I must defend electric kettles. I've had an electric kettle for years. I first discovered how indispensable they are on the trip to the UK - every hotel room has an electric kettle.

Mine's a Krups. I've had others, but the Krups is faster and better made than any other I've tried. It was about $50 and worth every penny.

Cooks have good reason to praise electric kettles and find them incredibly useful. They're great for tea, of course, but that's just the start. If you need hot water quickly for rehydrating dried fruit or beans or bulgur or vegetables or instant anything (soup, noodles, oatmeal), an electric kettle is much better and more energy-efficient than a microwave or boiling water on the stovetop. They're perfect for sterilizing things - like the pet nurser I used when feeding an abandoned kitten.

In the winter when my pond freezes over, I boil a pot of water to pour on the ice to open a hole (ammonia builds up and kills the fish if the ice is solid for too long). I use the hot water to heat saki, to warm liqueurs, to supplement pasta-cooking water as cited above, and to add water to already-simmering soups and stocks without bringing the temperature down.

It's not just about having water for tea at arm's length, though that is nice. It's about having hot or boiling water quickly, efficiently, and non-wastefully - which you certainly can't say about running tapwater until it's hot.