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We own a kettle here in California, for tea and press coffee. In the morning, they are quick and work well. Only problems are arguments over too little or too much water.

Despite a nice gas stove, the electric kettle is quicker to use. It also has some "brains" in that it shuts down after awhile if not turned off (say 3-5 minutes at desired temp).

I don't know how many times I've had things cooking on the stove and forgot about them due to work, etc.

The main use of my electric kettle is parallel processing for my cooking water. I put one fourth of the cooking water into the pot and turn on the stove, then I put the other three quarters of the water into my electric kettle and turn that on as well. The kettle is usually done right before pot and then I pour all the water from the kettle into the pot. This greatly reduced the time to get boiling water for cooking.

Or, more accurately, most US homes do have one -- it's in the coffee maker :-)

I have used a coffee maker just to make hot water. In a hotel room. :)

Fair enough :)