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Wow, thank you so much everyone for your candid feedback and thoughts! It's really helpful, and I'm very grateful!

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I can appreciate your ingenuity but I would never buy something like this nor would I even want it as a gift. I avoid one trick ponies like the plague and I would never give them space in my kitchen.

Being a one trick pony is definitely a huge concern of mine. The main reason I got curious if something like this could be useful to others is because there are some one trick pony products out there that people seem to have gone bananas over.

Just this one egg boiler, for example, has over 127,000 reviews on Amazon! And all it does is boil eggs! Granted, it's super inexpensive...

4 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

maybe useful for someone with limited mobility (in a cast because of a broken wrist/arm, for example) or a home carer for an elderly person who could load it up with eggs and then they can have an egg if they are alone without worrying that they'll leave the range on.  Maybe as a rental device, the way people rent medical equipment for a short duration.

 

I also think you are remarkably clever and you should continue to pursue this sort of thing. 

Thanks for the idea! Limited mobility was vaguely in the back of my mind but you pinpointed much clearer scenarios. Any thoughts on where I might go to ask if this would be useful to folks in those situations? For example, I can look up home care facilities, not sure if there's a better way.

3 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Does it alert you when the egg is done?  I could see something like this in hotel breakfast bars next to the pancake tunnel if it had an egg storage and dispensing system and shell disposal so you didn't have to touch raw egg. 

 

Yup, it alerts you when it's done. And it can leave it on "warm" so that it stays warm even if you can't get to it immediately. Thank you for the idea about hotel breakfast...I was having a bit of a hard time visualizing someone using this in a hotel because I wasn't sure if they'd be willing to pick up a raw egg (even with tongs) and drop it into the machine...but having egg storage and dispensing so that they just walk up to the machine and ask for a fried egg...that seems pretty in-line with the pancake tunnel you're mentioning (which I assume is something like this video below)

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

What do you mean by 'it preheats'? Are you referring to the eggs being from the fridge? Please be aware that refrigerating eggs is a peculiarly American habit.  

Also, only being able to do 'sunny side up' is a big limitation. Not everyone wants their fried eggs that way.

 

 

Good question, and thanks for highlighting that it was confusing terminology! (haha another reminder that sometimes one can get so absorbed in what you're working on that you assume it makes sense to others!)... I meant that it pre-heats the pan to the right temperature before cracking the egg into the pan.  

2 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

With that shape of pan that's about all you could do. It really should have an egg pan in case somebody would want to flip their eggs.

With that shape pan, it can only do a sunny side up fried egg (and if you wanted it over easy/over medium, etc., you would have to manually flip it). Technically, it's not difficult to add a little holder and lid like the egg boilers do so that it can boil eggs....or a cradle for poached eggs... more "attachments" is a concern of mine, personally, though going back to the egg boiler example...people seem to use those for boiled eggs, poached eggs, even steamed "omelettes" (if you can call it that).

Wow, thank you so much everyone for your candid feedback and thoughts! It's really helpful, and I'm very grateful!

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I can appreciate your ingenuity but I would never buy something like this nor would I even want it as a gift. I avoid one trick ponies like the plague and I would never give them space in my kitchen.

Being a one trick pony is definitely a huge concern of mine. The main reason I got curious if something like this could be useful to others is because there are some one trick pony products out there that people seem to have gone bananas over.

Just this one egg boiler, for example, has over 127,000 reviews on Amazon! And all it does is boil eggs! Granted, it's super inexpensive...

4 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

maybe useful for someone with limited mobility (in a cast because of a broken wrist/arm, for example) or a home carer for an elderly person who could load it up with eggs and then they can have an egg if they are alone without worrying that they'll leave the range on.  Maybe as a rental device, the way people rent medical equipment for a short duration.

 

I also think you are remarkably clever and you should continue to pursue this sort of thing. 

Thanks for the idea! Limited mobility was vaguely in the back of my mind but you pinpointed much clearer scenarios. Any thoughts on where I might go to ask if this would be useful to folks in those situations? For example, I can look up home care facilities, not sure if there's a better way.

3 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Does it alert you when the egg is done?  I could see something like this in hotel breakfast bars next to the pancake tunnel if it had an egg storage and dispensing system and shell disposal so you didn't have to touch raw egg. 

 

Yup, it alerts you when it's done. And it can leave it on "warm" so that it stays warm even if you can't get to it immediately. Thank you for the idea about hotel breakfast...I was having a bit of a hard time visualizing someone using this in a hotel because I wasn't sure if they'd be willing to pick up a raw egg (even with tongs) and drop it into the machine...but having egg storage and dispensing so that they just walk up to the machine and ask for a fried egg...that seems pretty in-line with the pancake tunnel you're mentioning (which I assume is something like this video below)

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

What do you mean by 'it preheats'? Are you referring to the eggs being from the fridge? Please be aware that refrigerating eggs is a peculiarly American habit.  

Also, only being able to do 'sunny side up' is a big limitation. Not everyone wants their fried eggs that way.

 

 

Good question, and thanks for highlighting that it was confusing terminology! (haha another reminder that sometimes one can get so absorbed in what you're working on that you assume it makes sense to others!)... I meant that it pre-heats the pan to the right temperature before cracking the egg into the pan.  

2 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

With that shape of pan that's about all you could do. It really should have an egg pan in case somebody would want to flip their eggs.

With that shape pan, it can only do a sunny side up fried egg (and if you wanted it over easy/over medium, etc., you would have to manually flip it). Technically, it's not difficult to add a little holder and lid like the egg boilers do so that it can boil eggs....or a cradle for poached eggs... more "attachments" is a concern of mine, personally, though going back to the egg boiler example...people seem to use those for boiled eggs, poached eggs, even steamed "omelettes" (if you can call it that).

Wow, thank you so much everyone for your candid feedback and thoughts! It's really helpful, and I'm very grateful!

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I can appreciate your ingenuity but I would never buy something like this nor would I even want it as a gift. I avoid one trick ponies like the plague and I would never give them space in my kitchen.

Being a one trick pony is definitely a huge concern of mine. The main reason I got curious if something like this could be useful to others is because there are some one trick pony products out there that people seem to have gone bananas over.

Just this one egg boiler, for example, has over 127,000 reviews on Amazon! And all it does is boil eggs! Granted, it's super inexpensive...

4 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

maybe useful for someone with limited mobility (in a cast because of a broken wrist/arm, for example) or a home carer for an elderly person who could load it up with eggs and then they can have an egg if they are alone without worrying that they'll leave the range on.  Maybe as a rental device, the way people rent medical equipment for a short duration.

 

I also think you are remarkably clever and you should continue to pursue this sort of thing. 

Thanks for the idea! Limited mobility was vaguely in the back of my mind but you pinpointed much clearer scenarios. Any thoughts on where I might go to ask if this would be useful to folks in those situations? For example, I can look up home care facilities, not sure if there's a better way.

3 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Does it alert you when the egg is done?  I could see something like this in hotel breakfast bars next to the pancake tunnel if it had an egg storage and dispensing system and shell disposal so you didn't have to touch raw egg. 

 

Yup, it alerts you when it's done. And it can leave it on "warm" so that it stays warm even if you can't get to it immediately. Thank you for the idea about hotel breakfast...I was having a bit of a hard time visualizing someone using this in a hotel because I wasn't sure if they'd be willing to pick up a raw egg (even with tongs) and drop it into the machine...but having egg storage and dispensing so that they just walk up to the machine and ask for a fried egg...that seems pretty in-line with the pancake tunnel you're mentioning (which I assume is something like this video below)

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

What do you mean by 'it preheats'? Are you referring to the eggs being from the fridge? Please be aware that refrigerating eggs is a peculiarly American habit.  

Also, only being able to do 'sunny side up' is a big limitation. Not everyone wants their fried eggs that way.

 

 

Good question, and thanks for highlighting that it was confusing terminology! (haha another reminder that sometimes one can get so absorbed in what you're working on that you assume it makes sense to others!)... I meant that it pre-heats the pan to the right temperature before cracking the egg into the pan.  

Wow, thank you so much everyone for your candid feedback and thoughts! It's really helpful, and I'm very grateful!

8 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I can appreciate your ingenuity but I would never buy something like this nor would I even want it as a gift. I avoid one trick ponies like the plague and I would never give them space in my kitchen.

>Being a one trick pony is definitely a huge concern of mine. The main reason I got curious if something like this could be useful to others is because there are some one trick pony products out there that people seem to have gone bananas over:

Just this one egg boiler, for example, as over 127,000 reviews on Amazon! And all it does is boil eggs! Granted, it's super inexpensive...

4 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

maybe useful for someone with limited mobility (in a cast because of a broken wrist/arm, for example) or a home carer for an elderly person who could load it up with eggs and then they can have an egg if they are alone without worrying that they'll leave the range on.  Maybe as a rental device, the way people rent medical equipment for a short duration.

 

I also think you are remarkably clever and you should continue to pursue this sort of thing. 

Thanks for the idea! Limited mobility was vaguely in the back of my mind but you pinpointed much clearer scenarios. Any thoughts on where I might go to ask if this would be useful to folks in those situations? For example, I can look up home care facilities, not sure if there's a better way.

3 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Does it alert you when the egg is done?  I could see something like this in hotel breakfast bars next to the pancake tunnel if it had an egg storage and dispensing system and shell disposal so you didn't have to touch raw egg. 

 

Yup, it alerts you when it's done. And it can leave it on "warm" so that it stays warm even if you can't get to it immediately. Thank you for the idea about hotel breakfast...I was having a bit of a hard time visualizing someone using this in a hotel because I wasn't sure if they'd be willing to pick up a raw egg (even with tongs) and drop it into the machine...but having egg storage and dispensing so that they just walk up to the machine and ask for a fried egg...that seems pretty in-line with the pancake tunnel you're mentioning (which I assume is something like this video below)

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

What do you mean by 'it preheats'? Are you referring to the eggs being from the fridge? Please be aware that refrigerating eggs is a peculiarly American habit.  

Also, only being able to do 'sunny side up' is a big limitation. Not everyone wants their fried eggs that way.

 

 

Good question, and thanks for highlighting that it was confusing terminology! (haha another reminder that sometimes one can get so absorbed in what you're working on that you assume it makes sense to others!)... I meant that it pre-heats the pan to the right temperature before cracking the egg into the pan.