Butter management is important, but not to the point where you need one of these. Just take it out of the refrigerator an hour ahead. Yet, too many seemingly upscale restaurants still serve cold, unspreadable butter.

My pet peeve is putting "thawed" butter back in the fridge. It gets weird, tastes terrible.

See - now that is my kind of instrument. Yes, I admit, I am secretly furious when the Panera Bread clerk hands me my butter and it is ice cold. A temperature controlled butter dish? I'd buy it.