While Gillette's innovation really did some good (compared to straight razors -- and I still want a razor sharpener if I can find one...), I can't see any value at all in this. Sounds like a 'bait & switch'. -Renegade
The Gillette comparison seems apropos, and for the same reason the bait and switch suggestion seems unlikely. Like Gillette, Keurig most likely just failed to plan for (or at least to successfully execute) a follow up to keep bringing in profits on the scale to which they had become accustomed.
In Gillette's case, it was purely a matter of the original safety razor patent expiring. For Keurig it was probably a question of market saturation. Considering the pricetag, I'd be willing to bet the profit margin on their coffee makers is insanely high. It isn't even a particularly bad price, at least so long as the quality is high enough for them to last a long time. In my experience, that seems to be the case.
Unfortunately, that quality has likely become part of the problem. Most people aren't going to consider buying a product that expensive (relative to the norm for the category) and then replace it a year or 2 later. While there are probably still a lot of people who would like one, I'm betting they're mostly folks who either can't or won't buy until the price drops substantially.
As is typically true of people who see sudden success, the executives at Keurig almost certainly believe their good fortune is purely (or at least mostly) because of their personal genius, which must surely be unique in the history of man. Yes, that's an exaggeration, but not by much. If, in fact, they are such special little snowflakes, it makes no sense to take the obvious step and simply lower hardware prices, and therefore profit margins. Instead, they've chosen to find some other scheme to replace that profit by artificially inflating the price of consumables.
On a side note, while it's not an achievement on the level of the safety razor, which remains the last significant advancement in razor technology IMNSHO, I find Keurig's coffee makers much more impressive in reality than they seemed in theory. I still wouldn't buy one, but for a lot of people they make perfect sense. And, as I already mentioned, I've found the quality to be top notch.
If I weren't such a coffee snob, I'd at least covet one, although I don't think I could justify the price. So long as the technology to retain the flavor of freshly ground beans for months, or at least weeks, isn't available, I won't even be tempted. I guess you could say I was raised a coffee snob, even before I started drinking coffee.
Back in the 70s, when finding whole beans in a regular store was unheard of (around here at least), my parents used to get beans from a local restaurant. We even had an ancient food service (Hobart) grinder which ended up lasting about 30 years or so. The only thing I've ever added to my coffee is cream. I don't mean creamer or half and half. I mean heavy cream. Otherwise I only drink it black.
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