Patent ID: 8548624

Claim:
An appliance comprising: a housing; a dispenser supported by the housing; a water supply mechanism supported by the housing and connected to the dispenser; a drink supply mechanism supported by the housing and connected to the dispenser, said drink supply mechanism configured to removably hold a plurality of drink supply containers; a user interface panel supported by the housing, said user interface panel including a touch screen; and a computer supported by the housing and connected to the user interface panel and at least one of: the dispenser, the water supply mechanism, and the drink supply mechanism, said computer configured to: (a) cause the user interface panel to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different drink supplies in the plurality of drink supply containers held by the drink supply mechanism, wherein the drink supply in each of the drink supply containers is a concentrate, (b) receive, via the touch screen of the user interface panel, an input from a user of a selection of one of said plurality of different displayed images, (c) after receiving the input from the user of the selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, cause the dispenser to dispense a beverage corresponding to the selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) for each drink supply container held by the drink supply mechanism, transmit, to a remote computer, drink supply data relating to an amount of drink supply dispensed from said drink supply container for a designated time period, and (e) transmit, to the remote computer, appliance data related to the appliance.