The Technology Connections video has already been posted, but for a quick written answer:
Cheap microwaves wire that button to mean “run for 2 minutes” which will probably ruin your popcorn. Mid-ranged brands will sense moisture. Higher end brands might have a microphone to listen for delay between pops which is what the popcorn bags instruct people to do.
Popcorn makers tell you to listen for pops manually because it’s easier than writing “if your popcorn button sets a time or asks for bag size, don’t use it because it’s not using any sensors to determine when to stop and will burn your popcorn.”
Do you know a microwave with a legitimate pop button? I like to pop the corn.
Nope. Someone got a patent on the idea in early days of microwave popcorn and they have effectively killed it by asking too high of a price to use.
But there are phone apps that will listen to the pop rate and tell you when it’s done.My god it does NOT need an app. It better be free.
If someone can’t count a few seconds to know when to stop I don’t think they should be making popcorn.