Well, it had a good run, persisting through discoloration, chipped glass and the occasional vinegar cleaning. But it looks like my venerable coffeemaker has shed its mortal coil at last. He perked once or twice this morning, but then: terrible, terrible silence.

We were reduced to brewing the morning coffee with Charles' French press. I know that some of my sophisticated big-city friends may be tempted to go on and on about the merits of French-pressed coffee — its thickness, sweetness and exquisite and/or non-existent oiliness — and from there argue that I should embrace French pressing as the one true way to make coffee. But as far as I'm concerned the single most important attribute that a cup of coffee can possess is not being the last one. And on that score, the French press fails. Besides, it sounds oddly sexual.

So, sad as this occasion is, it's also a chance for rebirth. I'm going to get a new coffeemaker, and I could use some suggestions. As you might imagine, my natural inclination is to get something complicated and impractical that costs a lot of money and breaks almost immediately. I've already asked some of my friends and loved ones to repeat to me that this is a bad idea, but I could use your support as well.

It would be nice to hear about specific alternate coffeemakers, too. Emily's trying to sell me on a Bunn coffeemaker — her family has one that she likes a lot. But to me, the brand recalls the time when my mom was a church secretary and I'd sometimes have to while away time in the building's basement, with the folding chairs and blank marriage certificates and brittle linoleum and alcoholics shuffling into a room down the hall and, yes, Bunn coffeemaker. That's not really the coffee lifestyle I want my purchase to evoke. The machines are also a little pricey for appliances that come with so much suburban despair attached.

No, as with all of my consumer purchases, I'd like my coffeemaker to come from the not-too-distant future (post-flying cars, pre-zombies), or, failing that, Asia. I'm thinking clean lines, stainless steel, and perhaps polyphonic ringtones and/or a blood pressure cuff.

I'd also sort of like to get one with a thermal carafe. People seem to like the Zojirushi EC-BD15, and I certainly like pronouncing it. But I'm given pause by the relatively lukewarm reviews for the EC-BD15BA which is, as far as I can tell, completely identical except for having a slightly larger illustration on Amazon.com.

So I'm not quite sure how to proceed. If anyone's used a Zojirushi, owned a Zojirushi, or had a loved one horribly disfigured by an explosion of steam and shrapnel coming from a Zojirushi, please let me know. And if you can make a case for a different brand or absolutely essential feature, lay it on me.