Silicon Valley invests $120 Mill. in $400 juicer that works as well as hands

[MarkS]

If you have THAT much money, you can afford to hire someone to bring you fresh juice at the ring of a bell... possibly with a stick of celery and Vodka in it.

I meant family members giving one as a gift.

::must remember to always be achingly pedantic when replying on eevblog... must remember to always be achingly pedantic when replying on eevblog... must remember to always be achingly pedantic when replying on eevblog... ::   

[EEVblog]

What's to stop someone from cutting the QR code off of a packet, taping it to the sensor and then filling an empty packet with fruit? Sure, you'll get tons of ads for Florida orange juice since it thinks you make nothing but orange juice, but it will sure save you a ton of money. Not to mention that QR codes are very well documented and easy to read and create. I doubt the information contained within is encrypted. I can just make my own and print it.

AFAIK they are unique single use codes and it has to report back to the server to verify before it presses the juice.
Yes, no internet = no juice 

[Sredni]

They have to be stopped! 

Mock them to death.

[AndyC_772]

If you have THAT much money, you can afford to hire someone to bring you fresh juice at the ring of a bell... possibly with a stick of celery and Vodka in it.

Don't be daft, $400 is much less than the price of a decent coffee machine. The problem with this machine is nothing to do with the price.

The problem with it is that the IoT features *only* exist to make the machine worse than it would be without them.

I can accept - just! - that different ingredients might require different pressures or squashing times to give best results, and that having some kind of identifier on the bag to configure the machine might (just might!) give a better experience to the end user.

There's no reason at all, though, why this information can't be stored directly on the QR code, ie. "press at 70% of full power for 90 seconds".

The internet connectivity *only* exists to involve the manufacturer with each operation, to log usage data and prevent the use of anything other than the expensive bags. There is *no* benefit to the end user.

That's why this machine, and maybe a few of its juice packs, belongs on Hydraulic Press Channel.

[frozenfrogz]

Yesterday I watched »Idiocracy« again. I can smell some similarities here

On a brighter note: Stupid proprietary devices give birth to a whole new generation of makers and tinkerers that are fed up with *beep* not working.

[timb]

Yesterday I watched »Idiocracy« again. I can smell some similarities here

On a brighter note: Stupid proprietary devices give birth to a whole new generation of makers and tinkerers that are fed up with *beep* not working.

Oh man, I'd forgotten all about Fruit Fucker 2000! What a blast from the past.

[Marco]

I was just thinking to myself, some kind of self cleaning blender would be a lot better way to create "fresh" juice with convenience from frozen components (freezing is perfect way to preserve fruit/veg for drinks ... no need to care about cell walls rupturing). I was apparently not the first to think so, they're even copying the juicer distribution model of working with their own cups (I assume they are single use at least as far as the machine is concerned).

A smarter more high tech device which actually provides some real convenience (the juicer packs are still perishable, it provides bugger all but cost). The subscription lockin model is still scammy as hell though. I assume they have self cleaning blenders on patent lock down, a government enforced scam would be the only way to keep this kind of scam alive for long.

[rrinker]

 Know how we USED to do it? There was an attachment for my grandmother's stand mixer and you just sliced each orange in half and held it over the rotating attachment. Juice ran down the spout into the pitcher. Hardly any effort at all, and no fancy single task machine. They still make those.

[josecamoessilva]

Donald Norman (who is probably known to some here, and should be read by all engineers) made a big deal of this design (not his own):

[brucehoult]

Know how we USED to do it? There was an attachment for my grandmother's stand mixer and you just sliced each orange in half and held it over the rotating attachment. Juice ran down the spout into the pitcher. Hardly any effort at all, and no fancy single task machine. They still make those.

Sure, and my mother still uses her 1970s Kenwood "Chef" which, as my Dad used to like to claim "Has a bigger motor than his concrete mixer".

[rrinker]

 There's an episode of James May's The Reassembler where he puts together one of those Kenwoods. Pretty beefy machines. Like Kitchen-Aid USED to be in the US (the newer ones use cheaper metal in the gears and so forth). My Grandmother's was from the 1950's and still worked fine into the 80's. No idea where it ended up - I'd bet if it were still around it would still work.

[timb]

There's an episode of James May's The Reassembler where he puts together one of those Kenwoods. Pretty beefy machines. Like Kitchen-Aid USED to be in the US (the newer ones use cheaper metal in the gears and so forth). My Grandmother's was from the 1950's and still worked fine into the 80's. No idea where it ended up - I'd bet if it were still around it would still work.

I've got my Grandmother's Kitchen-Aid Mixer from the late-50's and it still works like the day it was new. It's been used pretty much weekly over it's life and it really is built to last. I'm the third generation in my family to have it; I'm sure my kids will use it too. (If they don't have Multiverse Connected Smart Space Blenders by then.)

[Kilrah]

Know how we USED to do it? There was an attachment for my grandmother's stand mixer and you just sliced each orange in half and held it over the rotating attachment. Juice ran down the spout into the pitcher. Hardly any effort at all, and no fancy single task machine. They still make those.

As long as it's the one with the spout and not the  version with the grate I'm fine. The latter is one of the most annoying things ever.

[T3sl4co1l]

Don't turn it on!  Take it apart!

https://blog.bolt.io/heres-why-juicero-s-press-is-so-expensive-6add74594e50

Tim

[xrunner]

Don't turn it on!  Take it apart!

https://blog.bolt.io/heres-why-juicero-s-press-is-so-expensive-6add74594e50

Tim

Good find! 

[Muxr]

Don't turn it on!  Take it apart!

https://blog.bolt.io/heres-why-juicero-s-press-is-so-expensive-6add74594e50

Tim

Nice.. the cost of the product itself for what it is really isn't overpriced.. the problem is that it's a Rube Goldberg machine.

[FrankBuss]

Don't turn it on!  Take it apart!

https://blog.bolt.io/heres-why-juicero-s-press-is-so-expensive-6add74594e50

"There are dozens of components and subsystems that are incredibly complex and beautifully engineered". I disagree. It is not beautiful, if you design something with lots of expensive parts, which could be done simpler.

I have one of these juicer:

https://preisvergleich.check24.de/entsafter/panasonic-mj-dj01.html

It costs only a fraction, is faster and you can even feed whole apples (if they are not too big). This Juicero presses only one glass in the time I can juice one liter. I can even mix different things, like carrots, apples and oranges, one of my favorites. And no QR code or internet needed.

[xrunner]

Wow! That's incredible for a consumer juice squeezer! The engineering is superb, but my gawd, to squeeze juice. 

https://blog.bolt.io/heres-why-juicero-s-press-is-so-expensive-6add74594e50

[frozenfrogz]

Anyone remember Dr Nobel Price from the Sesame Street? xD

[t_ryner]

I'm definitely not the smartest person in the world, much less on this site. However, this seems like a extraneous solution to a problem that has already been solved. 

[marshallh]

Seems like an elaborate money laundering scheme.

[amyk]

Don't turn it on!  Take it apart!

https://blog.bolt.io/heres-why-juicero-s-press-is-so-expensive-6add74594e50

Tim

Nice.. the cost of the product itself for what it is really isn't overpriced.. the problem is that it's a Rube Goldberg machine.

For the price and force I was actually expecting hydraulics.

...and using ball bearings for supporting the sliding press plate is somehow innovative? My desk drawers all have that...

(That URL reminded me of AvE, someone who I'd probably enjoy seeing taking something like this apart. "Keep your dick in a vise Juicero" )

[t_ryner]

It seems pretty basic for a juicer, in the cutaway view you can see the motors, wifi board (WHY! JUST WHY!), switches, and a power supply. I think the wifi board and the custom power supply, along with the casing amount for the majority of the cost. I don't see where the other $150 is coming from though.

If you're interested, I found this miscellaneous control system on amazon. Supposedly for rc cars.

- https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Controller-H-bridge-Regulator-Current/dp/B017FZDVJY/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1493089180&sr=8-10&keywords=wifi+control+board

[digsys]

...  this seems like a extraneous solution to a problem that has already been solved. 

I'm not supposed to do this .. but if you send me $50, I'll let you in on the secrets !! But keep it quiet !

[Kilrah]

Beautiful parts and construction indeed - but looks like it's overkill even for the forces involved, not to mention that in the first place something like a roller that moves from top to bottom would have drastically reduced them.