The washer and dryer in my house in Arkansas look pretty much like the washer and dryer everyone had....20 years ago! Very simple, very basic features that anyone with a 4th grade education can operate. Even though they are about 10-12 years old, they work perfectly well and I see no need to replace them until they die a natural death.
However, as the result of a series of unfortunate events involving two very close friends in Kansas City, I recently obtained possession of the very exotic piece of machinery, pictured above, for our condo. Apparently, there is a whole new world of electronic appliances that are so technologically advanced, the owners manual should be offered as a college course.
This one-piece ventless washer/dryer combination is very common in Europe, often found installed in the kitchen due to lack of space elsewhere. However, I doubt most of the European-style units are as technologically advanced as this computer controlled, LED lighted, state-of-the-art unit my much younger friends bought and could operate blindfolded.
The concept is simple: place the clothes in the drum, go through a series of computer prompts that will determine multiple settings for everything from water temperature, spin cycle speed, rinse specifics, and all sorts of drying options. This miracle of modern technology even steam cleans! It has a timer that tells you (to the second) how much longer the entire process will take. It has beautiful soft blue lighting and soothing little chirps and soft bell sounds as it goes through the process of washing and drying your clothes. It is so beautiful it looks like a piece of jewelry, a rather large piece of jewelry, but jewelry none-the-less.
Just put the clothes in, walk away, and come back FOUR HOURS LATER!
Do the math my friends. If you get up really early and go to bed late at night, you MIGHT do three loads of laundry in one day. That is, if you are more computer literate than I am and can program the thing, understand the owners manual, and don't spend the first 30 minutes looking for the lint filter (there isn't one!).
I love this beautiful new machine. It makes laundry feel like a work of art and it makes me feel so modern, so European......but oh so stupid!
