They appear to have the tendency to fail at around 18 months, even if they undergo routine, recommended maintenance.

Got a Keurig for my wife as a Christmas present three years ago. Generated about 10 cups of coffee per week, and was very happy with the product. Performed the de-scaling maintenance regularly....still broke down after about a year and a half. Went online to see how to repair it, and wasn't encouraged by the number of similar stories.

I see. It's bad, but when I read "fail around 18 months" I think to myself "I only paid $60 for my Keurig, 18 months sounds pretty good."

I guess the manufacturing giants have succeeded in making us believe electronic consumer goods shouldn't last long.

Wow, I feel like a lucky man! I bought one of the low-end models for ~$110 3 years ago, have used it making 8-10 cups a day between my wife and me with the re-usable plastic cups, and it's still going strong!

I understand the concept of cheap/fast/good - pick any 2; but K-cups are only one (fast.) The cost per cup is significantly more than traditional brewing and I find the output to be undrinkable. There are better solutions. I have a drip coffee maker that brews into a travel mug in about 5 minutes. Are you sure that the saved 4 minutes is worth the extra money and poor flavor?

2/3 of those are subjective and in reality for me personally, the Keurig meets 3/3.

"Good" - Keurig coffee is good enough for me. I don't think I have the palate to discern the difference between my K-cup and the $7/cup coffee in the high end cafes.

"Cheap" - I don't have the time to prepare drip coffee in the morning (or prepare the night before) so for me it's either Kcup or purchase at work. So Keurig is the cheapest option for me.

I have to second the cheap. I can either make a full pot of coffee for ~$2-3/pot or I can make a single cup for ~$.75/cup. I understand it might not be the best bang for my buck but I'm only interested in drinking one cup so it's pretty cost effective in my eyes.

Waste from a traditional coffee maker is biodegradable or compostable (paper filter, coffee grinds). Coffee pods combine that with foil and plastic, to make it practically impossible to separate and dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner.