How to Sell a Kettle

(economist.com)

23 points | by bazzmt 4 days ago ago

11 comments

  • codeulike an hour ago

    Incidentally I was reading the other day that in Europe kettles are much faster than USA ones (due to 240v domestic mains as opposed to 120v) and theres a small subculture of USA electricians fitting 240v supplies into their kitchen and then importing European kettles.

  • lardosaurusrex an hour ago

    Brands stopped mattering when companies started buying the exact same XPTLKO kettles you see on aliexpress and amazon and just slapped their own name on it; complete with app.

    Just look at air conditioners or microwaves; there's like two companies that do them and yet there's another 500 of them that insist that theirs is "the one" even though they're identical and even use the same app under another name.

    How to sell a kettle? How about you write an article about how to /make/ a kettle first.

  • senko an hour ago

    > The Ketgpt takes the kettle into the agentic era. At the front door and fancy a cup of tea? Just woken up and desperate for your first coffee? Get out your phone, fire up the Ketgpt app, enter your login details and tell your kettle to start boiling. That’s not all. You can ask your kettle how the boiling process is going in text or voice mode, and it will reply. It will even send a notification to your phone when the boiling process is complete. You set the task. The Ketgpt will take it from there, entirely autonomously. (Token costs not included.)

    I have seen funded AI startups that made less sense.

    • stronglikedan an hour ago

      Th archive link isn't loading for me (work firewall), and I don't have access to the paywalled version, but are they suggesting that I must log in to the app every single time I want a cuppa? Cuz if so, that's a non-starter right off the bat! (And if so, I hope it's the satire that it sounds like.)

      • jzebedee an hour ago

        The whole article is satire, parodying the overwrought ad copy designed to sell a simple appliance (electric kettle) to different marketing segments.

  • cjs_ac 2 hours ago

    I think Dualit targets about half of these market positions.

  • IAmGraydon an hour ago

    Oh cool - a bunch of generic marketing copy written by an AI and presented as an article. It's concerning that something this low quality has made it to the front page.

    • senko 6 minutes ago

      It's hilarious.

      The Economist often has satire columns, mostly related to office or biz absurdities.

  • avipars 2 hours ago

    Non paywalled link

    https://archive.md/VmVco

  • rco8786 2 hours ago

    > Populist. If scalding hot water and the risk of a burn do not scare you, buy the Boiler. A kettle for real patriots. Not suitable for herbal teas and other woke beverages. Used by veterans, among others. Made in this country, except for some essential components.

    Almost too on the nose