Companies meet consumers’ low expectations

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

My coffee maker has a sensor that detects whether the coffee holder is in place, the lid for the coffee holder is in place, the water reservoir filled and all the flaps and hatches closed. If it determines any one of these items is not in place, it refuses to automatically turn on in the morning to make the coffee before my alarm clock goes off.

The one thing this modern marvel won’t detect is whether I have remembered to put the coffeepot on the warmer, where it can catch…