When I first saw this I thought OK, maybe.  As far as making my tea in the morning I just use it as a hot pot & it does seem to work faster than my old hot pot which is all metal.  When this really comes into use as a teapot is when my wife makes her oolong tea in large batches for ice tea and it works well for that too.  As far as design, it is well thought out as far as disassembly & cleaning which by today's standards are sometimes lacking.