I looked up the electric kettles at the aforementioned Bed, Bath and Beyond’s site, and the descriptions say things like “featuring automatic cut-off”.
That’s a feature?
I have heard, although I’m not sure how credible this is, that these kind of high-powered portable electrical consumer devices are less widespread in the US because the mains voltage is lower. Whereas we are higher voltage, lower current. Things like electric lawnmowers are also not common there, apparently.
Oh no that’s not what I mean! I’d say the stuff we drink in the UK is mass-market acceptable crap.
But the US has a peculiar need to transform it into ‘mass market crap’ and ‘gourmet’.
Maybe I’m romanticising the UK here, but I can’t imagine anyone using the term gourmet unironically, or calling someone a ‘beer snob’ without a hint of derision.
pdts
The individual bags aren’t foil-wrapped - they tend to come in boxes of 60 or 90 or 120 or whatever, which are foil-wrapped in bulk (sometimes in two seperate smaller foil bags in the case of the bigger packs). Many people store them in an airtight tin once they open the foil, to keep them fresh.
Actually I was burnt (not literally) the first time I used a kettle in America. It didn’t have an automatic shutoff! It boiled dry.
This is also a risk for the stupid stovetop kettles they all use. Put the kettle on and forget about it? Or put the kettle on, have your tea and forget to turn the stove off?
Hope you’re comfortable with the house burning down. Or at least a ruined kettle.
pdts
My daughter bought some Lipton’s tea bags in Switzerland and brought them back - they are absolutely dire. You need half a dozen for a decent cup of tea 
This is one of the reasons I bought my parents an electric kettle. My father (who is 81) can’t hear high-pitched noises and would put the kettle on the stove but be unable to hear it whistle and would forget about it. Ruined two kettles that way.
When I finally have the cash to redo my kitchen I may indulge in one of these bad boys.
Proper 100ºC water at the press of a lever (although you could buy a lot of kettles for the same price…)
That’s true in the case of electric lawnmowers- they’re relatively rare here- but I think that’s more because we have really big gardens. Well, we don’t technically have gardens at all, because we call them yards here.
We have a very average-sized home in a very average sort of suburb. Our garden/yard is three times the size of the one we had in England in a similar sort of house in a similar sort of place.
This one, in fact.
My cousin had one of those fitted in her new kitchen.