In a fit of masochism, I visited the Silicon Valley’s most reverent altar to the god Capitalism: Fry’s Electronics.

I walked up and down the aisles, browsing for the things I could no longer have: assorted software, that bigger and nerdier monitor, PSII games, CD’s, that DVD of Singles that people keep telling me to get, etc. Then I went up and down the appliance aisles, looking at the assorted items with my now stagnating product design eye; critiquing the various designs, figuring out their manufacturing costs and estimating their piece price.

A million coffee makers and this one claims to have “aroma control”. If only that were actually true…