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Comment by ubernostrum | Hacker News Reader

I don't have one, and don't know anyone who has one. In fact, I've never seen one in an actual home. We don't drink tea the way Britain and other former British possessions do.

(in my case I don't drink a lot of hot tea, but I do drink a lot of iced tea, and a worthwhile amount of that is larger than what most kettles can do -- I typically brew a gallon or more at a time)

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My flabber is well and truly ghasted :-)

And with that, I'm of for a brew and to recuperate...

To be fair I own several & most of my friends do as well.

The first time I realized that every home didn't own an automatic drip coffee pot, I was also aghast.

First time I ever even saw* one was when I was in my 30's and it was at a job I had. I saw a similar thread here on HN where some brits though it was old fashion and barbaric to use a kettle on the stovetop. Well, I grew up with those, though I don't own one myself. I just heat a cup of water in the microwave.

* - or conciously aware of seeing it. I might have seen it and it was just background noise.

You probably hadn't seen one. When my parents retired and began wintering in Arizona, they couldn't help noticing that their neighbours were fascinated by this strange something like a hot pot, but just for water thing they brought with them. It was just like a kettle, but you plugged it in! That was only twenty years ago. So at the very least, there were regions of the US in which the electric kettle was virtually unknown, while here in Canada one was at least as likely to have an electric kettle as, say, a pair of shoes.

Most asian households have one, super convenient for tea, cup noodles, etc. I use one that is more of a boiler/pot so it keeps water always at the right temperature.

They're basically miniature water heaters.

I'm in Canada and most people I know have an electric kettle (anecdotal, but still).

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