian, Canadian bread = wait for green light to turn on.

Dutch, German, English, Nordic bread = wait for green light to turn off

Other bread = do not create a croque monsiour, it is just rude.

Beer28 m8, just a quick question if I may?

Does your toaster run Linux too?

Sabot wrote:

Beer28 m8, just a quick question if I may?

Does your toaster run Linux too?

Dunno, my Guru's Meditating !

I have the “First Toaster with a Brain”, and have had it for years! I kept the box and filled it with stuff just to marvel at the Brain claim.

Sven, do you understand the concept of “pre-heating”? The manufacture of this “Sandwich maker” (sounds like all you have to do is pour the ingredients in and out will pop a sandwich) just wants to make sure that after YOU make the sandwich and place in the heater it is not burned. Maybe computers should have two lights, one to show that power is ON another to show that the OS is loaded correctly and ready to go.

Of course I understand the concept of pre-heating. Considering it takes around five minutes before the green light turns on it's also not too hard to figure out what exactly you are supposed to do. I'm not the kind of person that's totally dependant on a manual for making a sandwich, you know!

It's just funny that the French and Dutch instructions can't seem to agree, that's all.

As for the time it takes to heat up that depends on many factors, but mostly the temperature of the room where the Sandwich maker is stored and used. Maybe the Dutch have warmer homes.

Plug in the sandwich maker and observe the green light once it has reached a steady-state. Wait until the state of the green light changes (approx. 4-5 minutes). The machine has now reached the correct temperature.

Here:

sandwichMaker.plugIn(ringMains.getNearestFreeSocket(sandwichMaker.location));
assert(sandwichMaker.redLight.state == true);
bool greenLightState = sandwichMaker.greenLight.state;
while (sandwichMaker.greenLight.state == greenLightState) {};

// the machine has now reached the correct temperature.

asqui wrote:

Plug in the sandwich maker and observe the green light once it has reached a steady-state. Wait until the state of the green light changes (approx. 4-5 minutes). The machine has now reached the correct temperature.

Here:

sandwichMaker.plugIn(ringMains.getNearestFreeSocket(sandwichMaker.location));
assert(sandwichMaker.redLight.state == true);
bool greenLightState = sandwichMaker.greenLight.state;
while (sandwichMaker.greenLight.state == greenLightState) {};

// the machine has now reached the correct temperature.

Rossj wrote:

asqui wrote: Plug in the sandwich maker and observe the green light once it has reached a steady-state. Wait until the state of the green light changes (approx. 4-5 minutes). The machine has now reached the correct temperature. Here: sandwichMaker.plugIn(ringMains.getNearestFreeSocket(sandwichMaker.location)); assert(sandwichMaker.redLight.state == true); bool greenLightState = sandwichMaker.greenLight.state; while (sandwichMaker.greenLight.state == greenLightState) {}; // the machine has now reached the correct temperature.

Reminds me of the joke :  How do you keep a programmer busy in the bath? Give him some shampoo - lather, rinse, repeat.  At least I thought it was funny.