...He had found a Nutri-Matic machine which had provided him with a plastic cup
filled with a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. The
way it functioned was very interesting. When the DRINK button was pressed it
made an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a
spectroscopic analysis of the subject's metabolism and then sent tiny
experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centers of the
subject's brain to see what was likely to go down well. However, no one knew
quite why it did this because it invariably delivered a cupful of liquid that
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. The Nutri-Matic was designed
and manufactured by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation whose complaints
department now covers all the major landmasses of the first three planets in
the Sirius Tau Star system.
-- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
