A Modo Mio! – espresso machines enter the fast lane


At last. Thanks to Fiat and the Starbucks of Italy – Lavazza, you can now make a fine cup of espresso while you drive. Fiat’s 500L, to be relaesed in the US in 2013, will combine two things Americans love, cars and coffee. The safety concerns of drinking (and preparing) 200 degree liquid while speeding along the espresso way (pardon the pun) at 75 mph are real. But the real issue, addressed in my book, Shiny Objects, is how our obsession with possessions and our own personal desires has clouded our better judgment. Read my book. Change the world. Beginning with you.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

14 Responses to A Modo Mio! – espresso machines enter the fast lane

  1. Eeva-Liina says:

    Talking about losing ones judgement led me think about losing ones perspective on how big of a deal shopping is(n’t).

    I while ago I was shocked when I came to realize how big of an impact shopping (and specifically not being able to do so at the time of the want) had on my mood for that day. We had planned to go out and have a fancy dinner on our trip to Austin, and I had not packed anything that I considered fancy enough, relying on the fact that I would be able to buy an outfit while there. Well, I did not have that opportunity after all, and was very unhappy during the night of the dinner. Surely, I had nice clothes but they were nothing new.

    During the night I was analyzing my low moods and came to the realization that I was so disappointed because I did not get what I wanted. When written out like this, it does not sound reasonable for a young adult to act up because they did not have the chance to buy new stuff.

  2. Eryn says:

    Personally, I would love a car that made me coffee and looked nice doing it. Maybe the time saved would make up for the money spent on such a luxury?

  3. Kristen Frederick says:

    I agree with Eeva-Liina’s comment about shopping affecting moods. I see this in both myself and my friends as well. I was just commenting the other day about how there is just something about new clothes and shoes that seems to make life better. But in the scheme of things, this isn’t something that we should be relying on. It isn’t what we have that should be important- we should ground ourselves more in our relationships and family because in the long run, they are going to be the ones there to help us when things get rough.

    However, with that being said, I do think the cars and coffee is kind of a brilliant idea.

  4. jim_roberts says:

    Materialism is so deeply grained in many cultures that we don’t realize the sway our purchases and possessions have on our happiness. Up to a point, money and possessions can increase our happiness but when they become the driving forces in our lives that they start to undremine our well-being. I am sure many of us have had similar ezperiences to the one shared here by eeva.

  5. jim_roberts says:

    I might agree but I am not a coffeee drinker. Again, money is not an evil but it’s the love of money that is at the root of all kinds of evil. Spend some money on things you like but be careful to search for balance in all aspects of your life – save, give, live 🙂

  6. jim_roberts says:

    We all have mixed emotions about possessions and happiness. In one sense, we know that money can’t buy love and happiness , but in another we continue to try to prove that happiness can be found at the bottom of a shopping bag. Buying can boost our spirits but the boost is temporary and we need another shot of that stuff to increase our happiness. It works a lot like energy drinks and drugs. We need to continually redose to maintain our desired level of happiness. There is alittle doubt that shopping can become an addiction.

  7. Jordan Springfield says:

    Although I think this is an interesting contraption, I disagree with it being placed into a car. Like you said, it becomes another distraction, or hazard, while on the road. It also creates a “being lazy” factor into life. Different inventions and systems in society these days are all about convenience, making it easier for us to do just about anything. Pretty soon, no one will want to do anything for themselves. Again, cool idea, but not worth wrecks.

  8. Jake vines says:

    I kind of have mixed emotions on this expresso maker in the Fiat. Fiat’s brand image gives off an edgy/sexual feeling so adding this feature does not surprise me one bit. This can be seen as a leg up on the competition. The opposing side would be dealing with the safety issues involved with incorporating an expresso machine. If you think about the use of cellphones in cars and how much the awareness for this has increased over the last couple of years is crazy, with some areas now banning cell phone use in cars. Is it only a matter of time that these expresso makers are yanked out of the Fiats? I personally think it is.

  9. Brittany says:

    This sounds like such a convenient idea, but in reality, how hard is it to make a cup of coffee as you’re getting ready in the morning. I love convenient things, but I feel that going 65 mph down the highway while making a large cup of coffee doesn’t mix well. It seems almost like texting and driving.

  10. Brandon Bambico says:

    These days, every consumer is concerned with how they can do things faster or more conveniently. This feature definitely shows how Fiat has recognized and adapted to our ways as consumers. As a potential buyer, I’d love this; however, from the outside looking in it causes to raise my concerns with where our infatuation with materialism or convenience will take us.

  11. Ali Abdallah says:

    It’s not so much about the espresso or coffee maker as it is about society. Societies have become so fixated and reliant on “things”, materials, ideals that they have in their minds, that such an enhancement is just another gadget. Personally it ruins the whole aesthetic to a car, and sadly this comes from italy, those who create a bunch of wonderfully crafted cars.
    The point is where have we landed, do we really need a lousy coffee maker in our car, which can probably be responsible for accidents (including bad coffee). Materialism that’s what it is, we value this car as worth more with such an “enhancement”.

  12. Andrea Smith says:

    The idea of a coffee maker in your car seems like a super cool one at first, but after thinking about it, how practical is it? One could make the argument that it saves time and money, but at the same time multitasking to get make coffee seems pretty dangerous. I think this is such a perfect example of American materialism, (and apparently around the world since it’s a foreign car) and how people want their “things” and want it now. We are often so impatient when it comes to what we want, that we take shortcuts to get them. If someone was to wake up five to ten minutes earlier to make their coffee this coffee maker would not be needed in a car. It’s materialistic concepts such as these that rush the world to make things easier on themselves.

  13. Krissy says:

    I agree with what a lot of other people have said about this. I think it’s definitely a huge distraction for drivers to have an espresso machine in a car. Eating and drinking in a car is a distraction that will cause an accident, so if you’re making the coffee while driving isn’t that even more of distraction? I think so.
    I also agree the materialism concept because it’s the new thing, some people will have to have this car. It will make them happy because that is how our society is. It will be interesting to see how the Fiat 500L does in America.

  14. Maggie Williams says:

    I know personally that not only do I have to put my phone away to restrain from texting while driving, or changing the radio station, or looking at my hair, etc. making coffee seems like the most ridiculous thing to put in a moving vehicle. I burn myself while making it in my kitchen. This does not seem smart in any way. Then leads to the even further point of being consumed in materialism. I can not even imagine how much upkeep this would be on top of it all. The point of your car is to get from point a to point b. I think we all loose sight in our society today of that.

Comments are closed.