Mike Masnick over at techdirt has an informative editorial up about Keurig's coffee maker DRM being cracked by its competitors.
... it appears that Keurig competitors have already figured out ways to crack the DRM. TreeHouse Foods very quickly announced that it would be able to break the DRM. Meanwhile, Mother Parkers' RealCup has just announced that its pods are compatible with Keurig's DRM. It's a little unclear from the press release if Mothers Parkers cracked the DRM or came to a deal with Green Mountain, though it sure sounds like it was internal work ...
Being both coffee and tech related, it had to be submitted.
Related Stories
Keurig Green Mountain has been sold to JAB Holding for $13.9 billion:
The deal will make JAB the biggest player in the North American single-serve coffee pod market. "Keurig Green Mountain represents a major step forward in the creation of our global coffee platform," said JAB chairman Bart Becht, in a statement.
JAB has invested heavily in the US coffee market. It bought Caribou Coffee Co and Peet's Coffee & Tea in 2012 and formed a joint venture between coffeemakers DE Master Blenders and Mondelez International in July.
Keurig will continue to operate as an independent company after the purchase. Coca-Cola - Keurig's biggest investors- voiced its support for the deal in a statement. Coca-Cola will take a 17.4% stake in the new private company.
[...] Despite the higher cost of a single-serve coffee pod compared to a cup of filter coffee, the popularity of the machines continues to grow globally. According to Euromonitor International over the next three to five years, sales of single serve coffee pods are expected to grow by 5% in the US, 10% in Canada and 8% in Mexico. The research firm said the coffee pod business already accounts for 40% of the $15bn global coffee market.
Related: DRM: Coming to a Coffee Maker Near You
Keurig DRM Cracked By Competitors
Keurig Cup DRM Cracked
How much coffee do you drink each day?
(Score: 5, Funny) by bob_super on Thursday August 28 2014, @09:56PM
It already took some people fifteen words to describe their desired coffee at the local starbucks; the line is going to go around the block if they need to add "light on the DRM, please"
(Score: 4, Funny) by jasassin on Friday August 29 2014, @10:01AM
It already took some people fifteen words to describe their desired coffee at the local starbucks; the line is going to go around the block if they need to add "light on the DRM, please"
No way I'd drink that Keurig crap. I've got to have my usual at Starbucks:
A Quadruple Espressinoso Super Grande Light Blueberries And Cream Half-Soy Full City Roast Nonfat Half-caf Organic Caramel Vanilla Iced Double-Shot Macchiato Black Tea Chai Foamed Shaken Sugar-free Cinnamon Eggnog Dolce Peppermint Gingerbread Pumpkin Spice Latte Thrice Blended Extra Hot With Three Ice Cubes Hold The Whipped Cream, One Sweet'N Low, and One Nutrasweet.
It's the only way to fly!
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by mrider on Friday August 29 2014, @07:11PM
How in the hell isn't this moderated funny? LOL
Doctor: "Do you hear voices?"
Me: "Only when my bluetooth is charged."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:10PM
So when will Keurig equip their devices with wireless networking and require a regular "phone home" to the mothership for key revocation, etc?
(Score: 4, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:20PM
Stop giving them ideas!
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Scruffy on Friday August 29 2014, @01:26PM
1087 is a lucky prime.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Friday August 29 2014, @01:48PM
I'd really love a cup of coffee this morning, but the Internet's down!?!?
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 1) by iWantToKeepAnon on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:24PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:41PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:52PM
Yes, but those who care about (c) issues will hopefully not even be buying such machines in the first place, so hopefully there will be no market, and noone to sue.
Given how much more popular it is to be environmentally conscious and that hasn't stopped people from buying the least green coffee in the world, [motherjones.com] the idea that enough people care about copyright abuse to stop purchasing the runaway most popular coffee products in the country is profoundly unrealistic.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snotnose on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:31PM
What am I not getting here? Why would a coffee maker need DRM, and why would anybody buy one knowing it had DRM.
Must make some mighty fine cups of coffee.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Covalent on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:36PM
In order to ensure continuous replacement revenue (coffee pods).
This is exactly like the inkjet printer business model which, unsurprisingly, also failed miserably. You would think Keurig would have learned from history...
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:40PM
Gillette would like a word with you...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hamsterdan on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:42PM
Since they're still selling Inkjets at probably around cost (lasers too, looking at you Samsung_, and the cartridges are as expensive as ever, I wouldn't say they failed.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:56PM
No, it was a near total failure. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mmcmonster on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:48PM
And the impetus at this time is that the patent Keurig has on the coffee pods has expired.
Which means it's suddenly a race to the bottom on coffee pod prices. (Well, not really. It's never going to be as cheap as just buying a can of Folgers ground or instant.)
(Score: 2) by paulej72 on Thursday August 28 2014, @11:50PM
Team Leader for SN Development
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 28 2014, @11:53PM
I personally do not like coffee however my wife does.
We would buy a bag of beans grind it and she would drink 1 to 1.5 cups out of 4 cups. So usually 2-3 would go down the drain.
I figured out per cup a keurig was slightly more expensive by about 80 cents. However she is no longer wasting as much coffee. Which makes her happy. As she does not like to waste food.
You can still buy the brew your own cup. So grind your own and use the machine. She uses that quite a bit too and saves money and it makes 1 cup.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @12:31AM
Or you could've bought a smaller coffee pot. I have one that brews 2 cups, which is perfect since I'd only drank 1 or 2 cups a day. I also have an Aeropress, which is perfect for brewing single cups, but takes just a little bit more effort.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Friday August 29 2014, @07:57PM
Buy her a French press. No point in brewing a pot for one person only to drink a fraction and toss the rest.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @12:57AM
I buy the Latin-American brands of espresso. If you get espresso with an Anglo or Italian name on it, you pay through the nose, often around ten dollars a pound. The Hispanic-sounding brands are two dollars a pound, sometimes less on sale. They're the exact same product, sometimes packaged by the same companies in the same factories. Only the ethnic "feel" is different.
Works for some spices too. Try looking for Cinnamon with a nice Anglo name like "McCormick." Then find the "Goya" brand, probably in the "ethnic" aisle. Compare prices.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by pnkwarhall on Friday August 29 2014, @02:20AM
I second this. IME ethnic food stores (Indian, North African, etc..) have the cheapest spices, generally cheaper than the grocery store, and in quantities that mean the spices will have lost their potency by the time most Americans have used them up.
Haven't found better paprika than Penzey's, though... and I pay out the nose for it.
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 2) by dcollins on Friday August 29 2014, @01:04AM
// Any one of these cases accounts for the majority of people
return !isKnowledgableOfDRM() || !isAwareKeurigIsDRMed() || !isAwareCompetitorsExist() || !isExpectingToUseCompetitorProducts();
(Score: 1) by epitaxial on Friday August 29 2014, @02:36AM
So you spend $100 on a coffee maker to brew single cups that nearly cost $1 each. It would be far cheaper to buy a $25 Mr. Coffee, brew a full pot, and discard the rest.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Friday August 29 2014, @06:15AM
But I would have to wait maybe 10 whole minutes for the pot to finish brewing, and then there is all the cleaning and refilling and measuring.
It's just so complicated.
(Score: 2) by Lagg on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:49PM
I'm not being an ass, I really want to know why people use these machines. I generally just use a standard maker (you can see it [imgur.com] in fact) but if for whatever reason I can't do that I boil some water, put a filter in a mini-strainer and then pour it through it. I'm not sure what the usecase of these things are, particularly since the company behind them pulls crap like this and I doubt the pods themselves are very economical.
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:58PM
Coffee pods are the most popular form of coffee sold nowadays and it all comes down to one thing - single-serve convenience.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 28 2014, @11:04PM
On that basis I'm not sure why coffee-bags (think tea bags) lost out.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Friday August 29 2014, @03:42AM
I spent a lot on my super-auto espresso machine (otoh, it was a refurb so it was half price) - but I have the freedom to use actual coffee beans and any brand I want (as long as its not oily; super-autos don't do well with that type). saeco is the one I have and you press 1 button and it grinds enough for 1 cup, tamps, brews and dumps the puck. could not be easier.
if you want a large, program in more time and you get a 'regular' coffee.
no waste, just-in-time grinding, no leftover grinds and nothing to throw other than the puck.
boggles me why people overspend for 'pods'. the coffee is old, its expensive and pre-ground coffee really sucks.
check out the saecos. the brew 'group' comes out in one piece, you rince it under running water and you're good to go for another week. it really could not be easier. refurb is in the $500 range but again, you save money by buying whatever beans you want and the cup is always fresh since its made the minute you press the 'go' button.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Friday August 29 2014, @03:45AM
link to the unit I have, from the store I got it from:
http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/saeco-syntia-stainless-steel-compact-espresso-machine-certified-refurbished [seattlecoffeegear.com]
highly recommended. watch the price, though; around xmas time, it will jump up in price. $399 is the sweet spot, so to speak, on that unit. the refurb came very clean and was nearly new, afaict.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @05:04AM
> boggles me why people overspend for 'pods'. the coffee is old, its expensive and pre-ground coffee really sucks.
Due to the oxygen-free packaging, Keurig coffee is essentially fresh ground.
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Thursday August 28 2014, @11:20PM
Vending machine coffee.
Say your company decides it's too expensive to offer free coffee to keep the employees motivated. So, they will provide a vending machine full of pods and provide a coffee maker for those pods. Now when management demands more hours of work from their drones^W employees, the volumes of coffee consumed no longer effect the bottom line. Essentially, expenses are minimized as well as issuing a round of invisible pay cuts. PROFIT!! Long Live The Bean Counters!!
MBA == Masters of Bean Addition
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 29 2014, @03:07AM
I see what you did there.
coffee++
(Score: 2) by paulej72 on Thursday August 28 2014, @11:56PM
Team Leader for SN Development
(Score: 1) by Scruffy on Friday August 29 2014, @01:30PM
1087 is a lucky prime.
(Score: 1) by Rocky Mudbutt on Friday August 29 2014, @12:35AM
It grows on bushes. You have not tasted coffee until you have roasted your own green beans, let them ripen a week, grind them fresh and brew to your satisfaction. The green beans cost 1/2 what roasted coffee beans go for, and keep for years. I like drip, Moka, espresso, or even cowboy coffee if the beans are roasted well and ground fresh. The swill that comes out of a plastic pod isn't coffee, it's money down the drain.
Ethics II Axiom 2. "Man thinks." B. Spinoza
(Score: 1) by pnkwarhall on Friday August 29 2014, @02:27AM
You have not tasted coffee until you have roasted your own green beans
My first impression was that you're trollin'; but I have to admit, you made me curious!
Seriously, though, I'll probably never roast my own beans... Unless it's post-apocalypse, or I'm living on a desert island... with coffee bean plants.
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 2) by hamsterdan on Friday August 29 2014, @02:52AM
He's right, freshly roasted & ground beans (with a stone grinder) tastes better than store bought grounds, especially if prepared with a French press, but I prefer the store-bought convenience and the automatic coffeemaker.
(Score: 1) by Rocky Mudbutt on Friday August 29 2014, @11:21AM
I buy fresh roasted beans when I'm near a roaster outlet. It's a fun side trip to find roasters in areas you are visiting, they always have something good to sell you. The professionals roast better than I can, they have expensive equipment and considerably more expertise than I do. But a hot air popper costs $5 at a thrift store, and the variety of green beans available on the 'net is overwhelming and not expensive. www.sweetmarias.com [sweetmarias.com]
Fresh roasted coffee is not my first pot of the day, I save it for when it can be savored and I am awake.
Ethics II Axiom 2. "Man thinks." B. Spinoza
(Score: 2) by hamsterdan on Friday August 29 2014, @05:40PM
For those living in Montreal (or going there some times), There are some really nice coffee places.
Brulerie St-Denis (http://www.brulerie.com/) and Brulerie Mont-Royal (https://foursquare.com/v/br%C3%BBlerie-montroyal/4b292cd9f964a520509a24e3) come to mind.
If you go to Brulerie Mont-Royal, it's in Montreal's gay village, and there are some really amazing restaurants there. Mezcla (http://restaurantmezcla.com/en) and Miyako (https://plus.google.com/103809532365481083173/about) are two of them.
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Friday August 29 2014, @11:47AM
But, but, brewing a cup of coffee shouldn't become a part-time job.
(Score: 1) by Rocky Mudbutt on Saturday August 30 2014, @01:11AM
Is it work when you are enjoying the smell of fresh roasting coffee, filling the neighborhood with the enticing aromas? *don't roast indoors, it sets off smoke alarms* I find it enjoyable, 20 minutes to roast a pound, enough for a couple days. So much better for you than tobacco, and just as stimulating. The sensory experience of roasting coffee close up is hard to describe. The aromas, the sounds of the first crack, the rice-krispies snap/crackle/pop of the second crack (I like dark coffee), the color changes of the beans, the whir of the roaster, it all makes for a close up and personal view of ones beverage. It's like making lemonade from lemons instead of a box of sweetener and artificial flavors.
Ethics II Axiom 2. "Man thinks." B. Spinoza
(Score: 1) by unauthorized on Friday August 29 2014, @03:05PM
I drink coffee for the drug, not for it's genuine Scottish [wikipedia.org] flavour.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Friday August 29 2014, @03:11AM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Insightful) by WizardFusion on Friday August 29 2014, @09:36AM
That was when the customer was key, not the money