The camera also appears to be used to help determine when the food is done, to allow the oven to do things like turn itself up for the last 15 minutes to crisp the exterior.
And that's the important part. Nobody's going to pay $1500 for something that makes cooking easier. They'll appreciate it, but they won't pay for it. Lot's of people will pay $1500 for a gadget that makes cooking better.
$1500 is a lot for an oven that can't cook very much food. It looks like it would serve two people, max? And it can only cook one thing at a time so wave goodbye to roasting veggies while the meat cooks.
People who are passionate about cooking tend to do it for more people than just themselves.
> $1500 is a lot for an oven that can't cook very much food. It looks like it would serve two people, max?
It handles baking dishes up to 11"x16".
Most family size single-baking-dish recipes are sized for a 9"x13" baking dish.
> And it can only cook one thing at a time so wave goodbye to roasting veggies while the meat cooks.
While I suppose for some people a countertop oven might replace a full-size oven, most of the target early-adopter market for expensive kitchen gadgets is going to have a decent size kitchen with a full-size oven as well as any countertop oven; the features this has might reverse the traditional "large oven is primary, countertop is secondary" arrangement in those households, but I don't think most people in the early adopter market is going to be using this as their sole oven (though, I suppose, if you were particularly price-insensitive, especially if you already had a cooktop separate from a large oven, getting two of these for a dual-oven setup would be more space efficient than most dual-oven setups.)
> It fits a 12 pound turkey. That's a small turkey, but it'll feed a lot more than 2 people.
And, for those who find a turkey a less-than-stellar example for whatever reason, a 12-pound turkey is a lot larger than a roughly four-pound roast, which (with various different marinades and preparation techiques) is the base for lots of ~6-8 serving main course recipes.
> $1500 is still a lot of money in the kitchen space. Most people could buy a whole new set of appliances for that price.
So? The target market of early adopters for high-end kitchen gadgets are willing to pay pretty high premiums for unique features. (And aren't people who could replace their existing set of appliances for $1500; they're more like the people that spend close to half of that on a high-end VitaMix blender alone.)
What? No. An upper-midrange oven alone costs that much. $1500 only gets you a set of the cheapest Chinese Walmart appliances with a temperature precision of say +/- 10C.
(whelp - after checking, it even seems that the Miele oven I had in mind as a reference point is over $5000 in the US)
And that's the important part. Nobody's going to pay $1500 for something that makes cooking easier. They'll appreciate it, but they won't pay for it. Lot's of people will pay $1500 for a gadget that makes cooking better.