This seems like a really unreasonable solution. I don't have a Keurig, but this is the kind of thing that would drive me to the alternatives. As Gabe Newell of Valve has said DRM is a poor solution to a service issue.
I'm usually against DRM, but seems like a win to me if a few more people decide it's worth the extra few minutes to make better/fresher coffee for less money.
Time to dust off the old Mr. Coffee. I guess I should thank them, I spend about $60 a month on K-Cups now. I figure going back to the drip machine might save me enough to buy a fancy shmancy coffee maker, too.
Is this a sign that a company believes their customer base is so hooked on their product that they can do just about anything? I suspect the folks at Green Mountain Coffee are in for a shock.
@durkzilla, Someone would make a machine that works with the current k-cups, and there wouldn't be a need for the 2.0 machine.
What they need to do is make better coffee, and expand their selection. The Green Mountain brand isn't strong (When you compare them to Starbucks, or other coffee brands), and they shouldn't charge a premium price for it.
All of the "illegal" cups are cheap because the quality of coffee isn't that great (Although, some are pretty good).
My own stupid forum rules prevent me from using my referral code to get a free shirt, but even aside from any personal benefit at all I'll say I've been getting Tonx coffee shipped basically since they started. It's awesome coffee, from different places each time, plus you don't even have to think about it, it just shows up. It's more expensive than getting coffee from the store, but not by all that much.
And I do the burr grinder / ChemEx thing. (Though I do have a standard drip coffee maker for larger pots / more people.)
I have a Cuisinart Keurig at work and a Keurig (Office brewer) Keurig at home (and yes, that's weird - but my Cuisinart gave up at home and ... that's neither here nor there)
I just use the refillable cups (like the Eckobrew or the Cafe Cup things that you get like 4 for $10 at Wal-Mart). Then I just fill it with whatever coffee I have laying around (usually Dunkin Donuts). It's cheaper that way and you can reuse the same grounds for a second cup that day if you are frugal like me.
That said, I have some illicit K-Cups I got from Aldi sitting around the office when I really am lazy and some Starbucks cups at home when I feel like I need to impress myself at 6 in the morning.
Having blabbered on about that, I see where Keurig is coming from but ... it's just not going to work. They tried the Vue system to get over their patent issues but in the end, users are going to go somewhere else. I like the Keurig style because I can make one or two cups at a time - and in our office we only have two people who drink coffee (and half of us are not regular on it depending on the week) and making 4-6 cups worth in the AM proved that we were wasting a LOT of coffee. So, the market will decide on this and Keurig will come back without the DRM and if they drop their licensing fees a bit, maybe get more companies into the game(?)
This seems like a really unreasonable solution. I don't have a Keurig, but this is the kind of thing that would drive me to the alternatives. As Gabe Newell of Valve has said DRM is a poor solution to a service issue.
Someone should start a betting pool on how long it takes for someone to circumvrent the DRM
I'm usually against DRM, but seems like a win to me if a few more people decide it's worth the extra few minutes to make better/fresher coffee for less money.
No thanks, I'll keep steeping tea and pretending I'm more high class for it
Yeah, no.
Time to dust off the old Mr. Coffee. I guess I should thank them, I spend about $60 a month on K-Cups now. I figure going back to the drip machine might save me enough to buy a fancy shmancy coffee maker, too.
Is this a sign that a company believes their customer base is so hooked on their product that they can do just about anything? I suspect the folks at Green Mountain Coffee are in for a shock.
@durkzilla, Someone would make a machine that works with the current k-cups, and there wouldn't be a need for the 2.0 machine.
What they need to do is make better coffee, and expand their selection. The Green Mountain brand isn't strong (When you compare them to Starbucks, or other coffee brands), and they shouldn't charge a premium price for it.
All of the "illegal" cups are cheap because the quality of coffee isn't that great (Although, some are pretty good).
I've found the sweet spot of convenience and taste to be...
I buy 3 pound bags of beans at Sam's Club. They stock a regional roaster's product which tastes terrific.
http://buckscountycoffee.com/about-us
My own stupid forum rules prevent me from using my referral code to get a free shirt, but even aside from any personal benefit at all I'll say I've been getting Tonx coffee shipped basically since they started. It's awesome coffee, from different places each time, plus you don't even have to think about it, it just shows up. It's more expensive than getting coffee from the store, but not by all that much.
And I do the burr grinder / ChemEx thing. (Though I do have a standard drip coffee maker for larger pots / more people.)
@dave, That looks interesting. I like the idea of fresh roasted coffee.
There's this other company that's similar to Tonx, but it's not a subscription...
http://www.sweetmarias.com/
It's a pretty low rent website, but they have a lot of info on how to roast coffee beans.
You can order fresh roasted coffee by the pound. I did it a few times a long while back, and it was really good.
I have a Cuisinart Keurig at work and a Keurig (Office brewer) Keurig at home (and yes, that's weird - but my Cuisinart gave up at home and ... that's neither here nor there)
I just use the refillable cups (like the Eckobrew or the Cafe Cup things that you get like 4 for $10 at Wal-Mart). Then I just fill it with whatever coffee I have laying around (usually Dunkin Donuts). It's cheaper that way and you can reuse the same grounds for a second cup that day if you are frugal like me.
That said, I have some illicit K-Cups I got from Aldi sitting around the office when I really am lazy and some Starbucks cups at home when I feel like I need to impress myself at 6 in the morning.
Having blabbered on about that, I see where Keurig is coming from but ... it's just not going to work. They tried the Vue system to get over their patent issues but in the end, users are going to go somewhere else. I like the Keurig style because I can make one or two cups at a time - and in our office we only have two people who drink coffee (and half of us are not regular on it depending on the week) and making 4-6 cups worth in the AM proved that we were wasting a LOT of coffee. So, the market will decide on this and Keurig will come back without the DRM and if they drop their licensing fees a bit, maybe get more companies into the game(?)