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Juicero Is Shutting Down

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Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#381

Post by occamrazor »

nailer wrote: post #352
jakobegger wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not familiar with Keurig, but I assume it is similar to Nespresso? Nespresso became extremely popular because: 1) The machines are very cheap (compared to other espresso makers) 2) They take a fraction of the time to prepare coffee (compared to other methods) 3) They are extremely easy to clean 4) Capsules have a long shelf life, you can get them in small quantities, so it doesn't matter if you drink 3 cups of co…

I thought nespresso had DRM to stop other coffee pods.

No DRM, but patents on the machine and the capsules. Enforceability of the patents varies a lot between countries, so in some there are non-Nespreso capsules, in others there aren't.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#382

Post by EpicEng »

jpao79 wrote: post #19

I think they went about getting to market wrong. They should not have targeted end consumers with their equipment. They should have went after the convenience store market using the soda dispenser/automated latte/vending machine/icee making business model. Basically convince the store owner to have some refrigerated space dedicated to the pouches and then put the machine nearby for the customer to make their own juic…

I don't think there _is_ a market for this over-engineered, overpriced monstrosity.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#383

Post by EpicEng »

hwillis wrote: post #199
rhinoceraptor wrote: post #6

Even if the machine was $50, I don't think many people would want to spend that much for the privilege of being locked in to Juicero proprietary juice packs, letalone spend kitchen counter space to a dedicated juice squeezer machine. And everyone who did now has an exquisitely engineered $700 paperweight.

Ultra expensive juicers aren't new[1]. Even "normal" juicers are quite expensive[2]. Juicero was just trying to jump on a fairly well-established gravy train catering to the juice woo crowd. [1]: https://www.acemart.com/equipment/beverage/juicers/zumex-ess... [2]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EXF4PLC/

'normal' juicers aren't anywhere near as expensive because you can buy your produce at the grocery store.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#384

Post by FICO »

distances wrote: post #379
FICO wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The air filter- It's just an electronic version of putting a box of baking soda in the fridge. See the video I posted in the comment you are replying to, its from the manufacturer and shows the setup. The water filter- My fridge makes ice and dispenses cold water from one of the doors. This mechanism has a water filter.

Right, the water filter makes sense if the fridge deal with water, I guess. Not very convinced about the air filter though.

Yes, its a silly "feature" nobody asked for or needs.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#385

Post by infinite8s »

thanksgiving wrote: post #326
djur wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why the bags have a super short shelf life and the machine has a barcode scanner that will detect and refuse to squeeze expired bags. They touted this as a feature, of course.

It is a feature (only) if they send you a replacement for free (with free shipping and everything) if you sent them a picture of the expired packet.

Why even need to send a picture? Each package is barcoded and the machine is internet connected. As soon as it was rejected it should schedule delivery of a replacement packet.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#386

Post by infinite8s »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #325
eh78ssxv2f wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wouldn't want to have my oven on when I am not home- it might just be me but it seems dangerous to leave a hot oven unattended. Well, then you are in the market for an IoT oven that is connected to your phone and car. A device that can continuously track your phone and car location, and turn off the networked oven if you are outside the house.

Why? Just carry a dongle and when that is not in the vicinity of the house switch of certain circuits. What do you need the internet for?

Why a dongle? Lets just embed a chip into everyone at birth.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#387

Post by na85 »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #313
na85 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your point is valid, but recently here in Canada there was a recall on contaminated flour. Can't remember if it was anthrax or E Coli. Your eyes/nose won't pick up bacteria in the flour.

> Can't remember if it was anthrax or E Coli. You'd remember if it was anthrax.

Ok.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#388

Post by saalweachter »

LnxPrgr3 wrote: post #378
saalweachter wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll say this -- and I'm in the "this is a stupid fucking product" camp -- but I think sending updates to your appliances to keep you from using bad food is actually the right way to go. I barely read half my mail, snail or electronic. The chances I'm going to see and read and act on a "your food is bad!!!" email (assuming it doesn't get eaten by some filter) before I eat the food in question is low, low low. Some de…

They could even do this without preventing the machine from squeezing improperly-ordained-by-DRM bags. "If we recognize the bag, and it's recalled, we'll stop you—or at least yell at you. If you use someone else's bag you're on your own, but we won't stop you." Surely they were capable of having this thought. That they didn't or chose to ignore it hints at ulterior motives—most obvious is overcharging for the bags, s…

Oh yeah, it's a shitty move to use that as your excuse.

If your goal is reducing food poisoning through TECHNOLOGY! and CONNECTIVITY! to better inform consumers if their food has been recalled, you'd be better off developing food packaging that could eg change color when the food is recalled - a big giant red skull and crossbones appearing on my food packages would probably keep me from accidentally eating bad food. That would both be a challenging engineering project (since it'd have to be cheap, food-safe, and ideally biodegradable), and work for a far wider range of foods and ingredients.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#389

Post by dingo_bat »

hwillis wrote: post #380
dingo_bat wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has there ever been a juicer before this that has forced you to buy all your fruits from one company? I think that's the key. People are ready to pay big bucks for premium appliances, but lock-in is another matter.

People love being locked in. Applying the keurig model to the juicing trend was a very solid business idea- it rocketed keurig to the top of all coffee makers, and juice fanatics make coffee fanatics look positively sane. I'm pretty cynical about it, but it is still a real and good thing. A half second of convenience makes you feel good and selecting, storing, washing and prepping produce is not trivial. A few extra…

> People love being locked in.

Are you serious? I think Keurig succeeded because it was able to offset the lock-in with genuine convenience and better coffee than most people were drinking.

If the idea will re-emerge, I'm sure it will be more focused on customer convenience rather than lock-in. Literally every single "feature" of juicero was there to enforce the lock-in. The camera, qr codes, always-on wifi, proprietary bags. It's a miracle the company lasted this long.

Re: Juicero Is Shutting Down

#390

Post by Grustaf »

allenz wrote: post #327
gehwartzen wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be the completely wrong target consumer but I just see so little value in all of this to warent any expense and security risk of the appliances being networked. Oven preheating: takes 15 minutes when I get home barely enough time to prepare whatever I'm putting in there. Loud dry/dishes alerts: I don't see how it's useful. If I'm not home it doesn't matter to me if the laundry or dishes are done or not as I ca…

While each little piece isn't very impressive, taken together I think it makes life significantly more convenient, anticipating your every need. The promise of IoT is that everything "just works", like magic. It's like having a personal butler.

They 'anticipate every need' if all your needs revolve around turning on things according to a schedule, or at most according to where you are physically.

For me, turning on lights etc are such a small part of my day, not to mention my 'needs' as to be completely insignificant.

If the machines would do something like sort, wash and fold the laundry that would be something, but as it is I people just buy them for novelty value.

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