Iterate Weekly - Issue 161
This week we look Precision Cooking, trade schools over college, California hits EV milestones, 3D printing houses, and Barbarian Days!
Welcome to issue 161 of Iterate Weekly.
Hope you’re all doing well. Excuse the brevity and any additional typos this week as we’ve welcomed our second child into the world. Newborn’s sleep patterns aren’t typically conducive to quality writing, but I’m giving it a go this week.
Thank you as always for reading!
🤖 Tech
Precision cooking makes the smart oven totally worth it
I’d like to think I’m a pretty decent cook. I’m in charge of preparing a majority of the meals in our house and I typically enjoy the process.
But after recently purchasing a smart induction range, I’m beginning to see just how magical it can be to take some of the guesswork out of the cooking process.
Specifically, I’m talking about the “Precision Cooking” feature available on GE’s range of smart kitchen appliances. Basically, your oven or cooktop becomes smart enough to adjust time and temperature to precisely cook the dish in question.
For example, you can use the LCD screen on the oven that you’re looking to roast some broccoli. And it just does it for you. You don’t need to think about how long it might take or what temperature to set.
Also, with a built-in sensor on my induction cooktop, I can precisely set the temperature of the pan for the meal I’m cooking. No more saying that I’ll just cook the scrambled eggs on low heat. I can tell my cooktop to heat my pan to an optimal 270 degrees to get perfectly scrambled eggs.
It may sound silly, but the potential time-savings for features like this is pretty great. How many times have you googled “how long to roast carrots?” or something along those lines? Any busy parent knows how valuable it is to save those precious minutes when you have a hungry kid waiting to eat. Precision cooking like this just makes each mundane meal feel more whimsical and enjoyable as tech should.
🎓 Education/Productivity/Work
Trade school over college?
This may not come as much of a surprise, but Gen Z appears to be favoring trade schools and specific vocations over a more traditional college experience.
There are several reasons for this but it primarily comes down to assessing the risks of a college degree. Trade schools can offer a more predictable path to income. Blue collar jobs are having a resurgence as students fear that AI may take traditional entry-level positions in knowledge worker industries.
Earning hard skills is never a bad idea. And many students just don’t feel that college costs are justified anymore. Trade schools can cost much less while giving much greater assurance of a steady income after graduation.
♻️ Health/Environment/EVs
1 EV charger for every 5 gas stations
California has hit a milestone in its march to carbon neutrality.
Governor Gavin Newsom has declared that there is one EV fast-charging station for every 5 gas stations in the state.
That ratio comes as the Tesla Supercharger Network goes online to non-Tesla vehicles. The state leads the country in EV chargers with over 100,000 public stations available. There are likely over 500,000 additional home charging stations located within the state.
Good to see these numbers on the rise as California currently stands as the world’s fourth largest market for EVs behind China, the rest of the US and Germany.
🛍 Grab Bag
Printing homes on the world’s largest 3D printer
3D printers are fascinating pieces of technology. Typically we think about using them to print little toys or small pieces of larger things.
But what if you could use one to print an entire house? Yep, it exists at the University of Maine, and they can crank out the whole dwelling in under 80 hours.
The video below can give you a sense of what I’m talking about here:
Imagine these things helping to create more affordable houses that can be built in a fraction of the time it currently takes!
💬 Quote of the Week
"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
-Jack London
📕Content Recommendation
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Looking for a non-fiction memoir to lead you into the Summer?
Look no further than “Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life” by William Finnegan.
As someone who wishes he had more time to surf, this book really made me appreciate the sport more than I already did. I’ve never been a daily surfer, but I usually try to get out there once every month or two. Usually it’s more about connecting with nature and clearing my head than it is about catching a lot of waves.
Anyway, Finnegan offers up some incredible perspective from someone who has spent most of his life in the waves. It’s no surprise that this one won a Pulitzer Prize, the writing is beautiful even if you’ve never touched a surfboard.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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