The ramble about designers being responsible is very shallow. “Designers” at these companies don’t have much say in what needs to be designed, they just have to figure out how it will look.
From coffee makers to software, there are plenty of people and companies that have the “do one thing well” ethos. You just have to be willing to pay a premium because in the modern age of global capitalism where making something abundant and cheap is easy, the opposite is much harder.
You fell for the Keurig meme. You want a coffee maker that just makes damn good coffee and will last you a long time? Get a solid italian made espresso machine. Or a Moka Pot, or a Chemex.
You spent $12 on a coffee maker (Westinghouse? Black and Decker? Sunbeam?) and yes it’ll make you a cup of black coffee, but nobody wants just black coffee. I want my black coffee to have hints of orange, chocolate, and citrus. I don’t just want black coffee.
Same with software. Simple doesn’t mean “black cup of joe” which would be akin to a command line app.
Simple means something intentionally made that sweats the smallest details within a specific function. I want my software to do one thing well, but be delightful to use. I want it to be fast, I want it to look nice, I want it to be simple and easy to use. And if it is all those things I will pay a premium for it.
“Things” app is an example that comes to mind.
A decent Keurig is ~$100 and will buy you maybe an hour or two of convenience over the lifetime of the machine. A decent cheap espresso machine is only a little bit more and the difference in drink quality is night-and-day.
As for what you're looking for; you want a machine with metal portafilters (the little handle thingy with coffee) at a standard size (usually 51-53mm) that loads regular old ground espresso, not capsules or packets. If you don't want to keep a burr grinder in the house, the Starbucks Espresso pre-ground bag is a good dark roast and I like Cafe Bustello as a light roast. The rest of the process can be found on YouTube, and is usually pretty standard across machines. Turn on power, fill portafilter with coffee and press it down as the machine heats up, put the filter in the gasket and then pour your shot. It's not easier than a Keurig cup, but probably faster than a pour-over.
IAAFB (I Am A Former Barista)
