internet-connected juice-extractor
Sounds like pron.
Internet-tethered juicer maker Juicero is axing 25 per cent of its staff as the startup tries to shake off its status as a Silicon Valley punchline. Employees were told this morning that the San Francisco startup would not only shed staff, but also try to cut the price of its internet-connected juice-extractor in order to go …
#1 Imagine oranges, like wot you could buy from any shop
#2 Then slice them into inch-thick slices you put into an expensive mylar pouch.
#3 Then you make a VERY EXPENSIVE machine that squashes the pouch - AND ONLY THIS MAGIC POUCH, which you have to bin afterwards
#4 Juice falls out
#5 You have to justify why this is better than just squashing fresh produce with a hammer/hand - and you're now the Juicero CEO.
DINKY
Oi! That's me you are talking about![1]. Just because you don't have kids, it doesn't mean that you are the sort of shallow, vapid personality that wants the latest useless fads.
No - I'd rather spend my disposable income on useful stuff like wine, proper technology and nice food. And wine. Did I mention wine?
[1] More like DINKE (by choice, we decided to never, ever have kids if we could manage it.. For many and various reasons including genetics.
Rethink this a minute.... it's marketing and sales droids getting let go. Too many startup companies don't put the money into engineering and design but into marketing. They usually go bust pretty quick. Those that put their money into the product first will probably survive. My suspicion is the CEO finally got this figured out.
Too many startup companies don't put the money into engineering and design but into marketing. They usually go bust pretty quick. Those that put their money into the product first will probably survive.
The snag with that theory being that the technical content of the product is minimal, and the entire value is marketing-driven demand. No amount of investment in engineering is going to help when he whole business is basically marketing hype.
Judging from that video that juicer is engineered better than my old Moto Guzzi two stroke twin which had to withstand some serious abuse and use (and in the end it blew up), and all that beautiful engineering just to squeeze a few packs of chopped up veggies? Those people did not produce a cheap piece of junk. It is way over engineered. I stand in awe. They were serious about what they were doing...and seriously deluded about its actual worth. There are theses waiting to be written about this whole affair and lessons to be learned for humanity. Sigh.
Not arguing with you but were those also the days when the Japanese used ice skatey tires and bendy frames that felt as if you were about to break into a tank slapper and kiss the road? Fantastic engines, shitty running gear. My Kawasaki triple was like that, but I loved it anyway. God, I miss big two strokes.
did this Dunn character really compare his overpriced bag squeezer to real innovative products like the microwave oven? I wonder how he could see what he was writing when he wrote that with his head that far up his ass. I'm not joking, that is prime DSM-5 Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This guy made an over-engineered bag press and he thinks he's the next Steve Jobs. What an absolute joke.
Yes, that was pretty much my thoughts on this guy too! And the price dropping with acceptance in comparison to the various coffee pod machines? That's a joke too. Those coffee pod machines are hugely overpriced too, an average cup being 4 or more times the price of using a normal cheap filter or espresso machine. My espresso in particular cost only about £30 and is easy to clean. (pressure vessel type, not mechanically pumped, so almost nothing to break or wear out)
I wonder how many of those being "let go" were early employees with share options they now won't get? That seems to be the MO with a lot of Silly Valley start-ups.
I've been wondering--since the guy was involved with a beverage company (Coca Cola or some such) --if maybe the reason he got so much VC funding was some speculation (well duh) that they could turn their system into a beverage-dispenser type business model: you see one in every fast food joint, theatre, convenience store, &c here in the states. That's some serious money.
Another reason to hate this is that Oprah gave one away to the cast and crew of A Wrinkle In Time.
I could see it being somewhat viable as a commercial product (with it being ridiculously over engineered) and having it as way of serving "fresh juice" without having to clean up as much as a traditional juicer.
But I doubt they can get the logistics of those juice packs down to a viable price for commercial distribution.
In general I feel I must really be missing something here, as I can get a freshly squeezed juice from an assortment of cafes/juice bars/coffee shops for about the same price as a juice pack, including the cost of someone bringing it to me and cleaning up afterwards. Or juice to take home for about half the price.
"Juicero Inc., which makes a $400 internet-enabled juice machine, is offering customers refunds after Bloomberg reported that some of the startup's investors were surprised to learn its produce packs could be squeezed by hand."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-20/juicero-offers-all-customers-a-refund-amid-critical-coverage