As I waited in the ritual line of lunch warmers counting down the time until the microwaves release their food. I wondered, what is next? My food said to nuke it for four minutes, the person in front of me said, “how can a few minutes take so long?” Think about it, before the microwave you had to warm your food in an oven, on the stove or maybe a toaster. Lunch would have to be cold or it would take a while to heat it up. Now I bring in a frozen meal and in minutes I have a roof of my mouth burning meal. But what is next? What will replace the microwave? You have to think that someone out there is trying to figure that out. Some technology company has to be working on some device that just flashes and your food is cooked. What about a combination of food creating and cooking, some sort of molecular converter that materializes the food and heats it at the same time. I saw an article about a burrito vending machine which allows you to pick your fillings which it then puts into a tortilla and dispenses to you. I see this replacing your Taco Bell down the street, why not something that replaces the need to carry food with us? Maybe the next phase is not complete creation but an expanding food machine. You carry something the size of a bouillon cube throw it in the machine and it pops out a three course meal. This would at least make the line for the microwave a bit shorter.