I know my Olympus camera has a "secret code" to find out how many shutter clicks it's had...I think there are probably ways to access info on sewing machines, too.I would like to see these manufacturers put a clock(timer) on machines so we can keep track of the hours we've put into each project..as for why it's there...I suspect it has something to do with the warranty.."not for industrial use" type thing...I imagine a sweat shop could wear out a machine pretty quickly!