Re: Critique of instructions for preparing Pop-tarts

[Emily Berk <emily -at- armadillosoft -dot- com>]

Hey, John:

I don't actually like Pop-tarts, toasted OR microwaved.

I think the critic was amazed that there were 17 instructions for toasting and only one for microwaving Pop-tarts.  

I mean, did you know to remove the packaging before you put the Pop-tart into the microwave?

Perhaps the instruction writer was assuming that microwave users are more sophisticated than toaster users and so need less basic instructions.  

Or, perhaps the instruction writer was assuming that microwave users would know that Pop-tarts originated in pre-microwave days and so would just instinctively read the toast instructions and apply them to the microwave pre-processing protocol.

Dunno.  Seems to me that documenting the preparation of Pop-tarts might be a good alternative to the "prepare a peanut butter sandwich" test that I've sometimes given to potential employees.  Not saying there's just one right answer.

-- Emily,
(brains the size of a planet and yet worrying about Pop-tarts...)
I miss Douglas Adams SO much!

At 05:35 PM 2/23/2006 -0800, John Posada wrote:
>> And then they have, uh, microwave directions. You can microwave a
>> Pop-Tart. That just blew me away that you could do that. How long
>> does it take to toast a Pop-Tart? A minute and a half if you want
>> it dark?! People don?t have that kind of time? Listen, if you need
>> to zap-fry your Pop-Tarts before you head out the door, you might
>> want to loosen up your schedule. And I swear, it says ?Microwave on
>> high for three seconds"! That?s all. I don?t think I want to wake
>> up and be eating in three seconds. You know, the alarm goes off?
>
>I don't have a toaster....well, I do, but it is broken....the slices
>don't stay down.
>
>Did you ever microwave a poptart for about 30 seconds? I did. I WISH
>I'd read the instructions to only zap for 3 seconds.
>
>John Posada
>Senior Technical Writer
>
>"So long and thanks for all the fish."

Emily Berk
http://www.armadillosoft.com


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