Investment propertyCooking, Washing and Food-Keeping in the 21st Century
They"re faster, they"re sleeker, they"re more convenient, they"re wired, and
they can be double to triple the price of the typical model. They"re the
next wave of appliances ---high-tech, gleaming masses of stainless steel and
shiny glass surfaces that have consumers and homebuilding design centers
clamoring for more. And, with what has become known as American
forward-thinking ingenuity, appliance manufacturers are stepping up to the
plate to offer the latest generation of time-saving and sanity-saving
convenience.
Although we"re still a ways off from George Jetson"s kitchen, pressing a
button to create and prepare and entire meal, appliance makers these days are
continually betting on the future. Consumers who don"t mind paying more not
only to keep up with the Jones", but to become the Jones" may be
installing catchily-named contraptions like SpeedCook, and CookSmart, and
Catalyst.
To Americans who are becoming more and more concerned with immediate
gratification mirroring their always-available corporate lifestyles, time is
at a premium, but quality and convenience are more important than ever
before. Speed cooking ovens, Internet-enabled refrigerators, stain-fighting
washing machines, and whisper quiet dishwashers are just a few of the ideas
that have become reality, now being manufactured by names with which we
average Joes are familiar - Whirlpool, GE, KitchenAid (owned by Whirpool),
and Maytag.
Fast Food
Move over microwaves. No more soggy bread, rubber chicken, and hot and cold-
zoned meals. Speed cooking has arrived. With cooking times 25-75% faster than
traditional ovens, this new cooking technology can brown and crisp, roast,
bake and grill. Try to imagine a chicken roasted in eight minutes; two racks
of lamb done in six minutes; lasagna in 15. In built-in ovens like Whirpool"s
Gold SpeedCook or KitchenAid"s Ultima, a combination of convection,
microwaves, quartz technology, light and air, can help your meals achieve
take-off (or is it "put on?") during dinner time. Maytag also offer the
Gemini, a $1400 standard sized ranged with two ovens, marketing to busy
consumers who want to be able to heat two dishes at different temperature
settings simultaneously without sacrificing more cabinet space to two
separate ovens.
Thermador offers CookSmart, allowing you to use pre-set times and cooking
levels based on food groups and traditional baking times.
Don"t Leave Home with It
Consumers who want to avoid trips to the drycleaners can do so with a
Whirpool branded product, named, interestingly enough, the Catalyst. This
$800 stain-fighting washer offers a fabric-care system that give consumers an
alternative to dry cleaning. Sophisticated computer software has accelerated
the creation of these mechanical washing robots.
Products from names like Sub-Zero and Bosch have been on the lips of the
upper crust custom homeowners for some time, but it is only within the past
few years that familiar names like Maytag have been able to claim prominence
among these masses. Demand for their Neptune washing machine, priced at
$1100, was so great when it was introduced three years ago, that there were
waiting lists of consumers lined up to purchase them, making us realize that
even the more affluent among us don"t get hung up on brand names alone.
Crystal Clear and Germ-Free
KitchenAid now has an $850 dishwasher touting an anti-bacterial rinse cycle.
The newer generation of dishwashers claims to be whisper-quiet during full
blast wash cycles, but still fall short of taking dishes from the sink and
loading them without human assistance (darn!). The facades of appliances such
as these offer a variety of gleaming finishes, but are also easily hidden by
permitting cabinet makers to match cabinet fronts, a touch formerly reserved
for high-end model home kitchens.
Refrigerators that Take Inventory
Little did we realize when those pesky little bar codes took over our
supermarket trips would they aid in our homes as well. GE, Whirpool, and
Frigidaire plan to introduce Web-enabled circuitry that will permit bar-code
scanners to tell you (on your office computer, no less) just what items are
missing from your refrigerator for recipes you have in mind. With these
mega-fridges linked to ovens or microwaves, they will also be able to send
instructions for preparation.
While the idea of these appliances, their capabilities and their pleasant
invasion into our lives may leave us slack-jawed, product manufacturers are
firm in their belief that consumers both demand and expect technology such as
this. Business as usual in the American home is indeed changing so quickly
before our very eyes that it is difficult for us to imagine what even ten
years from now has in store.
Our gadget-oriented society, however, seems ready, willing and able to spend
money, depending on how well appliances like these work and how positively
they can affect our daily lives.