Since When Is Weather Info a Killer App?

What's with the automatic weather feature on kitchen appliances lately? First, LG releases a TV-cum-refrigerator with a highly touted weather-reporting feature on a dedicated screen. And last week, Salton and MSN Direct announced the availability of the Melitta Smart Mill & Brew.

This "smart" coffeemaker gives you the current weather conditions, the forecast for the rest of the day, precipitation predictions, and sunrise/sunset times—all via the MSN Direct wireless service that powers those Smart Watches Microsoft debuted two years ago. You know, the ones that provide way less information—horoscopes, stock tickers, weather, condensed news—than the average cell phone. They are smart for watches, but who uses a watch anymore? Hasn't the watch been replaced by the cell phone for time and other data? At any rate, the weather information that MSN Direct provides is apparently enough to deem smart an inanimate object like a coffeemaker.

Al Roker is the spokesperson for this device. But I wonder, what's wrong with just watching Al Roker or the Weather Channel to get the weather? Or going online? Is Al just gunning to get more soft celebrity and man-on-the-street interviews?

And sorry, but at $200, this thing is expensive (my cap for drip coffeemakers is $100). I'm all for high-end coffee (and appliances), but I'd much rather save the money and put it toward a half-decent espresso and cappuccino maker.

Why is a weather function such a big deal on kitchen appliances? Why now? Could it be the result of global warming, which is throwing our predictable weather patterns askew? I want to see the data that says we all want weather on our appliances!

If anyone thinks weather information is the great deal-making feature in these various new appliances, please weigh in. In which scenarios, for example, does this feature come in handy?

Related links:

High-tech Kitchen Gear for the Holidays and Beyond

LG Unveil's the World's First HDTV Refrigerator