Oh! Super Toaster!

An anonymous reader writes "Japanese company Neutral KK has developed a Super Toaster. Not only does it toast your bread with infrared beams, it actually slices the loaf of bread for you. For a price tag of around $10,000US, that makes it about the most expensive toaster in the world."

For $10K

[Neil Blender]

It had better run linux.

Re:For $10K

[Antonymous Flower]

Haven't you heard? Linux is free.

Re:For $10K

[badmammajamma]

I will personally pay $1000 dollars to the first person who gets linux running on it.

Re:For $10K

[djward]

More importantly, does it fly [infinisys.co.jp]?

"Good news everyone... I've taught the toaster to feel love"

Re:For $10K

[dmaxwell]

Yes, but will that let it play oggs?

Re:For $10K

[zero_offset]

Unix style: do one thing but do it good.

Apparently in your UNIX, that one thing isn't grammar-checking.

Lazy

[ThisNukes4u]

Have people gotten so lazy that they cannot slice their own bread?

Re:Lazy

[Krankheit]

Doesn't most bread come sliced nowadays?

Re:Lazy

[Fred_A]

Real bread [poilane.com] doesn't.

Re:Lazy

[Airconditioning]

No, we're so incompetent that we would hurt oursleves trying.

Re:Lazy

[k4_pacific]

Very few people slice their own bread today. Rather, it typically comes presliced from the store.

On another note, I have a 1953 vintage Toastmaster model 1B14 [toastercentral.com]. I use it regularly and it still works perfectly. Now THAT is quality.

Re:Lazy

[fm6]

Very few people slice their own bread today. Rather, it typically comes presliced from the store.

Really???!!!

Re:Lazy

[SpecBear]

Very few people slice their own bread today. Rather, it typically comes presliced from the store.

Wow! That's gotta be the greatest idea since...since...

Dammmit.

Greatest thing before sliced bread?

[TWX]

"Wow! That's gotta be the greatest idea since...since...

Dammmit."

I think that George Carlin was having some trouble with this one in one of his rants...

Re:Lazy

[Exatron]

Wow! That's gotta be the greatest idea since...since...

Unsliced bread?

Re:Lazy

[SYFer]

I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you Toastmaster fanatics? I have recently upgraded from a Toastmaster 1B5 to a 1B14 to help me at my freelance gig where I needed to toast 4 slices of bread for a BLT lunch. On the Toastmaster it took about 20 minutes. At home, on my Sunbeam T-9, which by all standards should be a lot slower than this 1B14, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.

Re:Lazy

[Juice2504]

You have obviously never seen my wife try to slice bread.

tongue in cheek mode off

Re:Lazy

[sl4shd0rk]

Yes. People have also gotten so lazy that they don't even fin

Bread should NEVER be sliced!

[bluGill]

Yes, people, at least in the US are that lazy. And they fail to realize that break should never be sliced. Bread is always broken, which most of Europe understands. That way if you don't eat all your bread you can give the remainder to the beggars outside your door. Of course we don't have beggars very often, but you should be ready just in case.

If anyone is coming to North America from Europe (and elsewhere?), bring your own bread, you can't get anything worth it in the US. (IF you drink tea, brin

Friend, are you tired of your old toaster?

[Zardus]

Then try Intellitoast [ubergeek.tv]!

Re:Friend, are you tired of your old toaster?

[G-funk]

Howdy Doodley Do! I'm Talkie. Talkie Toaster, your chirpy breakfast companion. Talkie's the name and toastin's the game.

Very nice, but...

[Krankheit]

But does it run NetBSD?

Re:Very nice, but...

[uucp2]

Of course it does. [netbsd.org]

Re:Very nice, but...

[Lord Kano]

Didn't you even check the NetBSD webpage [netbsd.org]?

"Of course it runs NetBSD"

LK

Re:Very nice, but...

[CastrTroy]

Yes, but if you use Fedora on it, it won't support MP3.

vows

[Antonymous Flower]

My love for you is like a $10,000 toaster.

bread

[Anonymous Coward]

Does it support wheat bread? I don't care for white bread much.

I just bought a new toaster

[Prophetic_Truth]

it has a bagel button, a reheat button, a defrost button, and its made of stainless steel. All for the low price of $30! No it wont slice my bread, but i buy my bread presliced anyways!

It had to be said...

[rdwald]

This toaster is the greatest invention since sliced bread.

Re:It had to be said...

[geekoid]

I thought the greatest thing since sliced bread was bread in a can.

Re:It had to be said...

[caluml]

But what was the greatest thing **before** sliced bread?

Re:It had to be said...

[Tony Hoyle]

Unsliced bread?

This isn't the coolest toaster...

[bennomatic]

...This [newtek.com] is!

Re:This isn't the coolest toaster...

[Vellmont]

You've got it all wrong. This [geocities.com] is by far the coolest toaster.

No thanks

[tenaciousj]

Well considering my regular sliced bread usually costed around $ .99. I figure even after buying a deluxe $20 toaster, I can still buy 10,081 loaves before I match what I would spend on this thing.

Re:No thanks

[tenaciousj]

And for all you spelling nazis. Yes, I know it should be costs.

Re:No thanks

[d1v1d3byz3r0]

That's assuming that unsliced bread is free, which it probably isn't.

Interesting, but...

[renata.org]

...does it run a Flying Computers screensaver or have embedded wings?

I got $20,000 to burn

[Anonymous Crowhead]

Hmmm two toasters....personal sandcrawler....two toasters....personal sandcrawler. Tough choice.

This is the best thing since sliced bread!

[ZiZ]

No, actually, it's better. Bread goes stale so much faster when it's sliced because there's much more exposed bread drying out and getting spored...

But this won't be cheap. From the link [i4u.com] in TFA: The price is estimated at around 1.1 million yen (~$10,000) and goes on the market in April. Target market are hotels and restaurants.

It even suggests you find a normal toaster. :)

Poor Marketing Manager....

[CMiYC]

You know, somewhere this is some poor marketing manager who keeps saying, "IT'S NOT JUST A TOASTER!" Meanwhile places like slashtdot are posting, "its a $10k toaster!"

Re:Poor Marketing Manager....

[cgenman]

Is he the same marketing guy who wrote "Super Toaster!" on the side? I know that super is supposed to mean "Better than," and therefore a Pink Hello Kitty Ferrari could be considered Super Toaster, but come on. I'm sure they know they're selling a 10,000 dollar toaster. Which in Tokyo just doesn't sound outrageous.

Re:Poor Marketing Manager....

[gl4ss]

no it's not just a toaster, it's a "OH, SUPER TOASTER".

the japanese sure have their way with words..

Infrared Beams?

[Hays]

Call me uninformed, but don't ALL toasters use infrared beams? Heat some high resistance metal up with electrical current, blackbody radiation puts its peak output in the infrared range?

Re:Infrared Beams?

[fm6]

Two explanations for this: (1) they use some silly high-tech method to generate the heat; (2) somebody just thought it'd be cool to relable "heating coils" as "infrared beam generators".

Back in the 60s, somebody came out with a blender that had a simple non-integrated rectifier. Now, a rectifier is a solid-state component, so they announed that they had invented THE SOLID-STATE BLENDER!

Re:Infrared Beams?

[RFC959]

You're kidding...I have one of those! I knew about the labelling, of course, but not why they'd labeled it that way. It's an old Osterizer, and it says, beneath a vaguely Bohr-atom-like logo, "SOLID STATE". When I first noticed that (and was old enough to know what it meant), I thought, "What, unlike all those blenders with vacuum tubes in them?" It's an Osterizer "Galaxie Ten", which I inherited from my parents, and it still works fine, too, although it's a trifle overdesigned - it has ten different sp

Re:Infrared Beams?

[fm6]

All these years, and it still works? That's solid-state technology for you!

You know, all these years, I've been seeing the frappé button on blenders, and it never occurred to me to look the word up. It just means "thick liquid". I guess calling the highest speed "liquify" wasn't fancy enough.

Re:Infrared Beams?

[krbvroc1]

Call me uninformed, but don't ALL toasters use infrared beams? Heat some high resistance metal up with electrical current, blackbody radiation puts its peak output in the infrared range?

Yes, but todays toasters are not environmentally friendly - when they cool a layer of hydrogen oxide forms on the outsides. Given enough of this stuff you could have some serious problems.

Re:Infrared Beams?

[chgros]

Call me uninformed, but don't ALL toasters use infrared beams? Heat some high resistance metal up with electrical current, blackbody radiation puts its peak output in the infrared range?
Yes, but is the radiation what causes the heating? Or rather diffusion / convection?

toast lasers

[stormi]

I wonder if you could use the beam from the Super Toaster to blind pilots of passing planes....

I'd rather...

[barrettlight50]

put a down payment on this [gizmodo.com].

Re:I'd rather...

[ajlitt]

Slashdot: New $ for Roland. Stuff that was on Gizmodo six hours ago.

thats not the most expensive toaster

[geekoid]

I'll sell you mine for 10,001 dollars!

I for one...

[Krankheit]

I for one welcome our new bread-reslicing overlords.

Want a cool toaster but don't have $10K?

[i_want_you_to_throw_]

Then buy the O'Reilly book Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks [oreilly.com]. It has instructions on how to make an Internet Ready Toaster [oreilly.com]

Yummy.. take a byte of that.

Re:Want a cool toaster but don't have $10K?

[good-n-nappy]

I was just about to ask whether the $10K toaster is internet ready. The true test of futuristic kitchen technology.

Re:Want a cool toaster but don't have $10K?

[MyLongNickName]

I want at least a warm toaster.

ObSluggy

[Scarblac]

The bread says TOAAAAAST [sluggy.com].

Money Better Spent

[Steve Franklin]

If you have that kind of money to throw away, you can afford your own French Chef, preferably one who's female and walks around in her underwear. What is WITH the Japanese anyway?

Re:Money Better Spent

[Photon Ghoul]

If you have the kind of money to throw away on a Hummer, you can afford your own buggy and driver, preferably a driver who's female and drives around in her underwear. What is WITH the Americans anyway?

Re:Money Better Spent

[B1ackDragon]

Maybe the same motives applied for inventing this toaster... [penny-arcade.com]

Re:Money Better Spent

[rark]

Lack of space in tiny apartments. Not enough room for underwear clad french chefs.

Re:Money Better Spent

[Steve Franklin]

I think I'd figure out how to make room....

Re:Money Better Spent

[Steve Franklin]

This is irony, right? You aren't seriously telling me you'd paint a picture during the time your automatic toaster was toasting your bread?

Convergence

[zymano]

And then you combine it with a Japanese toilet that wipes your ass for you and you'll never need to leave the bathroom in the morning.

They make other things

[digitalgimpus]

- Toilet Paper Despenser ($20,000)

Not only despenses paper, but wipes for you. The only downside is the hands are small like that of a a 5 year old. If your ok with that, perhaps you'll enjoy this

- Urinal Cake ($30,000)

Not only does it sanitize, it has a spiffy sent, and compliments you if you eat Asparagus and take a piss

- Anal Wart Cream ($50,000)

Just like the toilet paper, just applies cream... can be purchased as addon.

- Vibrating {male gental} ($100,000)

Not only will it stimulate the G-Spo

Brazil!

[fm6]

I'm reminded of the sophisticated -- and useless -- kitchen gadgets in Terry Gilliam's Brazil [wikipedia.org]. A movie every techie should sit through at least once before being allowed to design anything.

Infrared?

[slavemowgli]

Doesn't *every* toaster use infrared beams to toast bread?

56 comments in...

[Hortensia Patel]

...and nobody is quoting Red Dwarf? What's wrong with you people?

Re:56 comments in...

[VikingBerserker]

...and nobody is quoting Red Dwarf? What's wrong with you people?

So, you're a waffle man, eh?

Re:56 comments in...

[Hortensia Patel]

There we go!

Now, you listen here. You will not offer ANY grilled bread products to ANY member of the crew. If you do, you will be on the receiving end of a very large -1, Obsessed With Toast moderation.

This is what I love

[Rie Beam]

Finally, something that can meet Longhorn's specifications...

For that price...

[dlleigh]

...it should write original poetry on each slice with a laser. Maybe toast haiku:

Waking on sunrise
Bread warms the still morning air.
My nose breathes delight.

Hell

[Rie Beam]

For $10,000 I can pay my neighbor to come over everyday for the rest of my life and make toast for me. And he won't break. I hope.

Thats nice but

[niall2]

When does it become Talkie Toaster [scifilm.org]?

I call shenanigans!

[karlandtanya]

This is not a "toaster". It's a piece of institutional equipment, which happens to toast bread.

Target market are hotels and restaurants.

I'm working in a plant (factory to some of you). I could point to any number of things and call them "$80,000 overhead lamps", "million dollar air conditioners" (well, the Mercedes plant is air conditioned; you just have to sweat in the Hyundai plant), and so forth.

But I don't go calling the media about it.

neat idea BUT

[whovian]

it sure does seem like a waste to throw away the other 14 pieces of toast when I had only wanted 2.

But does it butter the toast for you??!!

[ebyrob]

Don't read me, I'm an empty message.

Does it talk ?

[thrill12]

I only want it if it talks like Talkie [on.net]!

Re:Does it talk ?

[grolschie]

I was frantically searching for a post titled "Obligatory: Red Dwarf quote" and almost missed this gem. :-)

What I want to know is...

[rsilvergun]

if this is just about the most expensive toaster in the world, just what is?

For that much money

[Lord Kano]

that thing had better give knowledge [winthrop.edu] with the toast.

LK

What the !*#$

[linuxwrangler]

So this guy finds a page that includes a pink Hello Kitty Ferrari, a toaster, and a personal sand crawler [jalopnik.com] and he decides that slashdotters would be interested in the toaster?!? For the $$$ I'd take the crawler over two toasters any day.

Linux toast?

[Frank T. Lofaro Jr.]

But does it run Linux? :)

welcome, Cylon overlords

[joey]

Surely the juxtaposition of this story with the BSGng one was not accidental?

No bread maker?

[Easy2RememberNick]

I have to supply the bread too? Pfft..no way.

This article sponsored by...

[david.given]

...the Toast Marketing Board [thursdaynext.com]!

Not the most expensive...

[dex22]

I own the most expensive toaster in the World. No, really! :)

It's a cobalt blue KitchenAid toaster with bagel button. I'll happily sell it to anyone for $15,000.

It doesn't slice bread.

If someone DOES buy it (Steve Jobs, are you listening?) I will use the funds to develop a new Mac OS X app for independent filmmakers.

Toasting with infared beams?!!?!?

[Lord Bitman]

OH BOY! MY REGULAR TOASTER DOESNT DO THAT! It uses old fasioned radient heat energy! Infrared beams now! Yay! High-tech shit!

OMG! OMG! TOASTER!

[saikou]

A link to "Find a normal toaster" on the page [i4u.com], describing Nikkei news about this commerical product is especially cute :)
As for the infrared ray toasting... well... that's pretty much standard, unless someone actually makes toasts via Dumb Toaster Called Skillet :)

What?

[Magnus Reftel]

What? Didn't they wisely have him beheaded [funnies.paco.to]?

does it run...

[whitroth]

Linux, someone asked?

Nahhhh, embedded WinDoze. That's why it occasionally gives you blue toast.

mark "and in shadow letters, 'abort...'"

MMMMM

[Tkaos]

MMMMMMMM... Toast!

A Short History of the Technology

[Walt Dismal]

Few people know that Steve Jobs invented the iToaster. However, when he presented the concept to Apple R&D, they misunderstood him and built a box with a green laser pointer in it. It was an aeronautical and opthamic disaster.

Microsoft also tried to build one. Version 1 never worked. Version 2 frequently crashed the toast. It wasn't until Version 3 that it successful toasted eyes. After a marketing-driven name change, it became the Windows Media Player we all know and love.

These questions aren't asked in Japan...

[TheLittleJetson]

...when making any consumer electronics device.

Re:Why???

[UniverseIsADoughnut]

It's from Japan, everyone should have just stopped asking why at this point. It's the land of giant robots, worshiping a cartoon kitty, everything small and pink. And no product is made by a company that doesn't end with "... Heavy Industries"

Re:Functionality

[Shadow Wrought]

Yep. $10k goes a long way to buying an awful lot of fresh baked bread. You could probably even swing a Bread Maker;-)

Re:Forget the toaster....

[flokemon]

I don't drive - but could you take me for a ride if you should get it? :D

Re:Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth...

[Peale]

That place is just up the road from me. I mean, literally like *just* up the road.

I went in there once. Nice stuff, but overpriced for the tourists.

Re:For that much money

[Talking Toaster]

Heck, for that much money, it should also include a Bio-Chemical Reaction Detector, and only tell the truth.