28 Feb 2005 | Dan said...

That's one of those things that's so obvious that no one thought about it. Those Japanese are all right! =D

28 Feb 2005 | Adam Michela said...

I have a desktop fridge from Sharper Image that can keep food Cold or Warm.

Well, that's what it says it does anyway :D

28 Feb 2005 | LB said...

There have been portable ones for years available in the UK, ok not the same size as a regular fridge (they were designed for travel), but still big enough for 2 'ready meals'.

28 Feb 2005 | SH said...

A fridge that keeps things warm...kind of like an oven? Or a microwave?

28 Feb 2005 | Benjy said...

I think I saw something that was pretty much the opposite of this on HGTV a while back. It was an oven that could also refrigerate food -- so you could put a meal in before work and it'd stay chilled until the timer told the oven to begin cooking. Walk in the door and the meal's in the oven waiting...

28 Feb 2005 | Adam Michela said...

an oven that could also refrigerate food -- so you could put a meal in before work and it'd stay chilled until the timer told the oven to begin cooking

now that's a cool idea.

28 Feb 2005 | Darrel said...

What SH said. ;o)

I'm curious as to which market is able to sell more crap: the excercise equipment one or the kitchen utility one.

28 Feb 2005 | Will said...

I'll stick with a warming drawer as an accessory to my oven rather than a hot/cold fridge.

It seems to me that most products that set out to cover all of the bases usually end up doing several things poorly rather than one thing really well.

28 Feb 2005 | Hagbard Celine said...

I wonder if the design conserves energy by piping the waste heat from the refrigerator to the warming compartment.

It's always seemed a bit silly to have this giant heat exchanger in the kitchen pumping out warm air that's not put to any use.

28 Feb 2005 | pb said...

Count me in the group that thinks ovens warm things and refrigerators cool things.

01 Mar 2005 | Mooch said...

Most Japanese people don't have a big ol' oven in their house. And most rangetops I've seen are gas-powered, meaning open flame -- you can't leave that unattended. This is a sensible solution -- one of many from Japan -- that addresses a specific problem, while being sensitive to spacial constraints that many people face. It may not make sense to everyone in this country, but they've been making multipurpose products successfully for a while over there.