I don't know about your local Mickey D's, but the Egg McMuffins I've had lately are surprisingly fresh and taste pretty good. Not at all rubbery, and dare I say, some even resemble the photos on the menus?!

This is the greatest invention mankind has ever produced!

Well, not quite, but it's pretty damned cool. I use mine religiously....try sprinkling some shredded cheese on your egg before cooking it next time. It's awesome.

I'm asking this seriously, here, because I'm only rarely a meat-eater and a big egg fan. And although I'm sort of a lame cook in many ways, I have managed to learn to do scrambled eggs, omelets, fried eggs, poached eggs, hard boiled eggs, migas... just about anything one could want. And none of them with any hardware beyond my ordinary pots and pans and a nice spatula. Maybe throw in a cheap egg/pancake ring if you're really picky about them being perfectly round.

Do we, honestly, need a special appliance for every dish? Do we need an "Egg McMuffin" machine to go alongside the already generally-unused quesadilla makers and bread machines and smoothie makers? Does it really save any time to have that many things sitting around the house? In the long run they all generally end up dusty and unused.

I love technology, but this is the opposite of the usual tech trend. Our phones now have cameras and planners and email, but we're supposed to have a separate and specialized machine to cook an egg for breakfast?

Just to be contrarian... I know, this is a blog about the love of gadgets. But this one... when I think about manufacturing it in some far-flung corner of the universe, shipping it to my local Big Box O' Stuff store, and selling it to me (complete with non biodegradeable plastic bag) for $29.95... kinda makes you wonder. I have a toaster. I have pans. I have no space on the counter, since it's already full of other gadgets (coffee maker, grinder, etc.) Do I really need this one? It reminds me of the hot dog machine in the Sky Mall magazine... looks like a toaster for warming hot dog buns and cooking the dog.

I mean, it's cool and all. Maybe great if I lived in a college dorm room with no kitchen. But I think I can give this one a miss.

But I'm going to get one, I hate breaking out the pots and pans for just me. This looks awesome, and from the picture, it doesn't come with someone holding a gun to your head forcing you to use it, so there's really no need to get yourself worked up into a tizzy over this gadgets place in our society.

I'm going to place it next to my George Foreman Grill, which I use religiously. Thanks for the heads up about this neat product!!!

This is what Alton Brown, undisputed king of kitchen gadgets, would label as a "unitasker." Its a toaster, that fries eggs. As other people have pointed out, I have a toaster oven, and it does a hell of a lot more than make Egg McMuffins (two words = "pita pizza"). I think I'll pass on this gadget.

When I was a kid, many years ago, we had this little device that would steam a hot dog and the bun and thats all. I'll tell you what, those were the best G-D hot dogs I've ever had. It was a sad day when the thing finally gave up the ghost.

A. This sounds like yet another piece of junk that no one really needs. Ridiculous, wasteful, made-in-china landfill fodder.

B. Farhad, get a real job. You clearly have too much time on your hands.

What, exactly, is the policy of Salon (or this column) about personal attacks on authors which are entirely unconstructive? Telling Mr. Manjoo, for example, to "get a real job," when thousands of paid writers are currently working in similar jobs, for publications like Consumer Reports (publications which, by their very existence, prove the value of the work to at least thousands of other Americans) is asinine, and I'd prefer not to read it.

I would certainly not object to such posts being removed in the future, to spare us the frustration of reading poorly thought out insults and trolls.

Frankly, Mr. Manjoo, while I may not always agree with your assessment of the utility of certain new technology, I'm glad that there's someone else out there slogging through new products and inventions, and reporting on them, so that I don't have to spend the time.

My mom has one of these, and I always tease her about it - but she LOVES it and uses it almost three times a week. I say, I might not need it, but if she uses it, then it's worth having.

This is a clever gadget. Heck, you COULD use it to make...a fried egg sandwich. Ooooh. Ahhh.

Dumb? Yes. Clever? Absolutely. Worth celebrating? You bet. It's not often that something actually WORKS anymore. We accept defective software, gadgets that don't work right, and stuff that falls apart.

Once in awhile, I want life to be perfect. Is it so much to ask for a perfect eggamuffim?

Keep on celebrating the kewel stuff, Mr. Manjoo.

While I agree, it's "one more thnig" to put in the kitchen, and it's hardly a necessity, tis gadget isn't a unitool if one is creative: could one steam a single serving of veggies or rice in the "egg cooker?" At any rate, if one needed a new toaster, why not get a toaster that also cooks an egg at once? (Seems like an energy saver compared to using a toaster and a stove top or microwave to make the same product).

And if one is a regular McMuffin consumer, I imagine the savings to one's budget is noticeable.

When I cook eggs, I cook for several people at once, so it's more efficient for me to use my pan on the stove. But my bachelor brother might really get good use out of this machine.