I’ve recently been tutoring a friend to use a Hario Switch. They are uniquely suited to pick pourover up quickly, excellent manual dexterity and related transferable skills, and they’ve still had some struggles. I’d definitely forgotten the learning curve and I think it’s very reasonable to look at brewers like the Hoop to open coffee up to more people.
I’ve tried other flow rate controlled pourover brewers before and not liked the results. I suspect James’ standards are high enough I would find this the best of the bunch. I’d love to try one.
I would modify the skirt on this brewer by melting and reshaping (or just cutting out) a notch. I also often like to brew over a carafe.