Earlier in the week, I spent some time over at the Microsoft offices in NYC.
They had a $SBUX coffee machine over there easier to operate than a Keurig that made freshly ground coffee. It was awesome.
Here’s the photo I snapped of it:
It made a good cup of coffee and I want something like it.
The problem with the Keurig is that it makes a mediocre cup of coffee from beans that have been ground and vacuum packed for God knows how long and, in light of $GMCR blowing up last night, it appears the scales have finally shifted from convenience to quality.
The next monster hit will sacrifice neither.
The $SBUX machine is called The Starbucks Interactive Brewer and it is a part of their Office Coffee Solutions. You pay a monthly fee and they provide the machine and service it. Its great for large companies such as $MSFT that can afford it but way too large and expensive for the home. Here’s the video promo for it:
Wow!
The next great machine will deliver both convenience and quality and I will be first in line. You will press a button and it will grind the beans for you and make you the killer cup.
$SBUX or another company such as $GMCR or Braun or Cuisinart or whoever will make this machine and sell it for less than 500$ and it will be the next big thing…
What’s likely holding $SBUX or $GMCR back now is that it does not make economic sense for them to mass produce such a machine unless they can also lock you into buying their coffee.
The solution there will be to sell the beans in special 5lb containers that are home delievered and fit right into the machine the same way the top load home water coolers do.
They gotta be working on this.