(Answer requested by Reese Horn)
The batteries in PC aren’t just for the internal clock; that tiny trickle of power also helps the turned-off PC to “remember” some basic information about its hardware components, so it will know what to do right away, when the power comes on.
If the PC “forgets” this information (such as when the battery dies), the PC will be much slower to start up — and also will need to be told what time it is, once it’s back up and running.
Kitchen appliances have traditionally been “dumb” devices; with clocks that were either ornamental, or were present only to perform simple meal-prep timing functions. A power outage never affected the subsequent basic functions of the appliance — an oven heated exactly the same after a power outage as it did before — so there was little value in making the clock outage-proof.
Appliances are more complex today, and many routinely incorporate a halfway measure in the form of a large capacitor somewhere in the circuitry; this stores a small electrical charge that can carry the clock and related circuitry through a second or two of power-out. This doesn’t help in an extended outage, of course, but keeps the clock and circuitry alive through minor electrical blinks and glitches. This is a convenience, but not actually necessary, as the appliance still would work exactly the same — no operational change, no data loss — before and after.
IOT and “smart” appliances are a whole ‘nother thing: With elaborate setups, logons, and programming, there’s a lot more to lose in a power outage. So yes, they should either have some kind of internal power supply, or nonvolatile memory (that does not need constant electrical refreshing), so that you won’t have to set the thing up from scratch every time the power flickers!
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The Sangean clock radio sitting on top of our fridge in the kitchen does not have a battery to store date, time, settings or programming. Not a terrible issue until a power hit takes out the AC main, not an uncommon event in my neighborhood. Could never understand why they still offer products like this for sale in this day and age.