The maker of Keurig coffee machines, the ones that use those little (and expensive) K-Cups to brew a single cup of coffee, must have a clever bunch of engineers in their employ. They have created a new machine, the Keurig 2.0, that will only accept their own officially licensed cups that typically cost between 75 and 80 cents each (for about a dime’s worth of coffee). It is also designed to accept different size K-cups to brew either a single cup of coffee or four cups.
Hmmm. Where have we seen this before? Oh yes, inkjet printers. A few years ago, printer manufacturers who got tired of seeing consumers refill their own ink cartridges or buy cheap no-name ones, got the brilliant idea to affix a computer chip to each cartridge refill. That way, the printer could check if an official cartridge was installed or not. If not, the printer would stop working.
Similarly, Keurig presumably didn’t like all the cheaper knockoff little K-Cups on the market, or the reusable and washable cups that one can just add a scoop of grounds to whenever coffee was desired. So, they came up with a machine that would only turn on when a legitimate K-Cup was popped in.
How does Keurig disclose this limitation of their new coffeemakers?
*MOUSE PRINT*: From a footnote in the product description:
What do they mean they can’t guarantee that non-Keurig-2.0 cups will work? They deliberately designed the machine not to work with them.
*MOUSE PRINT*: From their FAQs:
The Keurig® 2.0 brewer will only function with Keurig® brand pods. That means the Keurig® 2.0 brewer will brew both K-Cup® and Vue® pods and the new K-Carafe™ pods. Keurig® brand pods have been specially designed to work with the Keurig 2.0 Brewing Technology® in the Keurig® 2.0 system, which guarantees a perfect brew every time. Look for the Keurig Brewed® seal on your favorite K-Cup® pod and K-Carafe™ pod varieties to ensure a delicious cup every time. Keurig cannot guarantee that pods without the Keurig Brewed logo will work in the Keurig 2.0 brewer.
How exactly does the Keurig 2.0 work? No, they didn’t put a computer chip in every cup. The stories vary, however, of what the actual technology is, depending on whom you ask. Customer service folks at the company say the new coffeemakers have a laser that reads a serial number on the top of the new K-Cups. A company executive says that an infrared light is shined on the foil cover of each K-Cup, and the wavelength of the reflected light is measured to see if it matches a set standard.
What happens if you try to put an unlicensed little cup of grounds in the new machines? You get an error message on a little computer screen, the machine fails to start, and the coffee cops are notified.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Not long after the new system came on the market, hackers went to work to defeat it, and came up with three primary ways to continue using whatever coffee containers you want. The first is removing one wire :
The other ways involved putting a legitimately licensed cap or portion of one over a rogue cup.
It may be obvious, but MrConsumer sees Keurig’s move as anti-competitive and anti-consumer. If the spy inside the machine is really only needed to distinguish between the old one-cup canisters and the new four-cup ones, I’ll forgo the wizardry and happily press a size button.
Wasn’t the original marketing pitch something along the line of “quick, convenient, variety?” Why on earth anyone would put up with the initial expense, and the ongoing “price per cup” expense and this continuing aggravation to enjoy a cup of coffee is beyond my limited comprehension skills to understand the “upwardly mobile, keep up with the Joneses” mentality.
I think the reason why Keurig says they cannot guarantee non-official cups to work is because there will inevitably be manufacturers who figure out how to rig the system to work and will sell the cups. Keurig will likely try to change new models to stop that process.
I don’t understand this new craze at all. Why wouldn’t people want simpler coffee machines with easily exchangeable parts? Sometimes it seems like consumers purchase things against their own interest.
Well,they can forget me buying that machine.If a business treats their customers like that,soon they will have no customers.
Except perhaps in an office setting I have never understood, and I remain baffled, by the popularity of these machines. I use a single cup Melitta-type cone and filter. All I have to do is boil a cup of water, pour it over the grounds and let it drip. Little time or effort, great (and by keurig standards cheap)coffee and no machines taking up counter space. Please, someone explain to me why you are using these ridiculous machines when making a good cup of coffee is so cheap and easy.
I love these machines, but the quality of the brewer just isn’t good enough to care about this “official” cup restriction. If they make it too hard to use, people will stop using it and go back to a traditional coffee machine. I understand the need for the restriction comes from the desire for recurring revenue, but it seems like they almost have that in machines that need to be replaced once they start getting clogged over and over again.
Currently as I understand it there are two major law suits. Going on over this. One company is actually giving away their solution. This new set also affect their own accessories as well. Those of you who still want to use the strainer. Get the product called Eco Cup ( they have both sizes)
Now I have heard everything. I have the Keurig Mini and use the store bought plastic cup to fill with coffee myself. A box of Keurig Coffee K-cups is up to $12.00 where I live. It cost me $9.00 for a 33.9oz. can of Folgers coffee.. Why would I buy the K-cups? If that day comes, my pot goes into the landfill.
Add this to the mold issue, and if I had any Keurig stock, I would sell it now.
I own both a mini Kuerig for my holiday trailer and the larger sized for my home. The novelty and convenience wore off quickly as price per cup left a sour taste in my mouth. Now my “new” novelty is an inexpensive Black & Decker 5 cup drip coffee maker. What’s old is new ,tried and true…. and I can enjoy a pound of coffee for under$10 with no “compatibility issues” it’s called a paper basket filter.
I have to return my second Keurig machine. First one bearly dripped the coffee down …second one worked for a week ..same thing hardly drips and coffee was cold. Called Keurig they said they reduced the temperature on their machines for safely. My sis has an old model it works fantastic …get a fast and hot cup of coffee every time and can also use other brands or ground coffee with special K cup.
I am done with this company!!
Jean
For my family it actually saved us money. My wife who likes coffee (I dont) she would make a pot and drink 1 cup. By the time she got around to the others it was cold. So for a single cup every couple of days it is a good deal. For someone who drinks more than 2-3 cups a day it is a bad deal.
In an office setting it would ‘ok’ but only if you wanted some sort of variety. If you do not care about variety a big pot is a better deal.
Also there are few companies out there now making k-cup compatible brewers. I doubt they worry about the DRM they are trying to bake into the cups.
I have the older Keurig machine and am outraged they changed the cup size with the new Keurig 2.0. It is only a matter of time for manufacturers to stop producing the older size cups and then my machine will become obsolete. Very disappointing and probably will not invest in another Keuring as it seems consumers are held captive to replace them and Keurig’s whim.
I have had two Keurig machines and had no real problem with them, except for the price of the pods. The first one gave up the ghost after a couple years and I bought another one, which still works. My brother told me about a similar coffee maker from Bunn called “My Cafe'”. It has four different attachments for brewing and will use any type of pod, brew tea, hot water, or traditional ground coffee. I love it. The only drawback I had was having to mail order it. I couldn’t find it in stock at any store (I do live in a small town, though).
I have 4 Keurig machines. 2 older models that I use at my office and 2 new models at home. The 2 new models are the 2.0 models and do not brew most cups. This was initially a problem for me but I figured a way around it. First I was just cutting off the top of an approved on and putting it on my favorite brand (which is not Keurig approved), that worked until I happened across the company that was giving away their clips. I received it, popped it in and never looked back. The clip works wonderfully and I have been able to brew anything I wanted through the system just like I was able to do with the old brewer.
I did read at one point that the way to obtain the Keurig brewing seal on your k-cups was that you had to have the beans roasted at their facility or something like that. I searched for the article before writing this post, but can’t find it. I’m sure one of you folks could discover it.
As for the price of the coffee, I’m paying anywhere between $.05 – $0.11 a k-cup and when I brew, the brand I prefer is actually strong enough to brew 3 cups of coffee out of the same k-cup (2 if you use the largest cup setting). The price of the k-cup can be affordable with some savvy shopping (I use Amazon subscribe and save coupled with coupons). As the only one in my house who drinks coffee, I can’t drink an entire pot at a time and that results in a waste of coffee, so the minimal expense of the k-cups is worth it.