The idea was to name it what it is, a popper with features. It's better than GloboCorp TurboRost 5000 (Hmm... wait, that would have been pretty good too!) The makers of Popper literally sent the best air popcorn poppers to engineers to try to replicate what the old first-generation poppers could do. That's because the current poppers on the market are pretty weak. And now those old 70s air poppers are selling for $50-60+ on Ebay. The idea was that the home roasting community needed some better material to work with, and something not super high priced. At the top end, there are options these days, but not so much at the affordable level. If you want an app, get an Ikawa!