Why Copyrighted Coffee May Cripple the Internet of Things

DRM coffee?

[tangor]

With its single-serving coffee pods, Green Mountain Coffee has transformed the business of brew. Pop a capsule into one of the company’s Keurig machines, and the machine will instantly churn out your daily caffeine dose.

But Green Mountain doesn’t want copycats taking the business it pioneered away. That’s why CEO Brian Kelley says its new coffee makers will include technology that prevents people from using pods from other companies. The approach has been compared to DRM restrictions that limit the sharing of digital music and video online. But more than just curbing your coffee choices, Green Mountain’s protections portend the kind of closed system that could gut the early promise of the Internet of Things — a promise that hinges on a broad network of digital, connected devices remaking the everyday world.

[wired.com...]

[engine]

That sounds similar to the inkjet printers and ink cartridges. For me, if the ink cartridge is better, i'll use it. Invariably, the clones are just as good.

It's probably more noticeable with coffee. Protectionism is not the answer, imho. If i were buying a coffee maker where i could only buy the manufacturers coffee capsules, i probably wouldn't buy the machine in the first place. 100% loss of business for the machine maker.

[LifeinAsia]

Sounds like an emerging job market for hackers focusing on overriding the protection schemes on machines like this. Adn I see even more job growth as more things becoime Internet-enabled.

[cmendla]

Then

Tea == Linux?

[piatkow]

Pods? I buy my coffee in a paper bag from the roaster, ground as I want it, and use a spoon to put some into the cafetiere.

[tangor]

I'm less critical. The cheap store brand has as much caffeine zing and the fancy roast, and I get to by bacon and eggs to go along with it. :)

[PCInk]

Being in the inkjet trade, it is interesting how customers react to this kind of behaviour.

Almost always, very negatively.

[graeme_p]

There are DRMed cars under development - you need to be authorised to repair them. Expect to see a lot more of this. It is the razor blade model and a good way of hiding the real cost from customers.

[piatkow]

you need to be authorised to repair them

Its normal to get a warrenty voided over here if you don't have servicing done by an authorised garage.

It is the razor blade model

That's why I switched to an old style cut-throat!. Cost an outlandish amount up front but I haven't bought a blade for 10 years.

[engine]

>Almost always, very negatively.

In the instance of ink, most users don't see a difference between the original and the clone. There may be some technical aspects, but, for the average user there's no difference but a huge price for the original, and a sensible price for the clone.

With coffee, it's purely subjective and down to personal preference.

I don't like being 'locked in' to any manufacturer for exactly the point of being a captive audience. Open source is a far better way to go, imho.

[PCInk]

The negative aspects go further than price. Another big issue for products where no alternatives exist is the availability. If a consumable goes out of stock at the manufacturer for a while, this filters to distributors and resellers, leaving a customer with a machine they can't use.

[graeme_p]

Its normal to get a warrenty voided over here if you don't have servicing done by an authorised garage.

That is very different:

1) In some countries there are legal limits on voiding warranties on those grounds
2) You have a choice
3) it only matters for the lifetime of the warranty, this applies for the life time of the vehicle
4) it may be used to limit the life of a vehicle by declaring an end to support for old models and shutting down the DRM required to service them.