> Now I wonder how keurig even began convincing people to use their unconventional methods for coffee.

It's a simple, self-contained way to freshly and quickly brew a single cup of coffee with no mess, and priced for consumers: Cutting a few annoying chores out of a rushed morning at a cost of a few tens of cents per cup.

In what world was that ever a hard sell?

One with coffee filters

Have you used a Keurig? Or Nespresso?

I don't know how difficult it is to mix Soylent, but you can buy an automatic baby formula maker for $150-$200. Put water in the tank, power in the top, and boom: automatic mixing. I'm surprised an enterprising Soylent enthusiast hasn't hacked something up yet—particularly given their "early adopter" tech audience.

It shouldn't be too much harder to add "pods" (powder containers) to that device. It might even make the process easier because the machine wouldn't have to measure the right amount.

Just combining water and powder doesn't give the right texture. In my experience, you have to use a blender, or it doesn't come out smooth. But when I use a blender, it still has a "frothy" texture that isn't quite as smooth as the stuff in the bottles they ship.

Fetishization of commodity. The marketing and packaging is designed to tick those "satisfying consumption" boxes in peoples brains.