Scourge of coffee?

I was bemused reading this bit by Khoi Vinh about the Scourge of Coffee.  As one who doesn't partake of caffeine (no, not a religious reason or anything like that, just lost taste for the few caffeinated drinks I once liked), I found it quite amusing.

And reading it, I ended up glad that I ended my investment in Green Mountain Coffee, despite making a decent amount of money from it.

I do wonder about K-Cups and similar systems, though.  I can certainly see the attraction for a business, where you might have people wanting a wide range of beverages.  But I've heard that many people use them at home, as well, and I don't understand that at all.  I would think the cost would preclude that making any sense at all (I figure the extremely rich, who wouldn't care about the cost) could instead hire a butler, or something similar, to take care of coffee for them).