My Dad’s World

I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of the mobile space and it seems to me I live in a very different world than my father did. For him, work was work and home was home. Rarely was their an intersection between the two places. I don’t recall calling my father at work (unless there was some sort of emergency). Likewise, when my father was at home, he rarely engaged in work activities, certainly there was no email or voicemail to check.

There was also no mobile space. Mobile was defined simply as the place that was neither work nor home. It was travel or commute time and for the most part dead time. You could listen to the radio, read a newspaper on a train but your activities were limited and there was no connection back to either work or home.

By contrast, I live in different times and those distinct worlds and the mobile space between them has changed quite a bit. But that’s a conversation for another post.

Coffee Nirvana for me

If you’re looking for something deeply technical in this post, forget it. Go back over to Techmeme. Likewise, if you’re a coffee snob. The kind of person who only grinds their own beans (in a hand grinder, of course, to avoid the friction of motor driven grinders that can affect taste), makes sure the water is of proper quality and temperature and only used a French press or a $3000 Espresso machine, this isn’t the post for you.

Ok. They’re gone. Now let’s talk. I like coffee but I hate making it. Years ago, when I worked for Jupiter Research and our offices were down on Astor place we had a magic coffee maker. Or so it seemed to me. You just took a little pre-packaged coffee container called a K-Cup. Dropped it into the machine, pushed a button and in about 30 seconds you had one perfect brewed coffee. A few months ago, I found the vendor of the industrial version of the machine, Keurig had a home version. After raves from my sister and my experience with the work machines I had to try it. And I fell in love.

For me, it’s coffee nirvana. I can brew exactly what I need without making a whole pot and go back and forth between different type of coffee as I’m in the mood. French Roast in the morning, perhaps some Green Mountain Wild Blueberry in the afternoon (I know, it sounds terrible but try it) or perhaps some Timothy’s German Chocolate Cake. The unit is a marvel of simplicity and it just works. and works well. If you like coffee (but aren’t a coffee snob) and you don’t need or want to brew by the pot, you need to check this out.