[mschuster91]

> It has a countdown timer showing how much time is left on the wash. The dryer does, too. They count down at different speeds. They can both be at “10 minutes left” and 10 minutes later the washer still has like 3 minutes left.

That is usually because modern laundry washing machines don't run on fixed-time schedules, they detect how much load they have and how much water is remaining in the clothing and adjust the cycle lengths for ecological reasons (when the clothes are already dry, no need to spin / dry them further). A fixed-time machine would never be able to hit energy efficiency requirements.

[thewebcount]

Then why does it have a count down timer? It could just say which part of the cycle it’s on instead. If I see a timer counting down, I expect it to be accurate. I don’t expect it to go from “5 minutes” up to “7 minutes” or to stay at “5 minutes” for 3 minutes. That doesn’t make any sense at all. It ceases providing the single function it was designed for.

[ThePowerOfFuet]

It's its best estimate at that point in time.