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People in their 80's have been "hacking eating" for quite some time now. It's called Ensure. I think I know what's next. Depends (adult diapers) for the young

People in their 80's have been "hacking eating" for quite some time now. It's called Ensure. I think I know what's next. Depends (adult diapers) for the young tech set so you can just go to the bathroom and not disrupt that epic coding session. Because disrupt.

jasonisalive 12y ago
What if Ensure had a cool name and didn't carry connotations of age and disease? What if it was sexily marketed? What if it was easy to flavour and make delicious? What if you signed up for a subscription and never thought about it again? What if you got it from vending machines that were everywhere you went and recognised you as you approached, having a glass perfectly formulated to your tastes and needs at that precise moment ready? What if it came out of a tap? What if your home 3D printer could form it into a multitude of shapes and textures (bar, cookie, cereal) and it would still be nutritionally balanced? What if it was surrounded by a devoted and inventive community of DIY hackers? What if the creator of Ensure was rapidly iterating it and discussing engineering microbes to produce pure versions of it? Oh, or is it easier, instead of using your imagination and a bit of enthusiasm, to point to how it's similar to a crappy product that nobody bothered to market, and imply that it won't be sucessful - because we all know the success and impact of a product has nothing to do with the creativity, perserverance and vision of the creators, right?
- DanBC 12y ago
  Ensure is heavily marketed. It is not irresponsibly marketed. Ensure does not claim to put you in good health. It doesn't claim o be suitable for everyone. By the way: Ensure is available in unflavoured versions to allow users to add it to other food or add other food to it.
  - jasonisalive 12y ago
    Cool story. It's not vegan though so it's useless for me. Plus I would far prefer to buy from a company (eg Soylent) that has a vision of clean, futuristic food production, rather than a company that stupidly accepts the dirty, nasty way we make food now.
chasing 12y ago
You should check out my new startup, as well: SoyDent. We take out all of your teeth and fit you with a removable and easy-to-clean replacement. No more complex brushing and flossing. No more time-consuming trips to the dentist.
FreakyT 12y ago
IIRC, the primary issue with Ensure was only that it cost too much per serving to make it viable for eating every day.
ChikkaChiChi 12y ago
I'm not big on the time and commitment it takes to prepare some meals, so I instead opt for the "easy" option of grabbing whatever is in a bag that I can shove in my face hole. This generally results in me pooping out a product that was subsidized heavily by Big Corn that is not digested, a bunch of preservatives and additives that benefit the storage of, not the digestion of food, and other crap that I'd rather not think about. Some people just don't think eating is...interesting?

jasonisalive 12y ago

What if Ensure had a cool name and didn't carry connotations of age and disease? What if it was sexily marketed? What if it was easy to flavour and make delicious? What if you signed up for a subscription and never thought about it again? What if you got it from vending machines that were everywhere you went and recognised you as you approached, having a glass perfectly formulated to your tastes and needs at that precise moment ready? What if it came out of a tap? What if your home 3D printer could form it into a multitude of shapes and textures (bar, cookie, cereal) and it would still be nutritionally balanced? What if it was surrounded by a devoted and inventive community of DIY hackers? What if the creator of Ensure was rapidly iterating it and discussing engineering microbes to produce pure versions of it? Oh, or is it easier, instead of using your imagination and a bit of enthusiasm, to point to how it's similar to a crappy product that nobody bothered to market, and imply that it won't be sucessful - because we all know the success and impact of a product has nothing to do with the creativity, perserverance and vision of the creators, right?

DanBC 12y ago
Ensure is heavily marketed. It is not irresponsibly marketed. Ensure does not claim to put you in good health. It doesn't claim o be suitable for everyone. By the way: Ensure is available in unflavoured versions to allow users to add it to other food or add other food to it.
- jasonisalive 12y ago
  Cool story. It's not vegan though so it's useless for me. Plus I would far prefer to buy from a company (eg Soylent) that has a vision of clean, futuristic food production, rather than a company that stupidly accepts the dirty, nasty way we make food now.

chasing 12y ago

You should check out my new startup, as well: SoyDent. We take out all of your teeth and fit you with a removable and easy-to-clean replacement. No more complex brushing and flossing. No more time-consuming trips to the dentist.

FreakyT 12y ago

IIRC, the primary issue with Ensure was only that it cost too much per serving to make it viable for eating every day.

ChikkaChiChi 12y ago

I'm not big on the time and commitment it takes to prepare some meals, so I instead opt for the "easy" option of grabbing whatever is in a bag that I can shove in my face hole. This generally results in me pooping out a product that was subsidized heavily by Big Corn that is not digested, a bunch of preservatives and additives that benefit the storage of, not the digestion of food, and other crap that I'd rather not think about. Some people just don't think eating is...interesting?