News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by untog on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:03PM (#9687065)
Still seems like overkill, though. Just like the "beverage identification" in Vessyl, it presumably adds a reasonable amount to the cost of the thing (as well as another breakable component) when selecting "A chicken leg" in an app or something would be sufficient.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by bryanlarsen on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:15PM (#9687166)
The camera also appears to be used to help determine when the food is done, to allow the oven to do things like turn itself up for the last 15 minutes to crisp the exterior.

And that's the important part. Nobody's going to pay $1500 for something that makes cooking easier. They'll appreciate it, but they won't pay for it. Lot's of people will pay $1500 for a gadget that makes cooking better.

Re:June Intelligent Oven by untog on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:29PM (#9687267)
$1500 is a lot for an oven that can't cook very much food. It looks like it would serve two people, max? And it can only cook one thing at a time so wave goodbye to roasting veggies while the meat cooks.

People who are passionate about cooking tend to do it for more people than just themselves.

Re:June Intelligent Oven by dragonwriter on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:45PM (#9687350)
> $1500 is a lot for an oven that can't cook very much food. It looks like it would serve two people, max?

It handles baking dishes up to 11"x16".

Most family size single-baking-dish recipes are sized for a 9"x13" baking dish.

> And it can only cook one thing at a time so wave goodbye to roasting veggies while the meat cooks.

While I suppose for some people a countertop oven might replace a full-size oven, most of the target early-adopter market for expensive kitchen gadgets is going to have a decent size kitchen with a full-size oven as well as any countertop oven; the features this has might reverse the traditional "large oven is primary, countertop is secondary" arrangement in those households, but I don't think most people in the early adopter market is going to be using this as their sole oven (though, I suppose, if you were particularly price-insensitive, especially if you already had a cooktop separate from a large oven, getting two of these for a dual-oven setup would be more space efficient than most dual-oven setups.)

Re:June Intelligent Oven by bryanlarsen on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:35PM (#9687291)
It fits a 12 pound turkey. That's a small turkey, but it'll feed a lot more than 2 people.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by dragonwriter on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:51PM (#9687393)
> It fits a 12 pound turkey. That's a small turkey, but it'll feed a lot more than 2 people.

And, for those who find a turkey a less-than-stellar example for whatever reason, a 12-pound turkey is a lot larger than a roughly four-pound roast, which (with various different marinades and preparation techiques) is the base for lots of ~6-8 serving main course recipes.

Re:June Intelligent Oven by smackfu on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:46PM (#9687359)
No one cooks turkey except on Thanksgiving, so that's an odd example to choose.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by bryanlarsen on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:50PM (#9687387)
A turkey is the biggest thing most people ever put in their ovens, so it's often used for oven size comparisons.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by dragonwriter on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:55PM (#9687419)
> No one cooks turkey except on Thanksgiving

There are lots of people who cook turkey only on Thanksgiving, but it is far from true that no one cooks turkey except on Thanksgiving.

Re:June Intelligent Oven by pbreit on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @05:15PM (#9688594)
I know it's not technically correct but I'm guessing that "no one" was meant to suggest "a very small percentage" which is likely accurate.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by mynameisvlad on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:52PM (#9687402)
The fact that whole turkey is available year round disagrees with that statement.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by smackfu on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:17PM (#9687184)
$1500 is still a lot of money in the kitchen space. Most people could buy a whole new set of appliances for that price.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by dragonwriter on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:26PM (#9687254)
> $1500 is still a lot of money in the kitchen space. Most people could buy a whole new set of appliances for that price.

So? The target market of early adopters for high-end kitchen gadgets are willing to pay pretty high premiums for unique features. (And aren't people who could replace their existing set of appliances for $1500; they're more like the people that spend close to half of that on a high-end VitaMix blender alone.)

Re:June Intelligent Oven by roel_v on Wednesday June 10, 2015 @03:09AM (#9690484)
What? No. An upper-midrange oven alone costs that much. $1500 only gets you a set of the cheapest Chinese Walmart appliances with a temperature precision of say +/- 10C.

(whelp - after checking, it even seems that the Miele oven I had in mind as a reference point is over $5000 in the US)

Re:June Intelligent Oven by smackfu on Wednesday June 10, 2015 @10:25AM (#9692413)
Yeah, appliances is a place where going from midrange to upper-midrange might double the price. It's nuts.
Re:June Intelligent Oven by dragonwriter on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:10PM (#9687119)
> Just like the "beverage identification" in Vessyl, it presumably adds a reasonable amount to the cost of the thing (as well as another breakable component) when selecting "A chicken leg" in an app or something would be sufficient.

Selecting common recipes from the console is a fairly common feature even in inexpensive microwaves and toaster ovens. Moving that to a phone app isn't really much of a comparative selling point, and its cheap and easy for existing incumbents in the market to replicate.

Onboard identification is much more of a unique feature. Sure, it adds quite a bit to the cost, but -- as long as it remains relatively unique -- it probably adds more to the appeal and potential selling price than to the cost.

[deleted]
Re:June Intelligent Oven by dragonwriter on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:34PM (#9687286)
> Obviously none of us know the price breakdown but it adds to a cost that will total $3000 for non pre-orders. Even if it's a very useful feature, that much money for an oven that is too small to cook a meal for a family ensures it will not reach a mass market.

The first popular countertop microwave oven was sold in 1967 at a price that is equivalent to about $3,500 now. New tech in appliances is often very expensive; the early adopters (as in many fields) are people that aren't very price sensitive if there are new features that aren't available elsewhere.

Anyway, a countertop oven that can handle up to 11"x16" baking dishes isn't too small to cook a family meal, so even if your premise was correct, its not really applicable to the device in question.

Re:June Intelligent Oven by tomc1985 on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @01:38PM (#9687307)
Why not 'selecting a chicken leg' on the screen? Why does everything have to be an app these days?