Monday, April 22, 2002


can't wait to log on to my coffee pot!

i'm not kidding. after much delay, salton has announced the definite existence of its line of internet-connected kitchen equipment. the appliances also talk to each other over a wireless home network. so log on to set the coffee machine and the alarm clock -- "you've got coffee!" a perky voice will chime just as the pot's finished brewing.

also, on the coffee social front: i've talked about fair-trade coffee, shade-grown and bird-friendly coffee, and organic coffee. now there's a new kind of progressive coffee: humane coffee. i know, i know: you're all pretty darn tired of this stuff, except i have to note that unlike many progressive rants, this political coffee claptrap may actually have some meaning to it.

could the dreadfully low coffee prices be already beginning to affect the social stability of two countries of importance to the united states: guatemala and indonesia? guatemalan farm workers have seized 14 coffee plantations, demanding that their land be redistributed among the poor. as for indonesia, farmers in the lampung area are pulling up their coffee trees and demanding government aid, according to the jakarta times. are these small warning signs of further problems to come?

on a brighter note, farmers in the far mountains of myanmar (burma) appear to be taking part in an effort to replace opium poppy cultivation with that of quality coffee. let's hope that the present world-low in prices doesn't doom this promising effort to failure.

and even though long-time readers know i'm no fan of starbucks, one man's quirky quest to visit every starbucks on the planet made me smile. . . naturally, he's got a website. seems like he needs to hook up with these two.

posted by fortune | 7:51 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments