I want to build something resembling a discrete, finished product. It’s mostly the auto-turn-off feature and failsafes I’m sweating over, so to speak. I’m no electrical engineer (college physics II and Paul Scherz’s excellent Practical Electronics for Inventors is the max of my education), and when anything is potentially a shock or fire hazard I get very antsy and tend to second guess everything.
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It’s too soon for me to tell if Boingboing has finally jumped the shark, but if it has, this is the post I will remember it by. Nice tip about the Trader Joe’s version of this, I’ve tried them now and will go with theirs when I want such things.
I guess the question is how do you, as a blog owner, talk about stuff you do enjoy if everyone will just call it ‘native advertising’? I find it kind of amusing the second someone mentions some product the claims of ‘HIDDEN ADVERTISING GUESS U GOT PAYD LOL’ come out, but BB has always been pretty clear about their advertising and has also always talked about products they enjoyed.
Do a web search for “travel electric kettle”. There are some good looking and compact options already out there to work from. Some examples:
http://www.melodyhome.com/article/creative-home/foldable-electric-kettle-for-travel-6466/
http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-Voyage-0-5-Liter-Electric-Travel/dp/B008YQLZOW
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PTNR8O4
Interesting that the Amazon links automatically converted to an entire window about the product.
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The commenting platform automatically does that for links from popular websites like wikipedia, amazon, etc.
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I think Peet’s had them beat by a decade or so.
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When I want a quick cup I go for Taster’s Choice, and I don’t care who knows it.
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According to their patent, the fraction of the content that is microground beans is as low as 0.1%. The rest is dried liquid extract, like any other instant coffee.
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When I was in China a couple of years ago I met an Israeli girl on a post-military-service trip, and she insisted I try her coffee instead of using my 3-in-1 packets, as she had just had her parents send her a fresh batch of coffee from Israel. Apparently it was the most popular coffee in Israel, and meant to be really good. It was quite the build up, and I was a little surprised when she finished with “It’s called Taster’s Choice.”
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I’ve seen Nescafe products in China and other parts of east Asia recently, and in high-end places too.
Wouldn’t that “as low as” 0.1% just be a lower limit to maximise the coverage of their patent, thus prohibiting competitors from using any more than a trace? It may not bear any relationship whatsoever to the actual percentage of microground beans in the Via coffee.
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The 3-in-1 packets I was using in China were Nescafe, and they were the only brand widely available. Coffee at Starbucks started at 21 yuan (over $3.00) and real coffee is definitely a luxury good in China. Even the Nescafe packets are up-market there, being packaged in boxes of tube-like packets, as opposed to the cheap bags of tea-bag shaped packets. I don’t think I splurged on real coffee anywhere between Japan and Iran.
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Down here (Australia) we get coffee bags, just like tea bags, but with coffee, It’s roughly on par with a French press, but not as good as espresso.
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Dude- Starbucks didn’t “make” the market - Your logic is like saying wallmart “made” the grocery store, or jcpenny “made” the clothing boutique. Its false.
The only think Starbucks changed is that now people seem to think Sumatra is a roast and flavored coffee is normal.
(both notions that like your original comment- are false.)
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They also know the long standing secret of fast food; people like sugar and fat. If you ever have the misfortune of having to get coffee in a Starbucks, listen to what people are ordering. I’ll bet the largest percentage of drinks resemble milkshakes more than coffee.
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It may be that he really loves them, but I think people felt it was out of character.
Starbucks usually gets the “bad because it’s a big popular company that the boring normals like” treatment here. To see them recommended as some sort of innovative life hack just felt like a pretty blatant ad.
Starbucks tests highest in caffeine of all the shop coffees. That is the secret of their success. I stop there occasionally for a “Venti Non-fat Latte” and always wonder why I did it again.
What are “all the shop coffees”? I don’t doubt caffeine is a component of the formula as well, but considering a quad espresso from them barely does what a double from some other shops does for me, maybe more information would help? Are we talking about their espresso drinks, or their coffee? Any info regarding the darkness of the roasts compared? I want stats with standard deviations. 
Here is the graphic I was thinking of. It must be correct because it is so beautiful, right?
I get more “jumped the shark” vibes from “caturday” and constant updates on one particular hip hop group. But it’s good to keep in mind that these sort of posts are rather what BB was founded on (whims of the founders). Not too bad of a price to pay for the other bits of interest.
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