We've been happily using our Panasonic bread machine for ten years. It may be lazier than doing all that kneading and stuff, admittedly, but it's not as lazy as buying shop bread and it's cheaper. You can control what goes in (we always use organic flour and we use a lot less salt than the recipes suggest) and the bread is pretty good. The ciabatta loaf recipe is especially nice and very easy. Makes lovely toast for marmalade. No nasties in bread machine bread. A good happy medium for lots of people, I suggest.