I think there were push buttons back in the 70's... they were rectangular tho. and yes, gunk got in around those buttons. and grease. ick.

or maybe it was the 50's. maybe I'm remembering my MIL's stove...

next will be - dialing for a burner?

Steph, yep, I had one of those stoves in a rental. It was electric coil and had buttons to select the power level. I was always scared of turning it on accidentally, and it only had five levels. "Proper" coils have something like 17 settings (1-9 with half steps). These push dials are better than that but I'd think they'd still have the gunk issue.

Somebody else introduced those pop-up hobs a while back (at a higher price point--Gaggenau?). I think all that stuff is cool, but I would probably never buy it because I would be afraid it would be one more thing that could malfunction.

There is a lot to be said for simplicity.(Thinking of the 40 year old fridge in my parents basement and the 1963 car with a lawnmower-looking engine we kept around--things that never ever ever needed any substantial service)

yeah... guess it was the late 40's and into the 50's.

I remember seeing gross gunky stuff around those buttons. not in MIL's house - but in others.

MIL had a maid. her stove was meticulous.

Here is a link that might be useful: push button controls

The Aga 6-4 has push button controls for the clock and timer functions. Besides the fact that I never use a program when I cook, I absolutely hate cleaning around those buttons! The only saving grace of them I suppose is that you have to push more than one at a time in order to reset the clock or start some kind of timing cycle. LOL!

Palimpsest, I do so agree about simplicity. The power is out on my gas cooktop. I think there's a problem with a breaker (wiggling it doesn't help). But there's still gas. I could just use a lighter if I needed to use it. The F&P one has motors that make the gas elements and pips rise.

I think they think it'll be easier to clean because it's glass without having the glass between the flame and the pot, the ring thing is very lightweight and slick coated (enamel or something). And cleaning around all these posts is easy when they're retracted. It's just cleaning the cracks themselves. I have a feeling the engineers don't actually cook :) I also wonder what happens when liquid gets spilled big time and gets into the cracks.

Actually, what that one reminds me of nothing so much as the 1958 Rosalind Russel version of Auntie Mame. with all the furniture that retracted into the floor.

I actually have one of those Bosch double ovens with the buttons, and having the buttons was what sold me on it.

Having had a dishwasher and fridge that were all digital and electric with no knobs, and that caused me no end of grief, I wanted an old-fashioned knob, something tactile, that made me feel I was in control of it, not the other way around, a throwback to simpler times when appliances worked for ever (it replaced a 45 year old Moffat oven that never gave me a minute of trouble).

Ridiculous, of course, because it seems no appliances are mechanical anymore, and I'm sure it's just a false sense of security, but with everything else just a push of a button to program, I actually like turning the darn knobs!

BTW, I have no gunk or oil around them - I haven't found them to be difficult at all to clean - come to think of it I've never had to clean around them. lol.

We have the Bosch oven model shown above and after 2.5 years have not had any problems or gunk buildup.

I'm not sure if the push buttons like that are actually mechanical in the sense supplying a sense of security. I strongly considered gas over induction just based on the life expectancy issues. It was extremely close.

Having said all that I have an AEG oven and it has a push button thing. All I think is, great, I can't wait until the first time it gets stuck in there.

Yeah, I was thinking about gunk on the cooktop, really, because it would take an exploding chicken or something like that coming out of the oven to gunk up the Bosch buttons. The cooktop has not just the buttons, but the centers and all those little posts to get gunk in, and gunk happens to cooktops all the time!

Sugar Maple, I like knobs too! My induction has a knob. It's electronic, and is operated like an air hockey paddle, but for setting the temperature level I like it a lot better than tap tap tapping. (Sliders are fun though.)

My ovens have knobs, too, and my Advantium, while it does have a whole bunch of touch spots, has a knob as well. Knobs are good. What don't have knobs are the fridges!!