Every day I'm surprised at how my antique Faemina Baby beats my modern HX and Europiccola in terms of espresso taste and quality. It's more consistent than the newer machines. So, I wonder why it was discontinued by Faema and the other Italian companies that made similar machines around 50 years ago. Was the profit too low? Was the lack of a water heater considered too inconvenient? Do consumers insist on milk steaming?

It would seem that a major company should be selling something like the Cafelat Robot by the thousands, with advertisements all over the internet and other media. I can't figure it out.

I suppose because most people want to press the button in the morning to get a caffeine drink reasonably resembling coffee ... time more important than taste ...

My guess would be a combination of factors. Primarily that everyone wanted the other new automated machines and the coffee industry had to keep up. Add to that the durability and simplicity of the fully manual machines would cause a saturated market.

The ROK Presso has attempted to do exactly that, although its product execution pales in comparison to the Cafelat Robot. The Faemina Baby is not without its issues as well, such as thin-walled baskets and the complicated gasket.

With respect to all the different reasons, ease of use is going to be the deciding factor. Folks on H-B have no issues going to extraordinary lengths for the best coffee experiences, but we're a small subset of the population. Most people want minimal hassle when it comes to their morning hit of caffeine.

I used to own the ROK Presso when it was called "All-Clad," but my results were nowhere near the Faemina Baby. I have no issues with the Baby's metal filter, which seems pretty sturdy. I got my old seal to work with lots of pressure by placing a plumbing o-ring (Danko #100) at the top of the old seal. For now, at least, it beats all my other machines.

Anyway, if it were in production and advertised properly, maybe it could sell. The basket would not be an issue because it could be made of steel, like the Robot. And the Robot seal is also easier to use. The Italian booklet that I recently translated looks like it was written for very unsophisticated household use. Actually, I don't think it's that much harder to use than my Italian moka pot, if I don't want to use one of my electrical espresso machines.

Maybe the Robot just needs to be picked up by a major company with a good advertising budget.

because it wasnt that convenient anymore...
Production with plastics became more common, less expensive, there is the promise of ease of use and modernity in new machines.
Plus you need to stay competitive so you have to look at how well a product does against others of its same class of other brands and if you are bringing along two products that can actually lose sales to eachother and how the costs of producing one compares to the cost of producing the other.
There is also the issue of what is the direction a company wants to go towards (like commercial vs home use) and the bigger the company the more complicated the whole issue becomes.

At the end of the day its all about money, sometimes certain things get improved but $ tends to kill even great stuff, thats why old people complain about all the newfangled thingamajigs that cant hold a candle to the old stuff... and with technology going faster and faster becoming that "old fart" is going to happen at an earlier age than usual...

larrbo wrote:The ROK Presso has attempted to do exactly that, although its product execution pales in comparison to the Cafelat Robot. The Faemina Baby is not without its issues as well, such as thin-walled baskets and the complicated gasket.

With respect to all the different reasons, ease of use is going to be the deciding factor. Folks on H-B have no issues going to extraordinary lengths for the best coffee experiences, but we're a small subset of the population. Most people want minimal hassle when it comes to their morning hit of caffeine.

Ease of use/convenience is definitely a factor. I have many friends and family members that still do not think it's important to have a good quality grinder nor spend money on fresh beans because for them coffee is just a bitter substance that will need milk & sugar either way. They admit the coffee I make at home is better but that's not enough to change years and years of a single mindset without the openness to listen & try new things.

Personally I was hooked when I first tried a properly extracted light roast coffee and invested immediately into good equipment.