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

[nctnico]

I wondered what happens to the waste once the bag has been squeezed dry, but according to their web site, that's covered too. I kid ye not:

"Once pressed, the pulp inside can be eaten (our preference)"

Source: https://www.juicero.com/the-packs/

Wait a sec ... I think I just got a terrific idea!

Work with me here - wouldn't it be possible to just go to the local grocery store and buy the fruit directly, take it home, and then squeeze it yourself? 

Even better: just buy juice with pulp (but without added sugar).

[frozenfrogz]

Actually there are "smart toilets" on the market that can analyze your pee. A lot of medical doctors raved about it, because the huge benefit in diagnostics is being able to do long-term sampling. For some that is a true blessing.

However, we are not talking about sharing your poop on Twitter.

[wraper]

I just got the best business idea ever. Internet of things toilet with monthly subscription fee. Only proprietary toilet paper allowed and every roll has it's own RFID, authenticity verified on the cloud. 3D results get automatically uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, so you spare your time doing it manually.

"Internet of Toilet". 

It will send data to a remote server and share your pooping profile with hundreds of companies.  "We see you're having difficulties.  Would you like assistance?".

Poop data mining 

[RGB255_0_0]

Actually there are "smart toilets" on the market that can analyze your pee. A lot of medical doctors raved about it, because the huge benefit in diagnostics is being able to do long-term sampling. For some that is a true blessing.

However, we are not talking about sharing your poop on Twitter.

And any insurance companies.

[free_electron]

ah , you;re all just jaleous you didn't come up with the idea and nobody gave you  a bazillion dollars. ( note : i'm jaleous too )

[Kalvin]

Does it run on Batteroos and will it give 800% more juice?

[brucehoult]

People are looking at this the wrong way.

Maybe the machine is a bit overpriced, though with a limited production run it's not going to be all that cheap to make.

But the BIG thing is the subscription for packs of five bags of fruit&veges for US$30. That's SIX BUCKS each. Every week. $1500 a year.

That's the real gold mine here.

Let them squeeze it with their hands if they want. Irrelevant to the business model.

[josecamoessilva]

Sorry, people, but since I saw a standard 3ft cat-5 ethernet cable for $1000 because it was a "audiophile-grade digital connector" I think of all these products as pikers. And let's not forget that Richard Mille sells mechanical watches about 100x less precise than the network-synched clock on your phone for...

US $200,000.

No, not kidding: https://www.essential-watches.com/watch/Richard-Mille-RM004-Felippe-Massa-Chronograph-in-Rose-Gold-on-Black-Rubber-Strap-with-Skeleton-Dial/72927

So, a juicer for $400? I'm pretty sure I know a few people who're going to buy one. Because cloud. And internet of things.

Edit: sorry, forgot to say, that's a used Richard Mille watch for $200k.

[RGB255_0_0]

That watch has the name of an F1 driver in it, so that takes the price up another zero.

[timgiles]

Any numpty who ponies up 400 dollars, euros, krona, pounds etc... for a machine that produces pressed juice at a price of 8 dollars, euros, krona, pounds per glass - is clearly at the point in life where money means nothing to them. 

[Kilrah]

Work with me here - wouldn't it be possible to just go to the local grocery store and buy the fruit directly, take it home, and then squeeze it yourself? 

The reason such things have some success is precisely because they change the boring usual way of doing it.

I feel like people are just getting bored in this day and age, and more and more new things nowadays are thus just about finding a different way to do stuff simply to try and keep people entertained, regardless of how useless or inefficient it is. And it will be since most of daily life's actions have reached "maturity" and their most efficient implementation decades ago, and any change thus has to become worse... but that's good, becasue in 10 years we'll be able to introduce a change again by bringing back the good old way that people will have forgotten in the meantime.

I see such a cycle in many fields. The lack of real progress calls for going backwards because regular change is needed. The linear progress doesn't work anymore so it's turned into a slow oscillation around the plateau.

[xrunner]

There's a new follow-up article on it - here's a snippet -

One big question Dunn doesn’t answer is why Juicero doesn’t just ship out bags of juice. After all, Juicero is already acquiring the fruits and vegetables, processing them, and shipping them out to customers. Presumably, Juicero could squeeze the fruits and vegetables in their factory and then ship just the juice to the customer — not only reducing shipping weight but saving the customer the trouble of pressing the juice. Juicero claims that its approach yields the freshest possible juice, but it’s not obvious that fruit pulp stored in a bag actually stays fresh longer than juice stored in a bottle.

http://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/4/21/15376038/juicero-explained

[josecamoessilva]

Hey, I just realized: you can buy things with money. I want some of that money.

(thinking)
(thinking)
(thinking)


Don't buy a Juicero. Invest now in a Jose Camoes Silva Advanced Home Juicing System, with only the most advanced technologies and no DRM!





Act now!

[xrunner]

Hey, I just realized: you can buy things with money. I want some of that money.

(thinking)
(thinking)
(thinking)

Don't buy a Juicero. Invest now in a Jose Camoes Silva Advanced Home Juicing System, with only the most advanced technologies and no DRM!

Looks good, but what happens when I run out of veggies? Does it talk to the cloud and order me more on my pre-approved credit card?

[timb]

I just got the best business idea ever. Internet of things toilet with monthly subscription fee. Only proprietary toilet paper allowed and every roll has it's own RFID, authenticity verified on the cloud. 3D results get automatically uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, so you spare your time doing it manually.

"Internet of Toilet". 

It will send data to a remote server and share your pooping profile with hundreds of companies.  "We see you're having difficulties.  Would you like assistance?".

Poop data mining 

The problem comes when your $5b startup ends up a registered sex offender simply because some kid sat down on your eToilet and had his unique topographic anal profile scanned and uploaded over the internet.

[rrinker]

That is hilarious, but if you think about it, refunding the machine still means they get to profit from purchases of the overpriced "cartridges" which people can still "juice" themselves.

Right, It's like a Swiffer or something like it. The point is not to make a lot of money on the Swiffer hardware (the metal stick thingy that holds the Swiffer refill). The point is to get something into the consumer's hands that requires a refill, which gets used up over and over. You'd want to get as many juice sqeezer machines out as fast and as cheap as possible and sell the refills. Then screw the consumer over with high-priced refills, preferable with a microchip that doesn't allow anyone else's refills.

 See also, the razor is free - but don't ask how much the blades cost.

[Vgkid]

Penguinz0 did his take on it 
NSFW (Language)

[xrunner]

 

It needs an app too?

 

[digsys]

Penguinz0 did his take on it    ...

That was funny as fook !! We got to employ this guy to do EEVBlog videos :-)  Please Dave .. please .. please ... please ...

[Sredni]

"John, what's wrong? What happened to you? You look like s**t!"
"I'm starving, my Internet is down and my Eagle Juicero can not check the QR codes are legit!"

[Halcyon]

I've said this before and I'll say it again: A truly "smart" home is one which has proper thought that went into the design, not how many gadgets and IoT devices you can cram into it. Proper placement of power points and light switches along with "banks" of lights in large rooms and the addition of dimmer switches is something easily done.

Sometimes simple is better. For example, I don't use an electric kettle. I use a gas cook top with a stainless steel kettle to boil my water (and yes, it even whistles to notify when it's finished). No electric elements to die, it looks nice and does the one job it's required to do perfectly.

[MarkS]

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.

I wonder how hard it would be for the average user to modify the internals so that the press is directly connected to a switch hacked into the side of the unit, completely bypassing the stupid IoT guts?

[Halcyon]

I wonder how hard it would be for the average user to modify the internals so that the press is directly connected to a switch hacked into the side of the unit, completely bypassing the stupid IoT guts?

Or just go to the supermarket and buy a bottle of 100% fruit juice. Yes, you can actually buy proper pressed fruit juice (not that concentrate crap) without any added sugar, water, etc... from your local shop. Not to mention an entire 2 litre container is cheaper than one of those single glass Juicero packs. This thing is truly a product for morons.

[MarkS]

Or just go to the supermarket and buy a bottle of 100% fruit juice. Yes, you can actually buy proper pressed fruit juice (not that concentrate crap) without any added sugar, water, etc... from your local shop. Not to mention an entire 2 litre container is cheaper than one of those single glass Juicero packs. This thing is truly a product for morons.

That goes without saying. There is no justification for the existence of this device. However, if you got drunk one night and woke up to this on your door or have family members with more money than brains, it might be useful to know how to get around the idiocy of this overpriced, overly complicated abomination and insult to technology.

[Halcyon]

... or have family members with more money than brains, it might be useful to know how to get around the idiocy of this overpriced, overly complicated abomination and insult to technology.

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.