Selling out

The New York Times has a story this morning on what sort of crap has been selling during this never ending recession. You can read all about it here, but in short, some things are selling, some are not. Hope I did not ruin it for you.

Here is something I have learned. Well, first a moment of history. I once took some art classes in Los Angeles, but more importantly, which I was a student, I also shared a large old house in Pasadena with other artists, all studying different aspects of art and production, from film to auto design and everything in between. One friend became a designer of scuba gear, another a courtroom artist and yet another has become a world regarded auto designer.

I think of these professionals when I find outrageous design flaws, like the design idiot who puts cup holders in cars right where the gear shift has been located. Recently, in the last year, I purchased a new coffee maker. My addiction to good coffee is well know, check this piece of love out. So it was a bit shocking when I began using the new coffee maker and found that whenever I poured a cup of coffee into a cup, it dribbled coffee onto the counter. That's right, a brand new, overly designed coffee maker, actually was designed to drip coffee on the counter top.

That is just terrible and hurtful, but the reality is, I have tried to get over it. No lawsuit, no throwing the offending coffee pot into a wall, but I just wipe up the dribbles of coffee. This past winter, my long term lover (yikes) bought us a new coffee grinder. Now, anyone who is addicted to anything understands the ritual necessary to keep your addiction interesting. I hear heroin addicts sometimes do not care so much about the high as they do about the cooking, injecting and all the other fun aspects of their particular addiction. Pot smokers, oh how they love to roll joints. On it goes. For me, grinding coffee beans in the early morning hours and making fresh coffee is vital.

So imagine my shock and dismay to a grinder of coffee beans that, no matter how it is handled, spreads freshly ground coffee all over the counter top. Imagine. Again, I have tried everything, but when you remove the freshly filled container of ground coffee, flakes begin to spill out, and as you pour it into the coffee maker, you get coffee over everything. Again, who designs this crap and why do I keep finding it in my kitchen?

So, thank you New York Times for pointing out that even in a deep recession, people continue to buy things, like coffee makers and coffee grinders. What the Times reporter failed to mention is how many people are, during a deep recession, forced to buy a new product because the recently purchased product is badly designed and in many cases, spilling contents all over a decently cleaned kitchen.