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He's undoubtedly a genius, but I see him as a greedy asshole. He's the author of Modernist Cuisine, a cookbook based on science. He has done all the experimen

He's undoubtedly a genius, but I see him as a greedy asshole. He's the author of Modernist Cuisine, a cookbook based on science. He has done all the experiments to determine the scientifically best ways to cook things. Instead of making it an affordable book, he priced it at over $600. yes, he spent millions in the process, but he's a multi-billionaire. He's never going to recoup the $25 million he spent on research, why couldn't he have done that as giving back to the community? I just don't get that.

deleted 8y ago
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oh_sigh 8y ago
Because he wants the book to be a conversation piece for fanatics - if you price it at $30 it will be the 'joy of cooking' - which is fine, but isn't what he is going for
noonespecial 8y ago
Oh, he's a greedy asshole alright, but the choice to sell the book for $600 wasn't an example of it. He had a choice to make on the book, commodity cookbook or status symbol. With all the hype around it, that book was destined to be a PDF on the pirate bay the day after release no matter what the price. Selling it for $600 so rich half-wits could perch it in their kitchen as a trophy was brilliant. Now IV and its business model was pure, reactor-grade greedy assholery. Perhaps that's how he understood so well the mentality of the person who would drop $600 for a cookbook. With the taking one to know one and all that...
archagon 8y ago
In fairness, it's a bloody gorgeous book. (Or rather, set of books—I believe there are six.)
lgf 8y ago
>He's the author of Modernist Cuisine, a cookbook based on science. He has done all the experiments to determine the scientifically best ways to cook things. Instead of making it an affordable book, he priced it at over $600. $600 is not that extreme a price in the 'technical food book aimed at professionals' realm (which is where the book was originally aimed). There are 4-volume references like Hui and Sherkat's "Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering" which retail at $1,800 (https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Food-Science-Technology-Engineering/dp/0849398479); https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Food-Science-Technology-Engi... a number of single-volume Wiley handbooks have prices around $290. Factoring in that Modernist Cuisine is 23kg, 7 volumes, had an initial print run at 6,000 copies and an unusual volume (the kitchen manual is printed on plastic)...it's hard to see how this is a reasonable criticism, especially when Modernist Cuisine at Home (which is targeted at a wider audience and covers many of the same bases) is priced at $112.

deleted 8y ago

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oh_sigh 8y ago

Because he wants the book to be a conversation piece for fanatics - if you price it at $30 it will be the 'joy of cooking' - which is fine, but isn't what he is going for

noonespecial 8y ago

Oh, he's a greedy asshole alright, but the choice to sell the book for $600 wasn't an example of it. He had a choice to make on the book, commodity cookbook or status symbol. With all the hype around it, that book was destined to be a PDF on the pirate bay the day after release no matter what the price. Selling it for $600 so rich half-wits could perch it in their kitchen as a trophy was brilliant. Now IV and its business model was pure, reactor-grade greedy assholery. Perhaps that's how he understood so well the mentality of the person who would drop $600 for a cookbook. With the taking one to know one and all that...

archagon 8y ago

In fairness, it's a bloody gorgeous book. (Or rather, set of books—I believe there are six.)

lgf 8y ago

>He's the author of Modernist Cuisine, a cookbook based on science. He has done all the experiments to determine the scientifically best ways to cook things. Instead of making it an affordable book, he priced it at over $600. $600 is not that extreme a price in the 'technical food book aimed at professionals' realm (which is where the book was originally aimed). There are 4-volume references like Hui and Sherkat's "Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering" which retail at $1,800 (https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Food-Science-Technology-Engineering/dp/0849398479); https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Food-Science-Technology-Engi... a number of single-volume Wiley handbooks have prices around $290. Factoring in that Modernist Cuisine is 23kg, 7 volumes, had an initial print run at 6,000 copies and an unusual volume (the kitchen manual is printed on plastic)...it's hard to see how this is a reasonable criticism, especially when Modernist Cuisine at Home (which is targeted at a wider audience and covers many of the same bases) is priced at $112.