Chris Welch reporting for The Verge:


Much like your inkjet printer, refills are the real money-maker of the Keurig platform. So to ensure consumers stick with its own K-Cups moving forward, Green Mountain is implementing the physical equivalent of a DRM system with Keurig 2.0 ā€” which will start appearing on store shelves this year. Aside from offering a larger 28-ounce serving size, Keurig's next line of brewers will contain "interactive technology" designed to lock out unlicensed K-Cups. On a recent earnings call, CEO Brian Kelley insisted the change is primarily meant to "ensure the system delivers on the promise of excellent quality beverages produced simply and consistently every time."

Like all other great writers online, I have to take my shot at having an opinion about coffee. Here goes.

Considering the plethora of wedding gifts my wife and I received in July, I was utterly shocked that we didn't receive a single coffee maker. At the time, it had no bearing on our lives. But, as our studies picked up and as our mornings began to feel earlier and earlier, coffee's allure began to take hold of our taste buds.

So we went coffee maker shopping at Christmas time. Like every other product I've ever purchased, I did my research. I did lots of research.

And yet, we still bought a Keurig.

Yes, Keurig K-Cups are an ingenious method to locking customers into an extremely expensive coffee addiction. I did the math (like everyone else) and came to the same expensive conclusion. Keurig 2.0 isn't slated to be any easier on the pocketbook.

But weirdly enough, Keurig makes its own "My K-Cup" adapter that can be filled with your own choice of coffee grinds. Fill the mini filter about four-fifths full, screw into the adapter and brew your own cup of coffee. Maybe I still use more than the average amount of grinds, but I can guarantee I'm not spending upwards of $0.85 per cup of coffee.

And what about wasted coffee? For my wife and I, a pot of coffee could always be found with half a cup of coffee at the bottom of the pot. We never finished an entire pot. For every four cups we brewed, we wasted one cup. In the end, I figure there is a savings by brewing one cup at a time.

So, before assuming that Keurig 2.0 is going to ruin the coffee maker industry, think again.