On coffee makers


I have an old Braun coffee maker. I think it was made in West Germany. It sits on my workbench near some clamps. It's durable and unassuming. It has a single button on it which turns it on or off. It makes hot coffee. It’s awesome.

We have a fancier coffee machine in the kitchen. It's rather large. It's programmable, it has ten buttons, a dial with six fill options, a digital clock, an attached whisk thingy for foam or something, and other features I’m sure I’ve yet to discover without a map. I expect you can do a lot with this coffee maker. When I use it I make a pot of black coffee.

No, I like my old Braun coffee maker. I think it's because if I were to design a coffee maker, which I can’t, it would be that coffee maker. It has no features that I don't use because it has only one feature which is to make a pot of coffee. I have simple tastes and it’s a simple machine. Stripped of all fat. Easy to use. Timeless appearance.

This is only interesting to me because I imagine if you were to gift me the world's most top of the line coffee maker I doubt I'd value it more than this old one sitting near some clamps that does nothing more than turn on and off.