# Why don't Foreman grills have on off switches? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022 "2007-04-13T22:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/21 "2007-04-15T17:37:33Z")
[QUOTE=riker1384] And why don’t crockpots have simple timers? I was thinking of buying one because of a recent thread on crockpot recipes. I’m not comfortable just leaving something on. They make “programmable” ones but those seem to start at 5 quarts. There is one Cuisinart 4-quart with a simple 8-hour timer, but it’s $80. [/QUOTE] If you’re really worried about it, they make timers that plug into your outlet and you plug your cord into the timer. They start really simple and go up to really complex ones (I use a more complicated one for my aquarium.) They’re pretty easy to use - a lot of people have a few lights on timers so they’ll be on when they get home at night. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/22 "2007-04-15T17:55:10Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Well, I’ve learned some mathematics of note today. But as to the cars, I can’t think an odd $10 on the price of the vehicle would noticeably affect sales. [/QUOTE] Do you know how to make a $1,000,000 in the car business? (write this down, there will be a quiz later) **Save a buck a car and build a million of them** FWIW Volvo used to share a factory with Mitsubishi in Europe. Some of the parts between the cars were common (bolts connectors, etc) Anyway when we asked about what we thought would be a simple and cheap fix for a problem we were told that the Mitsubishi people would say no to a fix that cost more than 1 yen per car. At today’s conversion rate that is about .8 of a penny. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/23 "2007-04-15T17:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Well, I’ve learned some mathematics of note today. But as to the cars, I can’t think an odd $10 on the price of the vehicle would noticeably affect sales. [/QUOTE] You think the alternator is the only crap part in the car? If they upgrade all the so-so parts in the car, or choose the next component up that’s more reliable, your $25K ride will turn into a $45K ride overnight. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/24 "2007-04-16T14:09:52Z")
TV Time: > [@](#): > > Also, why are the Foreman Grill cords as short as they are? They are shorter than any other small appliance I have. Appliances with heating elements usually have short cords AND the instructions tell you not to use extension cords with them so they need to be sitting near the outlet they’re plugged into, and there will be less chance of people tripping over the cord and getting hot grease, coffee, water, etc on themselves and suffering bad burns. Especially if there are little crawling or walking children in a house. One tug on a low-hanging cord and down comes something very dangerous, not merely messy. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/25 "2007-04-16T19:18:03Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] A similar one was a few years ago someone complained about airlines filling passengers glasses with coke rather than leaving the full can. As I pointed out Delta carried 105,000,000 passengers in 2000. Save 25c per passenger and you make an extra $500,000 a week profit without putting up ticket prices. [/QUOTE] Not really. You forgot to deduct the time it takes for the flight attendant to open the can and fill the cup, and later to look for that started can for the next passenger. It would be a lot easier and faster to just hand me a full can and go to the next passenger. My guess is that they want to reduce spillage. Or farts. (Hmmm… OTOH, my suggestion would require them to refill the carts more often.) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/26 "2007-04-16T19:22:22Z")
keeve: > [@](#): > > Not really. You forgot to deduct the time it takes for the flight attendant to open the can and fill the cup, and later to look for that started can for the next passenger. It would be a lot easier and faster to just hand me a full can and go to the next passenger. What, the labor cost of the flight attendant in flight? Aren’t they being paid at the same rate for the entire flight time, whether their handing out cans, popping open cans, or sitting on their cans? ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/27 "2007-04-16T19:57:46Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] What, the labor cost of the flight attendant in flight? Aren’t they being paid at the same rate for the entire flight time, whether their handing out cans, popping open cans, or sitting on their cans? [/QUOTE] Yeah, there’s really no incentive to having a flight attendant be able to work faster. They don’t make money handing out more free drinks, and there’s only going to be one or two beverage services most flights. Even for the handful of folks buying booze, faster beverage service won’t up the profits anywere near enough to make up for giving away twice as much juice and Coke. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/28 "2007-04-16T23:15:38Z")
Equally important is to get one with removable plates. The old ones are a job to clean. You have to wrestle them into the sink ,water over them and scrub while trying to keep the electronics dry. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/29 "2007-04-17T01:01:42Z")
It’s generally good safety practice not to leave small appliances plugged in in any circumstance. If not having on/off switches facilitates this, that’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/30 "2007-04-18T04:22:47Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] It’s generally good safety practice not to leave small appliances plugged in in any circumstance. If not having on/off switches facilitates this, that’s a good thing. [/QUOTE] I’ve always thought that, but why is that? If I leave the toaster plugged in, will my house burn down? Has anyone’s house burned down because a small appliance was merely left plugged in? (Not that a small appliance was left on. That’s a whole different thing.) ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/31 "2007-04-18T22:14:59Z")
[QUOTE=aktep] Yeah, there’s really no incentive to having a flight attendant be able to work faster. They don’t make money handing out more free drinks, and there’s only going to be one or two beverage services most flights. Even for the handful of folks buying booze, faster beverage service won’t up the profits anywere near enough to make up for giving away twice as much juice and Coke. [/QUOTE] except that they can use less of them if they are more efficient ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/32 "2007-04-18T22:28:48Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] except that they can use less of them if they are more efficient [/QUOTE] Carrying the hijack further, are there minimum standards for the number of flight attendants for each type of aircraft (presumably for safety concerns)? After all, since they have a captive audience it would most efficient to have a single attendant in each class regardless of aircraft type. You get your drink and peanuts once in the flight. The only problem is some passengers will get their drinks/munckies as the plane pulls away from the gate while others will eventually get theirs as the plane arrives at the gate (if your favorite airline still gives away such things these days). Getting back to the OP it appears it’s a mixture of safety, repair factors and cost savings, with higher end models having a power switch (again, presumably the higher end models have a larger profit margin to pay for increased electrical complexity of the product). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/33 "2007-04-18T22:54:58Z")
> [@](#): > > except that they can use less of them if they are more efficient Actually, they can’t. The flight attendants’ job isn’t pouring drinks and fetching pillows from the overhead compartment. That’s just what they do while they’re waiting and hoping that they won’t have to do their real job. Flight attendants are trained emergency responders, and the FAA requires that the airlines have a certain number per flight (I presume this depends on the number of passengers). The airlines, in turn, decide that if they’re going to have to have extra employees on board, they might as well put them to work during non-emergencies, too. Meanwhile, though, I don’t buy this “but if you make a million cars it adds up” business. A $10 part on a $20,000 car is still .05% of the total, no matter how many you make. It’s not like the CEO gets to pocket the $10 million saved, any more than he gets to pocket the $20 billion of total sales. If profits are .05% higher, then everyone at the car company can get a .05% raise, which is negligible no matter how you cut it. On the other hand, doing little things like the $10 part can help you build up a reputation for quality, which could probably increase demand by significantly more than .05%. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022/34 "2007-04-19T01:44:45Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Meanwhile, though, I don’t buy this “but if you make a million cars it adds up” business. A $10 part on a $20,000 car is still .05% of the total, no matter how many you make. It’s not like the CEO gets to pocket the $10 million saved, any more than he gets to pocket the $20 billion of total sales. If profits are .05% higher, then everyone at the car company can get a .05% raise, which is negligible no matter how you cut it. On the other hand, doing little things like the $10 part can help you build up a reputation for quality, which could probably increase demand by significantly more than .05%. [/QUOTE] We search for cost saves of any amount – I mean pennies. There are thousands and thousands of parts that you can increase cost by $10 for… that adds up. You’ve got to do a cost-benefit analysis on everything. Even Toyota isn’t sterling by today’s standards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-foreman-grills-have-on-off-switches/400022.md?page=1)