They are focused on the wrong aspect of their business model.
I may not use the Keurig much seeing as it's a work one, but I'd never use it if I couldn't bring my own beans and grinder to work. A refillable cup is the only reason I would consider purchasing one for home use. It's a little less mess and trouble than using a french press, so I wouldn't mind a free Keurig to use at home but doubt I'd buy one considering my options.
Instead of focusing on the container, they need to focus on the bean.
There is ALWAYS going to be copycats in manufacturing, hell we demand it (wtb cheap ___ knockoff at 15% price plz PM)
Spending R&D $ on making it so I can't use my own beans in my own coffee pot sounds like a loosing proposition. The whole exclusivity aspect is in the past, they'd do better if they had something like specific temperature and steep times for you to tweak, so different coffee and tea could come out PERFECT instead of just darn good :-p
I may not use the Keurig much seeing as it's a work one, but I'd never use it if I couldn't bring my own beans and grinder to work. A refillable cup is the only reason I would consider purchasing one for home use. It's a little less mess and trouble than using a french press, so I wouldn't mind a free Keurig to use at home but doubt I'd buy one considering my options.
Instead of focusing on the container, they need to focus on the bean.
There is ALWAYS going to be copycats in manufacturing, hell we demand it (wtb cheap ___ knockoff at 15% price plz PM)
Spending R&D $ on making it so I can't use my own beans in my own coffee pot sounds like a loosing proposition. The whole exclusivity aspect is in the past, they'd do better if they had something like specific temperature and steep times for you to tweak, so different coffee and tea could come out PERFECT instead of just darn good :-p