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Friday, May 15, 2009

Nerd Yeah, But Does It Run Linux?

Posted by Sam Machkovech on Fri, May 15, 2009 at 12:22 PM

HT to Microsoft's @majornelson for babbling about the TurboChef, a fancy new kind of oven that he raved about after MS installed one in the newest campus cafeteria. Cooking times shrink at an average of 82% without affecting the food quality; for example, a whole turkey's done in 42 minutes without any discernible difference, they say.

I know I should make a topical, inevitable Vista and/or downsizing joke, but the techno-whore in me is too busy drooling to come up with one. Still, I noticed the advanced feature page, which notes things like old-school oven mode and mega-microwave mode, features that are not default with your expensive TurboChef. Nay! To unleash its full potential, you'll need to install the oven's firmware update.

48c0/1242415128-usb_port.jpg

Finally, an oven that is future-proof. So long as you have a USB drive, no food will ever be incompatible again.

Comments (12) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Someone reads Slashdot.

Posted by Banna

on May 15, 2009 at 12:26 PM

Life's an aggregator. Dig it.

Posted by jackie treehorn on May 15, 2009 at 12:29 PM

*Digg

Balls.

Posted by jackie treehorn on May 15, 2009 at 12:29 PM

I had to read that first sentence 3 times to understand it, and I'm still not sure if I do.

Posted by Wicked Virgin

on May 15, 2009 at 12:36 PM

Use it for your big Thanksgiving dinner and if the display turns blue 1/2 way through cooking your dinner, then its running Windoz.

Posted by Tom on May 15, 2009 at 1:05 PM

It does run Linux, actually.

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site…

Posted by w7ngman

on May 15, 2009 at 1:09 PM

OMG, it's almost as fast as the GE Trivection Oven!

Posted by teenage eagle on May 15, 2009 at 1:25 PM

Oh, come on, so you have to reboot the oven each day, how could that be an issue ... damn, there goes another turkey!

Posted by Will in Seattle

on May 15, 2009 at 2:12 PM

But can it fry?

Posted by Joe Szilagyi

on May 15, 2009 at 2:22 PM

Since when does "can update the firmware" mean "will never be obsolete again"? I think it's extremely unlikely that these will still be running in twenty years, unlike regular ovens, many of which are still working perfectly after 50, 60, 70 years or more. What kind of computer were you using 70 years ago?

Posted by Fnarf

on May 15, 2009 at 4:11 PM

20 years ago, I was running a Staedtler-Mars slide rule. Still works too.

Posted by Tom on May 15, 2009 at 7:41 PM

Consumer Reports tested this thing last year, and found pluses and minuses. Its basically a small combo microwave/electric wall oven. They said it zipped through frozen pizza in 4 minutes and cookies in 6, which would explain its popularity at Microsoft. The downside was that various thick meats always came out cooked unevenly, some parts underdone and other parts overdone. You can ONLY bake with it by specifying what food you're cooking from its pre-programmed recipe library (not manual time/temp), which explains the need for software/firmware updates. Their conclusion was that it might make sense for someone who regularly hosts large gatherings. And had sold their stock when it was high, presumably.

Posted by MarkyMark on May 16, 2009 at 1:12 PM