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Comment by amikula | Hacker News Reader

While I applaud the spirit of the Freedom Clip, I have a better idea if you object to the DRM in Keurig's new product: Don't buy Keurig. There are plenty of alternatives. Why participate in the ecosystem at all if it means buying a product from a company whose products you object to? Buy a Mr Coffee if you have to have a K-Cup brewer.

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I agree. This story is becoming timeless, but its understandable. From XBox mod-chips to BitTorrent, people love subversion over protest. I can't blame them really. I've been on both sides. Building and distributing a DRM break is a thrilling experience; one of my most memorable engineering projects. And consuming pirated games and music as a kid was a form of empowering rebellion. The satisfaction of subverting what is perceived as an immovable market is immediate. Whereas protesting, simply not participating in the ecosystem, is not at all satisfying. We know its the reasonable and smart thing to do, but it doesn't have the same emotional satisfaction associated with it.

So, I don't think we'll ever see an end to it.

Or go to your local coffee retailer and aquire a french press and a grinder and start making better coffee.

There are about 80 better ways to make coffee than a keurig machine; you just need to figure out the two things keurig does adequately; delivering a measured amount of water that is hot but not too hot and a measured amount of properly ground coffee.

And really, does keurig have the faintest idea as to what you consider good coffee?

> a measured amount of properly ground coffee.

And it's not even doing this well. More accurate to call it "a measured amount of ground coffee, 'aged' 8 months in a warehouse."

I think the Keurig type of product is good for one area -- having a coffee service for your waiting customers. That way you can have a variety of flavors, and you don't have to have someone constantly making a fresh pot of coffee.

Alternatively, the companies that have products with DRM could be honest in their advertisements and call them what they are: leased products.

If someone rented a Keurig and then went to add modifications, no one here would cheer it on. It's Keurig's machine after all, and private property law dictate the social rules. Renting and buying therefore have different social rules, laws, and morality attached and companies that try to blur the lines should rightfully be ignored.

I had an older version Keurig and when it failed they sent me the new DRM Keurig. But I definitely agree with your opinion and when this one fails and is out of warranty, I'm definitely going to look into other brands.

Keurigs are the new printers... subsidised hardware but crazy expensive cartridges.

Subsidized? You can get inkjet printers for as low as free. Keurig machines cost $100 and up, for something equivalent to a $20 coffee brewer.

I've a dolce gusto machine I got as a present, and the capsules are 4 pounds for 16, which is expensive if you compare to buying ground beans. But consider that if I choose to make two coffees instead of having a Starbucks/local shop on my way to work, it's been worth it. Seems reasonable to me, especially as it's consistent quality and i don't drink enough coffee (maybe one a day at home, probably another in the office using the office machine) to warrant buying a full bag and letting it go stale.

If these machines are subsidized and they expect to recoup the cost from selling the cartridges, wouldn't it be better to buy them, since it would mean Keurig would lose a bunch of money on you?

They have a high enough price point that I don't think they are subsidized.

Nothing to do with subsidization, it's (attempting) to ensure a continuing revenue stream and lock in the ecosystem.

The place I work has a brewer.

I have a single-serve French press that I bought off of Amazon for about $20. I use the Keurig machine as a source of hot water occasionally (don't put in the k-cup). But there are other sources of hot water if they take that away. And I discovered that, perhaps ironically, German coffee tastes absolutely delicious when brewed in a French press.

My work does as well. However, I roast, grind, and brew my own coffee all at home instead. Immediately upon finishing the brew, the coffee is poured into a 12-cup Thermos vacuum flask, the kind with a nice button pressure spout. With this, I get the benefit of drinking a cup or two before work, and the rest sits on my desk throughout the day, still piping hot when I'm ready for a cup.

I forgo the coffee machine at work and brew my own as well, but just brew a fresh cup on demand, hobo style. Keep grinder, beans and vacuum sealer in an unused kitchen drawer. I never had much luck with thermoses. They seem to "cook" the coffee and give it a burnt, unfresh flavor after a while. Do you run into that?

I haven't experienced that, at least not that I'm aware of. My coffee only really tastes "cooked" when left in the pot on the hot plate too long.

Not growing and strip picking your own beans?! Might as well be drinking gas station coffee!

You're obviously poking fun, but for anyone who hasn't looked into it, roasting beans is surprisingly easy. I use an air popcorn popper ($20 at your favorite supermarket) and buy green (unroasted) beans for ~$6/pound, or ~1/4 the cost of comparable roasted beans. And they're guaranteed fresh!

I order my beans from Sweet Maria's, roasted with a Whirley-Pop on the stove. It's relaxing; the various aromas throughout the roasting process fill the entire house. The whole process takes about fifteen minutes, and the coffee is the best I've ever had.

I've been cold brewing my coffee. I dump a bunch of grounds in a big jar and pour water over them. After a couple of days I pour it through the funnel-filter I use for home brewing. Each day for the next few days I mix the 1/3 dark coffee with 2/3 water, pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes and enjoy.

Cold brew is much lower acid and less bitter than hot brewed, and much less "plastic" flavored than the Keurig at work.

I used to roast my beans in a skillet on my charcoal grill. It gave them a nice smoky flavor. I haven't done that in a while. (Too much effort.)

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