

Why the Kitchen Computing Dream of the 80s Never Caught On - badboyboyce
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/why-the-kitchen-computing-dream-of-the-80s-never-caught-on?curator=MediaREDEF

======
jerf
I dunno... I can't help but feel the entire article was undercut by the third-
to-last paragraph. If computing now doesn't look like it did in the 80s,
well... where else does it now, either? It took longer than pundits may have
anticipated, but nowadays I know all the places in my kitchen that I can plop
down my tablet now, with the Pinterest-provided recipe.

Or Netflix.

Or both.

I can't help but feel the article would have worked better with the exact same
facts as "How The Kitchen Computing Dream Of The 80s Is Finally Here". And
there's actually an interesting article there. (Though I tangentially wrote it
already... kitchen computing isn't likely to be "a cookbook, _but on a
computer_!"
[http://www.jerf.org/iri/post/2916](http://www.jerf.org/iri/post/2916) But
it's interesting to think about how it is indeed finally here and where we may
be going in the next ten years.)

------
jdietrich
I think that this article falls into exactly the kind of ignorant trap that it
describes, by failing to recognise the diversity of users and their computing
needs.

Mobile and tablet devices have brought about widespread use of computing in
the kitchen. Pinterest has millions of users sharing recipes and food ideas. A
quick browse of the major app stores reveals dozens of popular cooking apps.

Most people don't really need any sort of reference material in the kitchen,
but there are a significant number of niches where computing can be
fantastically useful, verging on life-changing. People on calorie-restricted
or low sodium diets can find easy-to-use databases of ingredients and recipes
and track their food intake. Coeliacs, vegans and people with food allergies
can easily check to see if a food product is suitable for them. Diabetics can
track their carbohydrate intake and blood glucose levels; The latest
generation of glucometers are Bluetooth enabled.

Ask anyone who repairs phones and tablets, and they'll tell you about all the
devices they have resuscitated from a dip in cake batter or the kitchen sink.
Computing in the kitchen is no longer a technologist's pipe dream, but a
practical reality. Our industry is still dreadful at understanding the needs
of people who aren't affluent tech-savvy men, but I would argue that we're
even worse at recognising and celebrating the companies who are getting it
right.

------
nikanj
I'm reading this on an iPad while in the kitchen, and I think I'm not the only
one who has a tablet floating around while cooking

------
BruceIV
I find the assumption throughout the last few paragraphs that being a hobbyist
is a masculine thing rather sexist, and not representative of reality.

~~~
derefr
I think the author was confusing sexism for classism. The book is definitely
aimed at _people who are cooking to impress someone_ rather than _people who
are cooking to eat_ —but that set identifies "rich people", not "men".

In other words, the book is aimed at the same sort of people who would, in
1980, invite their friends over to marvel at their new $6000 computer.

------
noonespecial
The most useful kitchen information product I've ever used is a photocopied
page, laminated.

