I need a brew, and now. but can't be bothered to get up and turn the kettle to boil. Remote control linked to the computer. File, new window, save, BOIL NOW. Maybe it could be rigged to actually make the coffee via a "MAKE NOW" key, but I think that could be pushing it.-- arora, Nov 18 2001 Zip Hydroboil http://www.zipindustries.com.au/?p=27Larger versions available too. [StarChaser, Nov 18 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] The Clapper http://www.cornells...sseentv/clapper.htmConnect to coffee and/or tea maker. Presto! Remote-brewed coffee and/or tea [mighty_cheese, Nov 18 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] Mr. Coffee http://www.mrcoffee.com/index.htmlManufacturers of excellent tea and coffee makers [mighty_cheese, Nov 18 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] It was really only the "boil " part I thought, as it would save on one of the tasks of two trips to the kitchen "Put the kettle on" wait a while (or go back to the board) then get up again to prepare the cup.-- arora, Nov 18 2001 Arora: There exist 'instant boiling water' taps...something that bolts next to the sink and has a small tank that it keeps at temperature...A link appears. Specifically mentions tea and coffee...-- StarChaser, Nov 18 2001 Surely offices could set up a machine where a person orders a coffee out of the vender and walks round a couple of minutes later once it has been produced? Perhaps not. Someone always comes over and talks to me when I was just about to go get a cuppa. Going to collect a cold hot beverage would be a waste of employee time and a waste of energy having brewed the drink. Hm. But I do like the idea of a kettle remote; not necessarily just for computer users, sofa prisoners should have this too, so that you can set the kettle to boil two minutes before the ad break comes on.-- lewisgirl, Nov 18 2001 I may be missing a joke, but do you not have coffee vending machines there? They usually dispense a couple of different coffees, hot chocolate and soup...all of which end up tasting like caffeinated chocolate chicken soup. Or, as I like to put it, 'rhinoceros bile'.-- StarChaser, Nov 18 2001 [StarChaser] Those "Instant Boiling Water" taps are only found in the US and make the worst tea in the world. This is because (a) the water isn't boiling, and (b)keeping water hot for a long period takes all the oxygen out and makes the tea taste 'flat' (For this reason you should always use fresh water in the kettle every time you make tea).-- hippo, Nov 19 2001 Waiting for the kettle to boil and staring out the coffee-making-area window at the building site next door is the only relaxation I get at my work. Don't take this away from me. They've got a really big crane today and they were lowering something that looked suspiciously like a motorbike onto the roof.-- pottedstu, Nov 19 2001 Excellent! "Rooftop Motorbike Speedway Deathmatch 2001"! Keep us posted, [pottedstu].-- hippo, Nov 19 2001 I don't drink hot tea, so I didn't know that, but I bet if I told my fiancee about it <She's from Essex> I'd hear...
I think the boiling water things are mostly for stuff like instant soup, but it was kind of what arora asked for...
And, if you'll note: Zipindustries is in Australia, not the US.-- StarChaser, Nov 19 2001 It wasn't really for the office worker, more for the home. Using a standard electric kettle.
Also handy for the couch potato as mentioned (lewisgirl)-- arora, Nov 19 2001 Boiling the water takes all the dissolved gases out of it, including oxygen. "Flatness" of flavor needs to be ascribed to something else.-- hagfish, Nov 20 2001 we have a franchised coffee shop chain in our building that sells proper coffee for less than half its street-cafe price. And it's great. (Costa, if you're interested.)-- lewisgirl, Nov 23 2001 We have a coffee machine which, with lots of noise and explosions of steam, makes cappucino at the touch of a button (and cost about £11000, apparantly), but always gets filled with nastily over-roasted beans...-- hippo, Nov 23 2001 lewisgirl: we're meant to be getting Starbucks in the office block next door (part of the same complex) next year, which creates enormous moral quandaries, as I refuse to go to Starbucks. Anyway, pah, pshaw and pfooie, as we're on the Nescafe now. (Although anyone who works in a shopping mall or large railway station will also have nice coffee on the premises.)-- pottedstu, Nov 23 2001 Yeah, they've been available in 12-volt form for ages, and almost certainly in mains-voltage for bedridden grannies.-- angel, Nov 23 2001 Frogfreak is right... the home automation system is now available from you home DIY store and can control anything electrical, although I couldn't thing of that many things you would want to control.
You can use a handheld remote contol or the USB pc link unit.-- CasaLoco, Nov 23 2001 I've been working on an idea for an electronic kettle that would have features like an electronic illuminated water level indicator, so you could fill it at an angle or in the dark (if you don't like turning your kitchen lights on because it'll start an extractor fan, or just have a dark sink or can't see the little red floating ball too well). It would also have a feature to boil^H^H^H^H heat water to 80 C for making instant coffee, which shouldn't be made with boiling water, and lots of other cool/useless features. An IR or radio remote control would also be a nice thing, and easy to add. Kettles nowadays are way too simple.-- pottedstu, Nov 23 2001, last modified Nov 24 2001 I'd had an idea about glow-in-dark light switches which I'm sure are baked, to make it easier to locate them when fummbling around in the early hours, maybe the kettle could feature a luminous 'on' switch-- arora, Nov 24 2001 Somewhere in the Alps, I think.-- cp, Nov 24 2001 //Those "Instant Boiling Water" taps are only found in the US// ...and in my office. The tea-drinkers tend not to use it but it's perfectly adequate for us coffee-holics.-- DrBob, Nov 24 2001 Arora: I poked about a bit and found lots of glow in the dark switch plates, but no switches.
My grandfather's house, though, used to have clear plastic switches with a small neon bulb in them that lit up when the switch was off. They were fairly cool, until the bulbs started to fail, then you got flickering and blinking, and they had to go.-- StarChaser, Nov 25 2001 random, halfbakery