The 1939 World’s Fair, where TV was introduced, also featured a pavilion where GE showcased an all-electric “Magic Kitchen” in which appliances opened their own doors, operated automatically, and talked about themselves. Home cooks of the future could save 10,000 steps per year—thanks, obviously, to GE’s array of brilliant machines.
Most of that vision failed to come to pass, though the showcase did pave the way for the widespread adoption of automatic dishwashers. But recent technological advancements in the most important room in the house offer hope that such wizardry is increasingly hanging out around the kitchen island. (You can get a full look at 2024’s most innovative companies in the consumer goods category here.)
Among the grabbiest debuts over the past year have been Mill’s subscription-based compost bin, Cruz’s powerful wireless blender, and a stand mixer from, yes, GE Appliances, which essentially executes every baking task except dumping the ingredients into the bowl.
Although consumer reaction to the last decade’s worth of smart kitchen devices has been “fairly mixed,” says Michael Wolf, editor of The Spoon and creator of the Smart Kitchen Summit and CES Food Tech Conference, he’s been more encouraged in the past year or two by the “people experimenting with ideas about what the future of the kitchen could look like,” he says.
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