Keurig Will Use DRM In New Coffee Maker To Lock Out Refill Market
from the who-wanted-paying-customers-anyway dept
The single coffee cup craze has been rolling now for several years in both the United States and Canada, with Keurig, Tassimo, and Nespresso all battling it out to lock down the market. In order to protect their dominant market share, Keurig makers Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been on a bit of an aggressive tear of late. As with computer printers, getting the device in the home is simply a gateway to where the real money is: refills. But Keurig has faced the "problem" in recent years of third-party pod refills that often retail for 5-25% less than what Keurig charges. As people look to cut costs, there has also been a growing market for reusable pods that generally run anywhere from five to fifteen dollars.Keurig's solution to this problem? In a lawsuit (pdf) filed against Keurig by TreeHouse Foods, they claim Keurig has been busy striking exclusionary agreements with suppliers and distributors to lock competing products out of the market. What's more, TreeHouse points out that Keurig is now developing a new version of their coffee maker that will incorporate the java-bean equivalent of DRM -- so that only Keurig's own coffee pods can be used in it:
"Green Mountain has announced a new anticompetitive plan to maintain its monopoly by redesigning its brewers to lock out competitors’ products. Such lock-out technology cannot be justified based on any purported consumer benefit, and Green Mountain itself has admitted that the lock-out technology is not essential for the new brewers’ function. Like its exclusionary agreements, this lock-out technology is intended to serve anticompetitive and unlawful ends."The plan was confirmed by Keurig's CEO who stated on a recent earnings call that the new maker indeed won't work with "unlicensed" pods as part of an effort to deliver "game-changing performance." "Keurig 2.0" is expected to launch this fall. French Press and pour-over manufacturers like Chemex have plenty of time to get their thank you notes to Keurig in the mail ahead of time as users are hopefully nudged toward the realization they could be drinking much better coffee anyway.
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Filed Under: coffee, drm
Companies: keurig, treehouse foods
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Re:
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Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
Keurig is living proof of how stupid most consumers are.
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Bear in mind that I don't accept "take it or leave it" as an option.
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Self defeating
If Keurig takes that ability away, I won't be buying ANY of their coffee - or the machines, either. And you can't convince me that a $120 to $250 coffee pot is pure loss leader.
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They really should consider replacing their CEO with someone who can look beyond dreams of quick cash to see that this didn't work every other time it was done in multiple industries, and perhaps they should pursue other ideas to help the revenue stream.
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Re:
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Re: Re:
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Repeal the DMCA
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Re: Re:
Why isn't anyone addressing the real problem of getting some sort of anti-lock-in regulation actually implemented?
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However, imagine a future where all coffee vendors think it is a good idea to implement DRM. Where do you get your coffee from then?
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Re: Repeal the DMCA
The garage door openers already lost this in 2004.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chamberlain_Group,_Inc._v._Skylink_Technologies,_Inc.
The printer ink cartridges already lost this in 2004 and 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark_Int'l_v._Static_Control_Components
It's much more likely that Keureg will work towards a patented plastic moulding solution, rather than a digital control solution. It's easy to embed a $0.15 tag into a $40 toner cartridge. It's harder to embed a $0.15 tag into a $0.75 coffee cartridge. I'm sure the prices for tags are dropping, but then we can talk about the negative PR for unrecyclable cartridges with foil/semiconductor chips embedded.
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Screw Nature!
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Home Coffee Maker
The one-off coffee makers are great for places where a courtesy cup of coffee is nice and you do not want a to keep a pot heating all day.
I have not particularly liked the coffee from these machines and never planned to buy one. The DRM antics just confirms my plans.
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Re: Screw Nature!
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Intellectual Property
The real problem is that there is bullshit like owning ideas.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Re:
Simple. Try Green Mountain coffee.
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Blah...
For bad coffee.
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Re: Re: Repeal the DMCA
They don't need to go that far. A simple bar code will do. Easy to circumvent? Yes. But then that's when they send in the swat team to kick your door down and drag you off for "piracy". Everyone profits! (except you, of course)
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Re:
One big problem with that, no matter who you buy the electric from, it still comes to your house through PECO's wires.
True deregulation would mean PECO can charge whatever price they want for electricity, and the other electric companies have to pay to install their own electric wires in your house.
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Hack your coffee maker!
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Please arrest me
Seriously? This better be followed up by "board fires clueless CEO"
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Re:
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Typical of the anti-DRM crowd. It doesn't prevent them from doing what it's designed to do, they're just all pissy because they can't steal or torrent.
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Re: Screw Nature!
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It'll be interesting to see how this is implemented
The Keurig Vue system was introduced largely because the patent on the K-cup ran out a while ago; that hasn't seen great success either, and they're slashing the prices on the makers rapidly. Both Vue and Keurig 2.0 claim to offer valuable features (Vue makes foam for your cappuccino, and 2.0 will make a 30 oz POT of coffee) but are these features people actually want?
What I want is a quick, decent cup of coffee that doesn't break the bank. None of the multiple "innovations" Keurig's flailing around with (they have a new Rivo cappuccino system, too) address that.
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Re: Please arrest me
not sure if mocking me or not...
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Anti-Competitive DRM
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re:
Once upon a time, Inkjet printers were a great idea. Now they are completely unattractive due to the ridiculous price of ink. What was it again, $8000 a gallon? That must be some mighty fine ink.
Now the exact same thing is happening to coffee and a coffee maker.
Maybe they should also DRM it so that you can only drink the coffee out of Keurig brand cups that they can sell at an extraordinarily high price? Would you also be in favor of that? Would you then like to be name calling of people who complain about the abuse?
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
I have a small office, people all want different brews, and they want them at different times of the day. I could have a couple of Bunn brewers, and then pay an admin to keep them fresh. Or I could have what most offices have, bitter, old coffee and people who finish the pot, but don't re-brew. OR, I could put in one of these machines, and spend more per cup, yet everybody gets what they want, clean-up is basically non-existant, none of my staff wastest 5 minutes brewing and waiting on a new pot, and we don't pour out old coffee.
Don't be so egocentrical. The whole world doesn't share your viewpoint, and it doesn't make them stupid. Yet your self-centered view of the world IS making you so.
PS: Screw Keurig 2.0. I'll brew before I give them their pound of flesh.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
Yeah, except for all that extra plastic, foil, and packaging.
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Re:
In the past, companies have used the DMCA for exactly this purpose -- they argue that the DRM constitutes an access control and therefore anything that bypasses it without permission is a violation of the anti-circumvention clause.
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Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Re: Re:
Meanwhile, we do have anto-lock-breaking laws like the DMCA. These monstrosities are frequently enforced, prosecuted, settled, and fines levied. What backwards BS.
Why do we have triple penalties for willfull patent infringement, but not triple penalties for "lock down anti-trust" actions.
We could start with cellular SIM locking. It should be illegal to place a SIM lock, NOT illegal to undo one. (Bulk or otherwise.)
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Re: Re:
The transmission wires ARE one, the generation is not. So we regulate the natural monopolies, and let the free market handle generation.
Are you really advocating for 5 or more different transmission infrastructures uglifying our world? It's not clear, but I think you are.
What "drives you crazy" makes perfect sense to people educated in economics.
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
That being said.. maybe it is a stupid craze, but after dealing with two kids, under 5, in the morning, getting breakfast together, making lunches, and so on, it's nice to have a hot fresh cup of coffee every single time before my 8hr shift at work. Before I got the keurig there would be days I made a whole pot and was either forgotten or sat too long and became burnt.
I do not agree with what they are doing. If they are going to get rid of reusable pods or make it that I can't use cheaper products then this will be the last keurig I own.
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Keurig's DRM Policy
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Re: Re: Repeal the DMCA
Or, you get out a hacksaw, glue, and grinder, and rig a system to create a re-usable label roller. Then, you could buy the labels at 1/3 the cost.
My staff make fun of me for going to this effort to save a few bucks...but then, they don't pay the bills. And they don't understand the personal satisfaction I get from the FU factor. Aaargh, mateys!
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Well crap
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Re: Re: Re: Screw Nature!
But still...lots of waste packaging. But I DO pay a pretty hefty price for waste processing, so there are fewer externalities than in places where garbage removal is "free" with residency.
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Re:
In this case, the supplier is attempting to limit consumer access to the competition - so that's part one.
Part two is the consumer: All the consumers need do, if they really are irritated by this, is stop buying Keurig products until the Keurig bottom line suffers. Now, if not enough consumers care enough to switch to something else or (gasp!) eliminate coffee from their diet altogether (It CAN be done, addicts!), and are willing to play along with Keurig's products and prices, that is >their free choice
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This bullshit won't stop until people stop buying devices that need them to pay a "rent" to the parent company to use.
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Re: Re: Re:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/sustainable/coffee-printer.htm
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Re: Self defeating
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Re:
I for one, won't purchase a DRM based Keurig machine - because that's insane. I hope my decision to relocate my dollars into their competitors will signal how bad their decision was and they'll relent. Else they go out of business.
Free market in action.
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Keurig will use DRM new coffee maker....
French press here I come again! :-)
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Re:
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Re: Re:
Not so. The "free market" implies perfect information. Most consumers won't know/care enough about this issue when they shop their coffee maker, and will find themselves "trapped". Without perfect information that they will be "locked in" when they buy the machine, the consumer cannot be expected to send the correct market signal to the supply side.
Do you think Keurig will put the information in bold on the box? "This machine will not let you use off-brand pods." Hmm. I don't think they will.
There is often an information dis-symmetry between the suppliers (who spend all day thinking about the coffee and pod business), and consumers. Suppliers take advantage of this dis-symmetry to game the market. Thus, it isn't a perfect or free market.
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Re: Re:
I appreciate your love for the free market. I, too would love one. But this isn't it.
Read my response to Brian, just above.
There are ways to make money in the free market. But an easier way has always been to "game" the market. To find some way to distort it in your favor.
Free market evangelists (the far right in the USA) always choose to act like this possibility doesn't exist. I'm sure it makes life simpler, but it doesn't make it true.
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Re: Re: Repeal the DMCA
I'm not sure if your tag prices are accurate.
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Response to: Pragmatic on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 5:50am
You don't need keurig to exist, you can go elsewhere for coffee (that's assuming you can't quit coffee altogether)
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Re:
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coffee
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Screw all these coffee makers.
http://boingboing.net/2013/07/20/cheap-easy-no-mess-cold-brew.html
I like to let mine cold brew 24 hours before pulling the bag.
I've been using Peet's Decaf House Blend lately because it's been on special at supermarkets in my area, but this process even makes very drinkable coffee using cheaper supermarket brands.
Bring a bottle of concentrate to the office and add hot water, one part concentrate to two parts water, and enjoy.
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Reusable
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Re: Re: Re:
Your claim that a free market implies perfect information is bunk. It no more requires that than free religion implies guaranteed entry into Heaven or free press implies accurate reporting.
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Re: Screw Nature!
You can say all you like abou if it's a good idea to only use Keurig affiliated k-cups in a Keurig machine, but you don't have a leg to stand on by attacking their enviromental policy. Also, nobody is taking anything away from you. You can buy an off-brand single serve brewer withb off-brand pods. If you want the real thing get a Keurig and use a pod that the brewer has certified as compatible.
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Re: Re: Re: Repeal the DMCA
Tassimo already does this. Granted, they actually make it somewhat useful; the barcode contains rudimentary instructions on how to prepare the coffee (how much water, for example), at least supposedly.
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
She also uses the refillable pods sometimes, but this is killing the golden goose to get the eggs. We will NEVER buy another Keurig if it has DRM and doesn't allow refillable pods.
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It's a terrible business anyway
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
What country do you live in? I don't know too many retailers in the US that would do this if the reason was "it has DRM".
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do go on...
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
Less waste beats recyclable waste 100% of the time.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
This still takes fuel and raw materials to produce. Bioplastics are often (not always) made from food crops like corn. Food that might otherwise (in a fair world), go to feed hungry people.
"The company offsets all of the carbon produced in shipping."
Instead of buying carbon offsets, it's better to not produce the carbon in the first place.
"All company buildings are leed certified. "
While admirable, this is no guarantee of "green-ness". We don't know how they run those buildings; they could be super-efficient or complete resource hogs. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/science/earth/31leed.html?pagewanted=all
The single serve coffee business is the same as the bottled water business: convince consumers that what they already have isn't good enough and they need the same thing but in disposable, one-time-use plastic.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
Screw the Earth? Yeah, that mentality will get us far. You are a true benefit to the species.
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Re: Re: Re: Repeal the DMCA
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
An exception would be to use the reusable K-cups that are basically just tiny goldfilament coffee filters. But who knows if Keurig will allow one to fit this new machine...
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Re: take it or leave it
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Re: Screw Nature!
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I'll just keep enjoying my better made coffee that takes slightly longer to make and doesn't taste like flavored water.
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: "Free market" claims
It's their coffee maker. If they wish to cripple it by design, in what way does that prevent you from a) buying one of several competing machines (i.e. voting with your wallet); or b) using one of countless regular coffee makers/espresso machines/etc. that are currently on the market.
Bear in mind that I don't accept "take it or leave it" as an option.
...after all, it is your natural right to dictate the functionality that a company builds into their own product -- right?
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Re:
Just because one company makes it hard for third party companies to piggyback on their device, doesn't mean the free market is a myth.
Consumers are free to reject Keurig for more open, customer-friendly options if those exist. If they don't exist, a new market segment can be created by anyone willing to take the risk.
Stop being so silly.
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Re: Re:
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Response to: Pragmatic on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 5:50am
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: trying to compare environmental footprints
The only waste that comes out of my coffeemaker is grounds, and those grounds represent a whole lot less energy usage than the manufacturing process for those ridiculous cups. Virtually any standard coffee pot is more environmentally friendly than a Keurig or its clones.
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Seriously?
I know I personally would not buy a machine that would not let me choose what I wanted to use in it, I hate the green mountain coffee.
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Response to: Pragmatic on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 5:50am
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re:
Free market working as intended
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Re:
The only people getting rich are the charlatans and the lawyers.
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Re: Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Seriously?
Keurig does a lot of their sales to offices. Once an office has bought a Keurig coffee maker, they want everybody to be locked in to using Keurig coffee. As TFA said, it's no different from razor blades or printer ink.
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Can't wait to hack it
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Re:
https://encrypted.google.com/#q=lexmark+class+action+lawsuit
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Fine By me. I just won't buy the new one.
So if you're making a "new" refill-proof coffee maker then count me out!
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Cones
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Big Mistake
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RFID?
Ha ha.
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Green Mountain Greed
I will NEVER buy another Keurig brewer or K-Cup.
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Re:
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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But by now...
So are we talking ANOTHER system? Another format of cup? Is this a "super-betamax" idea, or SOny L-Cassette? If 50 million people already buy one format of coffee cartride or another what are the odds people will carry a third system whose only claim is "we make a bigger cup"? Is Keurig now going to advertise, "Sorry, or older products are crap, buy this instead! It's good - we promise"?
CD's replaced tape and vinyl because the increase in convenience and quality was patently(?) obvious. Ditto for DVD over VHS. Ditto for convenience and price of MP3 over CD.
what's going to drive the shift from Keurig to Son of Keurig? Or are you going to buy identical/compatible cups, only to get home and find your coffee refuses to brew because the cup did not have a golden K logo on it?
I suspect this is easier said than done in today's market.
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
Generally speaking, I only have one cup of coffee whenever I do decide to have one. But yes, I could just brew one cup in a pot. Then I have a pot to wash still when I can just toss a mug into a dishwasher.
Do I think that Keurig are going too far with a drm in their machines? Yep. Most of the better coffee that I have isn't through them. You act like there aren't any good pods that you can get though, which is extremely opinionated and to be quite fair, shows how little you've experimented with different brands.
This day and age though, if you have the money for it, you're going to choose convenience regardless of what it means.
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Re: ?
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re:
This is anti-competitive bullshit.
They should focus their effort on making a better and less expensive product if they don't want people buying the off-brand stuff instead of removing the choice from the consumer.
You're right about one thing though... they can do what they want... and if they do, they'll have to learn the hard way that nobody wants to deal with their bullshit. I would not buy a keurig machine if I could only buy their coffee.
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
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Green Mountain taste
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Re: Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
How can you say a cup isn't good if the drinker enjoys it? Taste is like that. Even if you're a coffee snob, others may fully enjoy a keurig brew.
Anyway, even if you're right, for my office, good enough is good enough. I give staff a coffee. I'm not hiring a talented barista and a masseuse.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re:
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Re: Re: Re:
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Re:
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
A free market does not require perfect information.
It is a "Perfect Market" that requires perfect information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_market
The problem I was getting at is that too many people seem to think that a Free Market is a Perfect Market. It is not. There is not a pareto optimal equilibrium, because of distortions such as information dis-symmetry.
BTW, both printers and Keurig machines often give the user enough "starter" coffee or ink to get through the 15 day return period. Also, people are not keen to return things, since this effort is an additional cost.
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Purge
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Re:
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Re: Free Market Doing What Comes Naturally
Anybody who uses one of these things for a while quickly watches the costs add up, and I can't see anything technologically superior to Keurig's approach. So Keurig is simply announcing a price increase, and future buyers will easily see the higher cost of the convenience, perhaps choosing another system.
BTW, take it or leave it is a feature of virtually all commerce in the US. If I want a nice iPad but don't want to pay $499 for it, I can either give in or walk down the street to get a less costly competitor's product. That's plenty of power for me, whereas some belligerent don't tell me what to do is toothless.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
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Re: Re: take it or leave it
True, but that's damning with faint praise. Starbucks is terrible.
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Re:
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Re:
That's not true. There are a number of health benefits that you get from drinking coffee. True, you can get them elsewhere too, but still.
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Carlos
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Re:
That you don't accept 'take it or leave it' as an option is in an interesting point of view on how markets should work. If I were to offer a machine for $1m which made coffee, and only worked with my own coffee, should I not be allowed to put it on the market because it's a crap deal? Should Keurig not be able to market a product which is equally crap?
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Woot
I hate the US and watching it destroy every principle it is based on rocks. This kind of LEGAL anti-competitive behaviour will eventually ruin their economy!
And the rest of us can get on with life and enjoy the reality TV show that is a 21st century empire collapsing into its own arse.
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
If anything, I kinda resented seeing the darn thing, as I recall all too keenly the sheer amount of SPAM I received from Keurig over the last 10 years.
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Plastic
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chemex
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Re: Re:
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Re: Self defeating
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
I love the fact that I can have a hot, fresh, cup of coffee every single time. I have two kids under 5.. before my keurig I was lucky to get a cup out of a pot of coffee before it was forgotten or burnt. So much coffee was wasted with my old maker.
I will say this, if they plan to go forward with this plan, and I can not use my reuseable pod or more affordable pods this will be the last keurig I own.
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
He said that by having it there, it helps his patients gradually decrease the cravings. I don't believe it for a minute. I think he's a closet pod consumer.
Shameful.
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Re: Home Coffee Maker
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: keurig
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 7:22am
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Plastic
No....
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What is the appeal of pods?
The whole process seem more complicated and time-consuming than just doing a pour-over. What do you get for a couple of hundred bucks and added complexity that you don't get for a $2 cone and hot water?
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The petitioning has begun.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
I buy organic fair trade pods that can be recycled as well. Nothing goes into the garbage.
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Response to: Pragmatic on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 5:50am
Problem solved. Free market wins through voluntary exchange.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
(love the smell, but can't stand the mud water...)
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DRM
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Re: Re:
I'm guessing its all blue skies and rainbows...
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: Re:
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Response to: Pragmatic on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 5:50am
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Re: Intellectual Property
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Re: Self defeating
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Re:
the way this should work is that the government should Own and maintain the infrastructure and chare a fair price to the providers using this infrastructure, their is no need to regulate. The same applies to telecommunications and the internet.
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Re: Self defeating
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/single-serve-coffee-brewers-make-convenience-costly .html?ref=dining&_r=0
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
Are you for real?? For starters, they are a waste of money - on average working out to cost approximately $50 per pound of coffee. Further more, the pods are incredibly environmentally detrimental. Keurig alone has sold BILLIONS of these pods since their introduction into the market, and the plastic is not biodegradable or recyclable.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Screw Nature!
Personally, I think the coffee from those things tastes terrible. I don't care what brand or manufacturer.. It is all awful.
Give me my percolator any day for smooth rich VERY INEXPENSIVE coffee.
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Just dump your Keurig machines in front of a Starbucks
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Re: Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
Yet everyone goes to Starbucks.
Something tells me that those people who know what good coffee is a very, very small sample size. Maybe a sample size of one?
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Re:
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Re:
Should I make French presses available to my customers in my office? I think I'll pass. As much as I love doing the dishes, imagine my pure joy at seeing some ass-hat fail horribly in his attempt to pour boiling water into a glass vessel without spilling it all over his crotch, or any number of other potential mishaps. Keurigs are more idiot-proof.
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All you need is a Melitta
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/1/33854-melitta-pour-over-single-cup-brewing-cone.html
I put an unbleached #2 coffee filter into it, add 2 teaspoons of Splenda and 2-3 scoops of ground coffee, tap it a little to pack the coffee a bit, place it over my coffee cut, bring 12oz of water to a full boil in a 16oz Pyrex cup in the microwave for about 2 minutes, and immediately (gently) poor it into the filter. Depending on the quality of the ground coffee, you can get an excellent, strong, quick cup of coffee. This method is even faster if your home or office has an instant hot water dispenser that is hot enough.
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Re: Re:
this drm isn't really drm. the actual apparatus for making coffee is rather primitive, no drm is going to protect them from some good'ol electronic haxory.
quit getting your panties in a bunch, and go void some warranties you're never going to use anyway.
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Re: Re:
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Re:
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Sticking with my AeroPress me thinks
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
Your constitution (i'm not american) allows for overthrow of tyrannical governments (too bad it is worded so vaguely). And please if you ever do it, think like Guevara and not those neo nazis in Kiev.
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Tassimo not so good!
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
They're deathly afraid. Of what would happen to them if people were informed, let's say as to implement a Perfect Market whether they like it or not...
Everything illogical performed by such tyrannical government-corporations, isn't actually. They want people to be totally bummed out and get themselves numbed on antidepressants.
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Re: Keurig's DRM Policy
Yeah, just like these days customers only buy printers that allow the use of 3rd party inks.
Sorry to be cynical, but if we're going to spend the whole thread comparing coffee machines to printers, it's worth looking at the printer market. I bet Keurig did.
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Re: Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: What is the appeal of pods?
Shouldn't the headline be, company decides to go out of business?
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
"...but you don't have a leg to stand on by attacking their enviromental policy...."
Consider them attacked for increased packaging.
sorry to cut you off at the legs.
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 7:50am
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
If where you shop doesn't you need to stop shopping there.
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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Re:
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Re:
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Coffee DRM? What next!
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Re: Re: Re:
1. Just don't buy their crud.
2. Get the crud (once) and jailbreak it.
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Want Great Coffee? Use a French Press.
http://www.amazon.com/Primula-Classic-Glass-Coffee-Handle/dp/B000N2TYOS
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Re: Coffee DRM? What next!
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Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
The best coffee is through the espresso machine no doubt, but it's a pain in the butt to make. We use the Keurig most often. Quick, easy, and not a bad cup of Joe.
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1. Pull out gun.
2. Aim at foot.
3. Boom.
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keurig
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Use the adapter in place of the pods
I have used it with the standard coffee adapter since day one.
Cheaper to use, more ecological. I enjoy it one cup at a time, like the pods... I wonder if they will block this too?
http://www.amazon.ca/Keurig-K-Cup-Reusable-Coffee-Filter/dp/B000DLB2FI
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I might have my final Keurig coffee maker.
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If you own a Keurig...
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
A dick move like this 'lock-in' plan is not made a non-dick move because they have other policies of which you apparently approve. Yes, people CAN choose to allow themselves to be ripped off based on those policies.
More likely is that people will be turned off, moving to other manufacturers less environmentally friendly at a net loss to total greenness in the corporate sphere. (Since people tend to like their environmental contributions to be voluntary and unrelated to your corporate profits.)
As you would be bemoaning if you were not either a paid shill/apologist for the company or someone who doesn't examine these things very deeply.
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: Ironic
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 7:47am
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Re: Response to: Anonymous Coward on Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 7:47am
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Re: Closed systems will go the way of Macintosh
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Keurig's announcement
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French Press
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
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Greed
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Re: Screw Nature!
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Never did like the coffee
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Mr Coffee!
GO MR. COFFEE!!!
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Love my Keurig, but hate the pods.
This is the greatest invention since the Keurig machines themselves. I can brew ANY kind of coffee I want and have COMPLETELY abandoned the K-Cup nonsense. I would urge those of you who love your Keurig single brew machines to do the same before Keurig makes it impossible with their proposed DRM machines.
I bought two Solofill K3 Silver filters from BJ's wholesale for $20 and have not looked back. They are available at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and their website.
http://www.solofill.com/
PS - I have NO affiliation with Solofill other than I'm a very happy client.
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Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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Re: Screw Nature!
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Re: Self defeating
I use a device that makes one cup quickly, no refill pods and costs about 5 to 10 cents per cup (10 cents is the high end coffee). It tastes better then anything out there including brewed coffee. Best is that it doesn't contribute to landfill (or ocean fill) with plastic.
A small stove top espresso maker. (Bialetti is the best of these)
A small French press does exactly the same thing.
Very inexpensive way to great coffee and no waste. No DRM lockout.
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This IS free market
In a free market this is totally acceptable. If people want to support this by buying Keurig, then they are expressing their will with their dollars and that is perfectly fine. Nobody is locked to Keurig, there are many alternatives. We dont need government to get involved.
Pity the lack of vision as this will probably hurt them, but don't get angry because its the consumers who still have all the choice. Time will tell.
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Non-licensed manufacturer cracks new Keurig code
Checks indicate that a non-licensed manufacturer has already developed technology that allows non-licensed K-Cups to be
used in the new Keurig 2.0 brewer. We recently reviewed a presentation which shows non-licensed K-Cups being used in the new, Keurig 2.0 brewer. Despite indications from GMCR that non-licensed K-Cups would not work in 2.0, we have observed tests of a non-licensed manufacturer's K-Cups using an independent, proprietary ink compound that can be "read" by the 2.0's technology to circumvent GMCR's walled garden. We believe that the new lids on these non-licensed K-Cups use ink compounds that are available for sale in the public market but are not part of the GMCR supply chain, avoiding patent or supply chain conflicts with GMCR. In brief, the competition appears to have effectively unlocked the 2.0 system before it has been closed. As non-licensed 2.0 K-Cup technology becomes more accessible to retailers and coffee brands, we believe all K-Cup manufacturers, GMCR included, will face more intense price competition which will pressure category profits.
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But...
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Re:
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old K-cups
GMCR: ‘We’ll force them to use our K-cups, AND we’ll force them to use them quickly’.
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Keurig 2.0 Brewer
Beyond irritating and leaves me feeling duped for buying the new brewer.
Make it right, Keurig!
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Internet of Things
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Stupid move, Keurig. I hacked it in a minute
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Re: Re:
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This does not require a Tag
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Outraged.....
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is expensive
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coffee
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keurig pods
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Here is how to defeat the Keurig DRM
Searching for "Keurig RFIP hack" or its many variants brought me to helpful Youtube videos of various ingenious workarounds for outsmarting the RFIP system.
Now once again I enjoy all k-cups, branded and unbranded alike, economically. You can too. Just Google...
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Re: Re: Screw Nature!
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work around
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cheat
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Re: What happened
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Re: Re:
Let people vote with their wallets!!!
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Re: Re: Only idiots use pods anyway, the coffee SUCKS and is exp
Perhaps Keurigs damage to the environment is far more bitter and disgusting than the coffee itself. Plastic pollution. A coffee for a few minutes and a plastic cup forever. Thank you for permanently polluting our planet because you are lazy. Where do the pods go? They are not recycled. That is for sure. As a matter of fact, only about 2 percent of all plastics are recycled.
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