ridiculous.

While at first glance this looks completely moronic as a kitchen aid, if you are instead installing this for the purpose of freaking out a pet cat then I bet this would be worth every last penny.

Shame it's so loud. And I don't think I'd want floor tiles on my island surface.

I guess it would be convenient to lower it and have more open space in the kitchen, but that hardly seems reason enough to install such a contraption. Anyone have any better ideas why this would be useful?

Not that I would need or want such a thing, but I could see this for a cook who on a regular basis cooks a lot, say for a party, and needs the extra work space, but not all the time. Down, it gives you more floor space. Up, you get more work space.

And having a island if there are other people in the kitchen helps to control traffic. You can order people to stay on the far side of the island and therefore out of the cook's hair. If you entertain regularly, this island would be an advantage, because it wouldn't be blocking up your kitchen on a day to day basis.

As for the carpet tiles, if you didn't have them, people would be walking directly on the island's countertops. Unless you could figure out a retractable floor to go over top of the island in its down position.

Absolutely not something I'd want (I'm not a big fan of kitchen islands in general), but I could see why some cooks would want one. It would come in handy around holiday baking time, for sure. I'd just worry that I'd forget and store something I used frequently in the island and be having to constantly raise and lower it to get the measuring cups, and then the iPhone wouldn't have a charge and I'd have to wait a few hours until it did before I could and have to postpone the baking session until I could raise the island.

Well, that's another use. It's good storage for stuff you use only a few times a year--and it's completely out of the way when you don't need it.

He should install some speakers, so the island can play music from "2001: A Space Odyssey" as it rises.

This would be perfect for adjusting the height of my countertop. I'd love to be able to do that.

I want that for my bed, only it would have to recess into the basement where I'd have my dressing room. Although that noise might kill the mood.

@dan.in.raleigh: YES. Hours of entertainment freaking out all the animals!

I'd think you could make an air storage pneumatic system with a solenoid instead of just the scissor lift. It would "pop" up pretty rapidly, and quietly until you needed to refill the reservoir.

Nevertheless, I think it's awesome.

I'll have this once there is an app that also does the dishes