The days of the old school snack vending machine are numbered. No longer will you punch in what seems like coordinates to sink my battle ship, but instead select the item from a touchscreen interface. I know, I know, the term ‘touchscreen’ is getting to the point of sickly sweet, but there are some advantages to the vending machine of the future. For instance, those with allergies or perhaps an aversion to an abundance of calories can review the nutritional info as well as the ingredients in the selected snack. Inside is a network connected computer which can remotely update its owner if the machine needs to be refilled as well as transmit advertisements. Who knows when we’ll start seeing these machines on the street, but I’ll be sure to vend myself something.
While some buy water others invest in precious metals during times of possible apocalyptic turmoil. The TG-Gold-Super-Markt is the first gold, yes gold vending machine. In order to take it for a spin, though, you’ll have to travel to Germany’s Frankfurt Airport. So if you happen to be in Terminal 1 sometime soon, drop in $49 and you’ll have yourself a 1g wafer of gold, or for $400 you can pick up a 10g bar or coins. But unlike your local laundromat’s quarters machine, each piece of gold comes with a certificate of authenticity and the machine is jacked into the Frankfurt gold market so it can update its prices every few minutes. After that it tacks on a 30% fee, which all said and done is a hell of a lot, but so is any tourist piece of crap. Expect 500 more of these machines to pop up throughout Germany in the near future.
Like the title suggests, every college dorm should have one of these. I think it’s intended to be bit of a joke, but you gotta appreciate the hot water safety mechanism and overall production quality of the video. Oh, and don’t forget about the ’score’, it’s killer.
Universals Pictures and Sony Entertainment have teamed up to bring Londoners their favorite movies, music, and games delivered via a vending machine called PoP. Users will also be able to download media directly to their PMP or SD card of choice and watch a trailer before committing to their purchase.
I’ve seen a few DVD rental vending machines in supermarkets through out the US, be they’ve never risen to prominence. Somehow I think the PoP machines will suffer the same fate, but then again if the majority of the media is downloadable then the titles can be endless and refreshed often.
Update: Stuff has some video of the PoP machine. Looks like they’ve gone touchscreen and are using full sized jewel cases for Blu-rays.
