The $100 Coffee Cup

[Ben]

No, not some $100 cup of some fancy hipster coffee, a coffee cup that costs $100. Apparently these are the rage in the era of virus telework. I saw these at Costco and was curious, so googled. The $100 is about the cheapest version there is, and I guess they are selling like hotcakes. I guess I'd just as soon use an insulated mug, or zap a forgotten cup in the micro, rather than monitoring my coffee temp from my smartphone. To each their own though. :)

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ember+coffee+mug&hvadid=78065388508519&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_1fqbrzbfgx_e

[Fly320s]

That thing is just stupid.  Typical of the tech-set crowd, though.  They think each thing is improved by making it "smart."

[Boomhauer]

It’s the same crowd that’s buying $300 coolers when they never venture into the woods farther than a campsite, $200 sunglasses, etc.

[MillCreek]

I saw those at Costco, too, and I was flabbergasted by the price.  Especially when you can get mug warmers for under $ 25, albeit they are not connected to your smartphone.

[WLJ]

Probably being bought by the same people buying Wifi light bulbs

[K Frame]

"That thing is just stupid."

I'm thinking it's stupid enough that it needs a couple of profoundly graphic curse words between just and stupid.

I'm going to put that right up there with the wifi/blue tooth crockpot I saw a few years ago.

[Ben]

I saw those at Costco, too, and I was flabbergasted by the price.  Especially when you can get mug warmers for under $ 25, albeit they are not connected to your smartphone.

Yeah, I forgot about those warmers. Seems like most people who would use the $100 battery operated mug are in an environment, like their home office, that has a USB plug handy for the mug warmer.

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Over a hundred bucks to keep your travel coffee warm for an hour or two? We have a pair of Thermos style mugs we bought at Walmart a few years ago for around $18.00 each and will keep our coffee warm for 4 or 5 hours. It keeps our ice water cold for just as long. Our mugs don't require a cell phone to turn them on or off or set the temperature. We do that when we brew the coffee or toss in ice cubes with our water.

I guess we're just backward hicks.

Woody

[bedlamite]

Over a hundred bucks to keep your travel coffee warm for an hour or two? We have a pair of Thermos style mugs we bought at Walmart a few years ago for around $18.00 each and will keep our coffee warm for 4 or 5 hours. It keeps our ice water cold for just as long. Our mugs don't require a cell phone to turn them on or off or set the temperature. We do that when we brew the coffee or toss in ice cubes with our water.

I guess we're just backward hicks.

Woody

Quit being practical. You need a  status symbol that you can show off.

[Hawkmoon]

P. T. Barnum would be proud ...

[MillCreek]

Probably being bought by the same people buying Wifi light bulbs

I will say that most of our interior light bulbs have been replaced by Wiz bulbs from Costco that can be controlled by voice via Alexa or the Wiz app and can change the brightness and color.  We really like being able to control color and brightness according to our use or mood.  Full brightness daylight for something that we need to see, down to flickering candlelight for ambiance.  And setting all the living room lights to flash red and green for Christmas delights the grandchildren.  Plus, since they are LED bulbs, we are saving a bit of energy, although I am sure the payback period, to compensate for the more expensive bulbs is probably in excess of our remaining lifespans.

[Ben]

Probably being bought by the same people buying Wifi light bulbs

I can see the value of wi-fi bulbs though. What Millcreek said, plus being able to change color / strength for things like movie viewing or reading. I have a specific reading lamp at my reading chair, but sometimes I read on the couch and wouldn't mind being able to tell the ceiling fan lights to switch to a reading color.

[K Frame]

" We really like being able to control color and brightness according to our use or mood. "

I've been seriously considering something like that for my living room. There are times when I like a lot of soft white light, but there are also times when I like to dim it down and give it a nice mellow amber cast.

I put 60 watt 2300 K bulbs into the two pillar and two night stand lights in my bedroom and put 4 100-watt 2700 K bulbs in the ceiling fan that I use when I need a lot of light, when folding sheets, sorting laundry, etc.

But when I'm settling down for the night and reading, the 2300 K lights are extremely calming and comforting.

[MillCreek]

I can see the value of wi-fi bulbs though. What Millcreek said, plus being able to change color / strength for things like movie viewing or reading. I have a specific reading lamp at my reading chair, but sometimes I read on the couch and wouldn't mind being able to tell the ceiling fan lights to switch to a reading color.

We have the 75 inch Samsung 4K LED TV in the living room, which is lit by eight can lights in the 22 foot ceiling, and some table lamps.  When we are watching TV at night, we set the lighting to 'TV time' on the Wiz app, which turns the lights to a soft blue glow.  It is like the ambient lighting in a movie theater, and it greatly enhances the viewing, we think.

[MechAg94]

P. T. Barnum would be proud ...

It is making someone money so I don't know if I should call it stupid. 

[just Warren]

Does it run with Java?

[Ned Hamford]

Perfect timing with those stimulus checks going around. 

[Doggy Daddy]

Most of the downstairs and outside is wifi leds.  All controlled by Alexa.  The degree of control is addictive!  If a lamp or fixture has more than one bulb, I have it set up so that I can control it by the group or by individual bulbs.  For instance, "Alexa, easy living room" turns off all lights in the family room, except 2 of the 6 ceiling can lights turn dark blue at 5% brightness.  If I'm in a recliner and need a bit more light, "Alexa, TV 3 white" makes the can over that chair light up in white.  Then I can also adjust it brighter if I like with "Alexa, TV 3 50%".

There are also some routines for a bit of humor.  If I say "Alexa, I can't piss in the dark", she'll turn on the bathroom lights and answer "There.  That should keep the floor dry."

Also, with Alexa in the car I can control the outdoor entry lights, garage door lights, etc from the car.  Can be darn handy.

[charby]

It’s the same crowd that’s buying $300 coolers when they never venture into the woods farther than a campsite, $200 sunglasses, etc.

$300 cooler I can agree with, I drive a lot and spend a lot of time in the sun in crop fields, I like my $200 RayBan Polarized sunglasses 1000x way better than the $14.99 ones.

and that coffee cup is stupid.

[230RN]

Over a hundred bucks to keep your travel coffee warm for an hour or two? We have a pair of Thermos style mugs we bought at Walmart a few years ago for around $18.00 each and will keep our coffee warm for 4 or 5 hours. It keeps our ice water cold for just as long. Our mugs don't require a cell phone to turn them on or off or set the temperature. We do that when we brew the coffee or toss in ice cubes with our water.

I guess we're just backward hicks.

Woody

No wonder hams keep losing spectrum.

[dogmush]

So, not to interrupt a good curmudgeon fest, but I bout my mom an Ember mug for Christmas two years ago, and she loves it.

Her style of drinking hot beverage at work involves nursing one for an hour or two, and her tea was always getting cold, which necessitated microwaving, then waiting for it to cool back to optimum drinking temp, then having it be too cool and repeating. Now it's the right temp from 10 min after steeping (she prefers tea) to the very end.  If she takes her cup to a meeting, or another office to talk, the battery keeps it warm till she comes back.  She says it's her favorite office mug by far.

Personally,  I drink my coffee before it gets cold and just make more, but some people, I guess, caffeinate slower.

The Ember Mug also tops James Hoffman's list of ways to reheat/keep coffee warm without losing the flavor.

But I also have wifi light bulbs, so there's that.