Has anyone ever seen one of these?
Nope, but if that had been the house of my childhood, that little girl would have received a stern scolding for leaving every door on the fridges and freezers wide open. Except maybe the middle upper door, which might actually be a glass door.
Back to the new GE line: stating the obvious, perhaps, but it's not strictly necessary to have digital controls to have a self cleaning oven. The P-7 wall oven for example does a great job of self-cleaning with an analog clock. However, as Ralph pointed out, that would require an electric powered analog clock, as well as some additional knobs and such.
Perhaps the new range line will have that special coating one sees in some toaster ovens that claims to be self cleaning. Or at least sheds baked on foods. Don't think it could be non-stick though, as most non-stick coatings couldn't take high oven temps, at least not right next to heating elements or above gas oven burners. The new ceramic non-stick coatings, maybe.
Granted these are supposed to be tastefully designed but starter appliances for newlyweds. Until I bought my home in 1997 I can't remember ever renting an apartment, flat, or house that came with a self-cleaning oven. Never a dishwasher either, nor a fridge icemaker. Even self-defrosting fridges were rare, and that last place I rented, the self-defrosting mode didn't work right anyway. So what I'm saying is that this line is still a cut above the average rental unit stuff. Of course ice makers are generally the most troublesome part of a fridge, so most landlords would rather not have to deal with them. And some landlords seem to take a special delight in making their tenants clean the ovens themselves, doing a white glove test upon the tenant leaving, so that some of the security/cleaning deposit can be witheld ;-).
