This whole thread is full of some serious pasta snobs. I always find it funny how upset people get with others who don't want to do whatever task is being discussed in the purest form. I use a timer for my pasta so I can do other things while it cooks, and it isn't that big a difference to me.
This always seems to happen for whatever reason with any food-or-drink-related topic. Articles about coffee will attract the coffee snob, dripping with disdain for drip coffee (consuming which is apparently the moral equivalent of downing urine); articles about stovetop cooking will attract the cast-iron aficionado who will tell you how easy it is to have a perfectly-seasoned pan if you just follow this seven-step process before and after every meal, etc.
