Slashdot Mirror
Self-Heating Coffee Cans Recalled
Old Man Kensey writes "Apparently those nifty Wolfgang Puck self-heating latte cans, introduced with such fanfare last year, have proven to be buggy -- cans have been reported failing to heat adequately or, more disturbingly, exploding and melting through the packaging. A recall has been announced -- here's hoping the flaws can be 'patched' soon."
I've just had a look at the official How It Works (wmv, bleh) video on Wolfgang Puck's site - and there's no mention in the (surprisingly good) explanation that the cans may explode (funny that).
Also, check out this guy's dissection of a used can.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
I've heard of starting the day with a bang but this is rediculous.
I remember having a sample of one of these in Target around hurricane season. They were trying to pass them off as a good way to get a hot cup of coffee when and if the power went out. I probabbly would have bought a few, but then they proceeded to give me a sample. This is, by far, the most disgusting "coffee" drink I've ever had, and this come from someone who's been known to suck on plugs of grounds like chewing tobacco when there's no hot water around...
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
Your hands would be Pucked!
Haven't self-heating cans been used in Japan for years now? Why not just use the same design as there?
I did try a few of Puck's self-heating latte beverages when they first came to satisfy my curiosity. One of the pack of four failed to heat, but luckily for me, none of them exploded or meltied their packaging.
It's spiffy to be able to heat your own coffee in such a small package, but when you seal up pre-mixed coffee in a can or a more complicated contraption like this one, you lose one of coffee's primary advantages as a beverage --- it is an excellent platform for customization.
I'd rather go without than drink a coffee beverage brewed or mixed to appeal to some marketeer's average consumer taste buds. If I wanted a sweet, pre-mixed beverage, I'd drink a soda.
From TFA:
OnTech's launch campaign for the self-heating product is "It Does What?"
"It takes time to educate the world to what [self-heating] is about," Weisz said.
It takes time, no doubt in part because the answer is, "it explodes."
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
"Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
Now, instead of all the "Contents may be hot" labels, everyone's going to have to start putting "Warning! Contents may detonate" on their coffee cups to avoid lawsuits.
Tluin natha Linux xxizzuss uriu olt bwael mon'tun.
Who wants a self heating can when you can get a self cooling beer!
(although I'll wait for the non-miller version, as I prefer my beer with flavour thank-you-very-much).
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Why? The first time I saw one of these, I thought it was pretty cool. Then I saw how much of the can is comprised of chemicals used to heat the coffee. It looks like half the volume of the can is contained in the chemical pouch, which seems a little excessive. This is not good technology. Until they can find a way to be a little less wasteful to do the same job, I hope they don't patch the problem.
I tried one of those coffees a few weeks back. It wasn't nice at all, I can't imagine when I would need a hot coffee so bad that I would drink one again.
Of course, that's just the opinion of a person who lives in a country where over 95 % of all beverage cans and bottles are recycled. I think realizing how well the system really works positively affects your attitudes towards recycling.
I'm no great Java programmer or anything, but shouldn't the virtual machine prevent serious damage to the rest of the system (hand)?
It could be argued in this case that the software is not at fault, but the hardware. So no amount of adding in extra parentheses will fix the problem. Tis not just a matter of removing the line that says:
the layman's guide to computer science
I've heard of starting the day with a bang but this is rediculous.
Exploding coffee: Guaranteed to wake your ass UP!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
We had self-heating coffee cans in the UK under the Nescafe brand (Nestle). They were sold at petrol (gas) stations mainly.
Problem was not many people bought them. The coffee was nothing special, and because the cans were mostly filled with heater mechaism there wasn't even that much of it. They were expensive too.
I haven't seen any for a couple of years now. Instead a lot of petrol stations just have a coffee machine, or cans of coffee that are kept in a heater.
Wolfgang Puck's coffe cups were renamed Emril's Coffe cups.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
From TFA: it overheated and then blew up, sending her to the hospital.
It blew her that far? Now that's an explosion!
Wow, the Hot Coffee mod just gets EVERYONE in trouble, doesn't it?
I was looking at some packs of civilian MRE's (for camping). You can apparently get them either with or without heating packs. The heating packs appear to take a small quantity of water and produce some sort of chemical exothermic reaction (wouldn't be surprised if they also use Calcium Oxide). Anyway the US military's been using them for many, many years.
[Insert pithy quote here]
Stop all the snivelling, cavilling, whining, Nervous Nellyism. No Progress can be made without taking risks. Did a few minor scalds and burns stop Chuck Yeager?
Would you like to go back to the dark ages, before antibiotics, the flush toilet, and self-heating coffee cans? When women were barred from advancement, trapped in a lifetime of relentless toil over hot coffeepots? When people routinely perished from exposure walking miles through blizzards attempting to reach the nearest Starbucks? When greedy vending barons forced workers to dig into their pockets for their last few coins, then laughed sadistically as their machines tauntingly dispensed chicken bouillion instead of coffee?
I say, who wouldn't gladly risk a few small explosions in order to be able to enjoy a hot can of gourmet rich expresso lattee--say, what's in this stuff, anyway? Ingredients: Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee (Ingredients (Water, Coffee segmentation fault: core dumped
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
or having a worrying chemical aftertaste
Dude, you're supposed to drink it from the top.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
self-heating coffee can heats YOU!
I just added some material to the Wikipedia article on self-heating cans.
In 1941 a ''New York Times'' food column reported:
Yesterday, we had our first cup of coffee, our first baked beans and our first spaghetti out of the amazing self-heating cans now being introduced by a department store in Manhattan... There's a fifteen-minute wait while the canned food, enclosed in an outer tin, heats without benefit of gas, electricity, or flame of any sort. This trick is accomplished by a chemical inside the first container, and the action is started when four holes are punched in the bottom. The whole mysterious apparatus is turned upside down for the stipulated number of minutes, then righted, and presto! there is your steaming coffee, or food, all ready to serve.
Holt, Jane (1941) "News of Food: War Emphasizes Benefit of Prune Vitamins--Hammering Opens Oysters," ''The New York Times,'' March 26, 1941, p. 19
In 1947, the same column reported "Food in Self-Heating Cans Reappears" (their having been reserved for the military during the war). Referring to the cans as "Hotcans," the columnist noted that "Chocolate is made with milk and is delicious (65 to 72 cents). Four hamburgers in tomato sauce with mushrooms are small but good, and the sauce is ample (89 to 98 cents). Coffee tastes something like the instantly brewed type, leaving something to be desired (49 cents)." (49 cents in 1947 is approximately equivalent to $4.64 in 2005).
Nickerson, Jane (1947), "News of Food: Food in Self-Heating Cans Reappears Here; Recommended for Motorists and Campers," ''The New York Times,'' November 26, 1947, p. 28
I have to wonder why the technology never took off. Of course, the Wikipedia article links to a 2001 article touting the "world's first" self-heating coffee, and it does say that the calcium oxide reaction is "nowhere near as straightforward as chemistry text books suggest and that the thermal design was critical to the efficient operation of the device."
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!