How Juicero Evolved from IoT Tech Investment Darling to Mockery of Human Laziness

cageymaru

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Juicero is the latest Internet of Things (IoT) device to catch flak from not only the press and public, but also the very investors that backed the startup. The device is touted as a juicer that squeezes bags of fruits and vegetables with more force than necessary to lift the weight of two Tesla cars. The catch is that the content of the bags that are placed into the machine contains the finely shredded pulp of fruits and vegetables. So all the machine effectively does is squeeze these bags of pulp to extract the juice into a cup. Bloomberg showed how using the power of ancient tools called human hands with appendages identified as fingers and opposable thumbs, the "juicing" time is significantly reduced. Needless to say investors are not happy with this revelation. The saving grace for the company is that the formerly $700 Juicero machine has been reduced to $400 and you can only order the juice bags if you are registered as owning a machine.

Some investors are still wowed by the machine after figuring out on their own that the packs can be squeezed by hand. “There is no doubt the packs can be squeezed without the machine,” Doug Chertok said. “I’m still a huge fan.” Commercial customers who paid a $1,200 premium for a machine still hope that the company will sell the bags of juice separate from the machine to attract more customers. I would love to know what investors Alphabet (Google), Kobe Bryant, and others think of possible ROI from this venture. So what made these business luminaries invest into such a questionable business model? The power of success from other venture capitalist fund projects such as Dollar Shave Club and Nespresso, combined with the desire to find the next big thing, seems to have been the culprit. Also they invested heavily into the machine after being shown 3D-printed renderings of the product without ever seeing a working prototype. Another criticism of the machine is it's immense bulk compared to the 3D-printed renders. Business Insider found that the company is now offering refunds if you mail your machine back to them. The new CEO Jeff Dunn has an article up on Medium explaining why his machine is still revolutionary.

Evans, 50, follows a diet of mostly raw, vegan foods. Technology was a new thing for him, but he picked it up quickly. He said he spent about three years building a dozen prototypes before devising Juicero’s patent-pending press. In an interview with technology website Recode, he likened his work to the invention of a mainstream personal computer by Apple’s Jobs. “There are 400 custom parts in here,” Evans told Recode. “There’s a scanner; there’s a microprocessor; there’s a wireless chip, wireless antenna.”

In fundraising meetings, Evans promised a revolutionary machine capable of squeezing large chunks of fruits and vegetables, said two people who agreed to invest in the company. Evans secured funding in 2014 by showing 3D-printed renderings of the product without a working prototype, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they signed nondisclosure agreements.
 
Evans, 50, follows a diet of mostly raw, vegan foods. Technology was a new thing for him, but he picked it up quickly. He said he spent about three years building a dozen prototypes before devising Juicero’s patent-pending press. In an interview with technology website Recode, he likened his work to the invention of a mainstream personal computer by Apple’s Jobs. “There are 400 custom parts in here,” Evans told Recode. “There’s a scanner; there’s a microprocessor; there’s a wireless chip, wireless antenna.”

Maybe if he had a steak or some chicken every now and then he'd have enough energy to climb out of his own ass.
 
God damn I hope this thing crashes and burns and all the investors lose every single cent they put into it.

Such a stupid fucking idea to begin with, you've got to be really stupid to have invested in the first place.

This machine would not have made it on shark tank, and even those guys can be pretty dumb.
 
I'm really not sure about your analogy of 'human hands are good enough!

I could cut my lawn with scissors or a push mower, but I'm gonna use the lawn tractor anyway :p
 
I'm really not sure about your analogy of 'human hands are good enough!

I could cut my lawn with scissors or a push mower, but I'm gonna use the lawn tractor anyway :p

I have a juicer. But... you know... you put fruits and vegetables in it, and it makes juice. You don't buy pre-packaged ALMOST juiced packets then put them in a machine so it juices them the rest of the way. :D

You don't buy 2" pre-cut grass so that your mower then cuts another .5" off of it to get you to the final 1.5" cut that you want. :D
 
This is so easy to fix in many ways. Take your pick:

Method 1: Modify the bag valve so that it takes more force to squeeze the juice out than is possible by (normal) human hands. A high pressure valve/spring mechanism could solve this. That way, the machine is required to perform the squeezing because only it can provide the necessary force to overcome the valve spring.
Method 2: Modify the valve mechanism in the bag and on the machine so that a very small probe/stick is inserted into the bag valve by the machine when the bag is mounted inside the machine. When the machine is activated, the probe is pushed into the tiny hole in the bag's valve which unlocks the valve. This is akin to sticking a paperclip into a CD drive to open it manually.
Method 3: Embed an inductive coil into the bag valve so that only when it is activated by the machine (wireless power transfer) will the valve in the bag open and allow its contents out. The machine would activate the coil, then squeeze.

This is called the art of making something more difficult in order to justify its existence. A simple hand press could do the same thing that this things does, but people would see right through such simple mechanisms.
 
I'm sorry, but this bullshit doesn't belong on HardOCP. Either that or [H] has changed for the worse.
 
This is so easy to fix in many ways. Take your pick:

Method 1: Modify the bag valve so that it takes more force to squeeze the juice out than is possible by (normal) human hands. A high pressure valve/spring mechanism could solve this. That way, the machine is required to perform the squeezing because only it can provide the necessary force to overcome the valve spring.
Method 2: Modify the valve mechanism in the bag and on the machine so that a very small probe/stick is inserted into the bag valve by the machine when the bag is mounted inside the machine. When the machine is activated, the probe is pushed into the tiny hole in the bag's valve which unlocks the valve. This is akin to sticking a paperclip into a CD drive to open it manually.
Method 3: Embed an inductive coil into the bag valve so that only when it is activated by the machine (wireless power transfer) will the valve in the bag open and allow its contents out. The machine would activate the coil, then squeeze.

This is called the art of making something more difficult in order to justify its existence. A simple hand press could do the same thing that this things does, but people would see right through such simple mechanisms.

They did all this already, and every bit of it was negated by simply cutting the corner off the bag.
 
They did all this already, and every bit of it was negated by simply cutting the corner off the bag.
Oh, then they forget to put in the high voltage zapping module that activates when the bag detects a cut. :)
A subscription model for bags of pulp and a machine that squeezes it into a glass.... and this got investors excited! You can't make this stuff up.
 
The device is touted as a juicer that squeezes bags of fruits and vegetables with more force than necessary to lift the weight of two Tesla cars. The catch is that the content of the bags that are placed into the machine contains the finely shredded pulp of fruits and vegetables.

The bags were SUPPOSED to be filled with whole pieces of fruit, and that is what the 4 tons of pressing force were for.
If the pouches had actually contained whole pieces, it would be impossible to juice by hand.

Somewhere along the line, somebody got the bright idea to use pre-pulped fruit instead, thus negating the whole point of the machine.
The pulp was probably a cost-cutting measure, but it seriously backfired on them.

It would be like Keurig replacing the coffee grounds in it's pods with instant coffee crystals, and hoping nobody noticed.
 
Ugh. Not only is this device stupid but so is the entire fucking concept of juicing. I kind of understand when people do it short term to "detox". It's still kind of silly, but whatever. The idiots that try to live on that shit 24/7 though....
 
The bags were SUPPOSED to be filled with whole pieces of fruit, and that is what the 4 tons of pressing force were for.
If the pouches had actually contained whole pieces, it would be impossible to juice by hand.

Somewhere along the line, somebody got the bright idea to use pre-pulped fruit instead, thus negating the whole point of the machine.
The pulp was probably a cost-cutting measure, but it seriously backfired on them.

It would be like Keurig replacing the coffee grounds in it's pods with instant coffee crystals, and hoping nobody noticed.

I'm guessing the machine wouldn't be able to handle whole pieces. You'd probably rupture the bag trying to squeeze it hard enough to crush whole, large pieces of fruit.
 
Ugh. Not only is this device stupid but so is the entire fucking concept of juicing. I kind of understand when people do it short term to "detox". It's still kind of silly, but whatever. The idiots that try to live on that shit 24/7 though....

We don't use ours very often, but sometimes it's nice. You can choose fruits that aren't normally in readily available juices. (blood oranges are nice) Most juices are formulated with things other than the fruit in them. That's fine with me, but sometimes I just want straight juice. Then as you mentioned things like detoxes for some people. It's actually pretty expensive to make a significant amount of juice though, and a considerable amount of effort to clean the machine, so yeah, using it all the time isn't much fun.
 
Ugh. Not only is this device stupid but so is the entire fucking concept of juicing. I kind of understand when people do it short term to "detox". It's still kind of silly, but whatever. The idiots that try to live on that shit 24/7 though....
Used them for Creatine absorption often when I was in great shape (sugar/vitamins). Now I'm just a fatty with the rest of the people that couldn't understand the benefit of extracting nutrients from fruits and vegetables in the quickest possible manner thru a liquid!:p


FYI only the most extreme nutjobs try to live on juice 24/7 (similar to the politics, sports, etc. nutjobs) - most of us use them like J3rk - once in a while for something unique.
 
Used them for Creatine absorption often when I was in great shape (sugar/vitamins). Now I'm just a fatty with the rest of the people that couldn't understand the benefit of extracting nutrients from fruits and vegetables in the quickest possible manner thru a liquid!:p


FYI only the most extreme nutjobs try to live on juice 24/7 (similar to the politics, sports, etc. nutjobs) - most of us use them like J3rk - once in a while for something unique.

I'd rather just eat the fruits and veg. Though I've always liked fruits and veggies, even as a kid. That once in a while "oh I want something different" I understand, but I look at that differently then the people that love to yammer on about them "juicing" and proclaiming how much better it is than eating fruits and veg despite the total absence of scientific evidence.

I have a cousin that is one of the nutjobs and she drives me nuts.
 
:D Yeah I agree with that part. Nutjobs are nuts though. Doesn't really matter what they're nuts about. They'll find something, and then go nuts over it. Then proceed to evangelize the object of their nuts.
 
I'm sorry, but this bullshit doesn't belong on HardOCP. Either that or [H] has changed for the worse.

I was trying to post something fun for the guys as most of the articles I run across are doom and gloom. Plus it is an Internet of Things device with built in antennas, microprocessors, scanner, and more. The creator describes himself as the next Steve Jobs and lots of tech people are juicing for the healthy lifestyle. Alphabet, which is a division of Google, invested millions of venture capital into the company. So that's why I posted it. :)

I'll find some more interesting tech to post in the latter part of the day for you.
 
$5-8 for 8fl oz (3oz for pomegranate). What a deal.

Jesus. And I thought POM Wonderful was expensive. That price would be insane for a bottle of pomegranate juice much less pre-juiced stuff you still have to finish jucing yourself with an expensive ass machine.
 
They did all this already, and every bit of it was negated by simply cutting the corner off the bag.

That is what I was going to say.

The whole idea of this thing is just stupid.

Oooh.. a machine that squeezes a bag in order to dispense juice.

ABSOLUTELY ZERO REASON TO HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

The only things is does are:
1. Reduces the juice company's work needed to sell juice - more profit
2. A useless product that maybe for some reason actually sells.. at a huge markup even at $400. Probably costs all of $30 to make if that. And that is after the reduction of the $700 price tag to $400.
3. Reduces the money in the buyer's bank account needlessly.
4. Increases the electricity bill of the users of these machines needlessly.
 

Still waaaay cheaper to just buy pre-packaged 100% not from concentrate juice than it is to buy oranges.

It takes about 32 oranges to make 2 quarts of orange juice. (Oops, said 1 quart initially)... still way too expensive and time wasty.

At a max of $2.50 for 2 quarts of orange juice I have zero interest in using a juicer.

Takes way less space, is way cheaper, and takes way less time.
 
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Well the concept is not that bad, however that is not what they are selling at all. It clear the juice is already juiced.
 
Well the concept is not that bad, however that is not what they are selling at all. It clear the juice is already juiced.

Well in their defense it really is super fine chopped pulp in the bags. Say you were craving pear juice. The fiber from the pear would be in the pulp along with the sweet sugary juice that is going to make you gain weight. You can hand squeeze the pulp in the bag or use the machine to get the sugar water out.
 
Juicing is not very good for you there's a lot of nutrients in the pulp and skin. Buy a Vitamix and just throw in all the stuff you want and hit go.
 
This is an example of how spending a bunch of money on something convinces people that it's good.


If you charged $3000 for a baggie of dog shit I'm sure some leftcoast hippie would swear that it's the best thing ever.
 
I would have assumed a machine like this would be loaded with a variety of different fruit/veggie/milk/vanilla/sugar/water/etc juicing cartridges in order to extrude/blend/chill/heat a smoothie according to a downloaded app recipe code. Nope, just a bag squeezer rofl
 
I would have assumed a machine like this would be loaded with a variety of different fruit/veggie/milk/vanilla/sugar/water/etc juicing cartridges in order to extrude/blend/chill/heat a smoothie according to a downloaded app recipe code. Nope, just a bag squeezer rofl

That's what it should be called actually. The Bag-Squeezer-800 MkIV. Or perhaps the Squeez-O-Mat-660
 
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