This $700 juicer is expensive and shiny but you can’t juice your own produce

The tech world is abuzz with incredible new inventions. Smartphones are more powerful than ever, you can experience a reality that’s virtual, and… there’s a $700 juicer that has raised $120 million.

The idea for the Juicero came from Doug Evans. Despite the fact that he’s never been before been CEO of a tech company, he ended up getting funding from the likes of Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and even Campbell Soup.

So what’s special about a $700 juicer that spits out eight ounces of juice? Well, it’s complicated. It’s a combination of a juice app, a kitchen device, and a massive factory full of people cutting up fruits into pieces that can be processed by the contraption.

As part of the juicer, you need to buy packets of fruit that cost between $4 and $10 each. You slip them into the Wi-Fi connected device, and the Juicero scans a QR code on the packet to make sure the ingredients are still fresh. Assuming the fruits and vegetables are good to go, a few squeezes later you get an eight-ounce cup of juice. As part of the app, you can even plan your own juicing regimens, complete with on-time deliveries. It sounds similar to the Nutralux, another cold-press juicer that recently sought funding on Kickstarter.

The promise of a healthy lifestyle doesn’t come without its drawbacks. While it’s healthy to be drinking all these nutrients, it might not be so healthy for the planet considering the number of plastic packages you’ll go through. A compostable packaging is in the works, according to The New York Times, but “in the works” is different from “available now.”

On top of that, there’s the price; $700 ain’t cheap, especially considering the fact that you can’t even use produce bought from the supermarket. Basically, the Juicero is more for the Silicon Valley elite rather than the rest of us. (Indeed, it’s only currently available in California.) Sure, this may be more convenient than a conventional juicer, which requires fruit-chopping and cleaning, but it’s most certainly not more convenient or cheaper than, say, buying juice.

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from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1VZExos
Christian de Looper