K-Cup Maker's DRM Strategy Roasts Keurig

Keurig 2.0
(Image: keurig.com)

It wasn't so long ago that K-cups didn't exist. Then, someone at Green Mountain Coffee, which owns the Keurig (i.e., K-cup) brand, invented the plastic, portion-controlled items that have since become ubiquitous. The original Keurig coffee maker was a sensational commercial hit, although coffee purists found its ground offerings produced colorless, degraded coffee drinking experiences.

Well, Keurig's success eventually found imitators who created K-cup clones. Since Keurig used its inexpensive coffee makers as bait to make money on its high-margin coffee, the K-cup knock-offs were a most unwelcome development for Green Mountain.

According to an article in theverge.com, the firm's solution was Keurig 2.0. While touting the new gadget's ability to provide greater volume variety, the machine's "advanced scanning system" only accepted DRM-compliant K-cups! Nothing else would work in the machines, including K-cups manufactured for Keurig's 1.0 coffee makers.

Apparently, consumers have gone ballistic over 2.0's restrictions. The ultimate boycott would be to dump ecologically unsound plastic cups and their coffee maker enablers. Call it coffee making 3.0.