Posted on July 29, 2004 - by deCadmus
Boing Boing: Tethered to your Coffee Pot
Cory Doctorow posts on tethering… using technology to leash you to a particular product [read, blades for your razor, music for your iPod, or coffee for your pod machine. You knew there had to be coffee here somewhere, right?] The root of the post links to a spiffy editorial from the author of The Anarchist in the Library:
“So we looked on with enthusiasm at the new pressurized personal coffee makers. They push hot water through a sealed “pod” filled with a precise measure of coffee. It was neat, slick, well-designed, and promised a strong, good, dependable dose. It’s the same technology that supplies those surprisingly good coffee available from coin machines in public spaces in Europe.After a half-hour of debating the pros and cons of such a radical “format shift,” we left without one of these cool new machines. We opted out because these specialized “pods” are essentially “tethered” to this brand of coffee maker. “
The argument runs parallel to prior posts within these pages on the Senseo and its extremely limited coffee offerings, and not a single socially responsible coffee among them.
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Hello.
Bloggle is the online playground of Doug Cadmus, a usability guy, author, photographer and sometime dramatist who moved to Vermont for the coffee. When not writing, reading or walking his neurotic golden retriever, he roasts coffee in his garage and is the Web Guy for Green Mountain Coffee in Waterbury, Vermont. Flickr Photos
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August 1, 2004
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I got one of those Melitta coffee pod things for Christmas, and thought it wa a gimmick. Two days later, I got thrown off a horse and broke my right arm. It turns out that the coffee pod machines are great for people with a broken arm.
Yes, it would be more socially responsible if they set up a shop in Central America to employ people making the pods, but for a handicapped person, they sure are great.
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August 2, 2004
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Thanks for the note!
I hope I’m making it clear that I don’t discount the convenience factor here… as you note, with these pod machines you can make coffee with one hand tied behind your back [or in a cast, for that matter.]
My real sticking point is about *choice*. I don’t care to be locked into any one roaster’s coffee… I’d like to sample coffee from my local shop, as well as this or that nifty purveyor of roasted beans I might find online. Finally, I like to be able to put my money where my mouth is, and buy sustainable and socially responsible coffees when I can.
Best,
-deCadmus
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August 28, 2004
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just a thought on the pod. I am wondering if they make the makings of the pod for individuals to put together for using the good coffee.
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September 21, 2004
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A reuseable filter is available for purchase at http://www.knivesandtools.com for the Senseo coffee maker. The problem is, the Senseo is the most expensive of the 3 models I’ve come across (Black & Deckers Home Cafe, Melitta’s One, and Philips Senseo). Does anyone know if there is a reuseable filter available for the Black and Decker or the Melitta somewhere online?