Maria: What a topic, dear listener. Machines. First of all, what are machines? What is a machine?
Rory: Mechanical things that make life easier.
Maria: A piece of equipment with several moving parts that uses power to do a particular type of work. For example, a vending machine. Like, we buy our drinks and chocolates from a vending machine. Or a washing machine is a machine. But here, in this context, we can talk about different gadgets, dear listener, appliances that we usually use at home. So, home devices, appliances, gadgets, and AI-powered machinery, dear listener, that you use at home. And our common devices are air conditioners, refrigerators, blenders, air purifiers, and smart TVs.
Rory: Maria's just listing things that I don't have in my home.
Maria: Yeah, well, because you're boring. Come on. Just like, come on, come on. Rory, you don't need any machines because you are a machine, okay? Our listener may not be a machine. That's why our listener might have an automated coffee maker or a dishwasher, all right? A vacuum cleaner. So, dear listener, you can talk about these machines. And your favourite machine in your home. You can be very interesting and just say something more interesting than Rory. So, Rory, you just said a washing machine, okay. And a washing machine is a real time saver. It saves your time. It washes clothes for you. And what do you call a machine that washes the dishes in the kitchen, Rory?
Rory: A dishwasher.
Maria: A dishwasher, yes. So, a dishwasher washes your dishes in the kitchen.
Rory: Do you have a dishwasher?
Maria: Yes, I do have a dishwasher.
Rory: Oh my god, that's amazing. I don't have a dishwasher. I have a pair of hands.
Maria: Or you can say that my favourite machine is my multi-room audio system. Or it is my smart lighting system. You know, lights, all different lights. Or, for example, my favourite machine is a do-it-all smart oven. Be interesting, dear listener, even if you don't have anything at home. Just say, yeah, I love my smart couch station. Just Google it. It's amazing how many machines we have. Oh, it's amazing, you know. It's a smart couch station. So, you have a couch, a sofa. And then there is this little kind of table, a kind of coffee table, but it has different functions. It has a cup holder. It has an iPad stand. It has a cooling fan. Fan, you know, like you are sitting on your sofa watching television, and then you have a fan from this smart couch station.
Rory: That's crazy.
Maria: Like a super smart coffee table. I know… We usually read instructions before using a machine or a device or any gadget. They are also called manuals. Okay, so manuals or guides or instructions that we use before using a washing machine, for example. And Rory tells us, well, the process is self-explanatory. So, you don't have to read instructions. You can understand everything yourself. And it's like self-explanatory. No need to read anything.
Rory: That's probably a very male interpretation of how you should approach things like this. I imagine some more sensible people would probably be like, oh, no, it's not self-explanatory. You should always read the manual in detail before you attempt to do things.