Reply #8: The old microwaves were designed by engineers who made aircraft radar and such.

[hunter]

It's a very bad thing if a ship, airplane, or control tower goes blind in the fog.

Now microwave ovens are pretty much like all the other disposable consumer electronics.

Our current microwave is 12 years old. Before that we had one of the first digital microwaves but it committed suicide by turning itself on when it was empty and no one was there. Fortunately it didn't burn the house down.

Before that we had an old school microwave with a mechanical timer that had maybe thirty pounds of iron and copper in it. It was a hefty beast. We gave that one away. It may still be working somewhere.