Vending Machines Have Everything
On a recent trip that Chris and I took to a local mall (yes, I am a mall rat) I found this amazing vending machine.
It’s full of everything you could possibly want/need. Things you forgot at home, and things you didn’t know you wanted until you saw them.
Candy and snacks, diapers, sanitary products, halls, juice boxes, hot wheels cars, teddy bears and even pacifiers among other things are all contained within this one vending machine.
Vending machines used to be reserved for drinks, snacks and things found in Women’s bathrooms that I won’t mention by name here. Now it seems that you can buy anything in a machine. I’ve seen machines that vend stamps, small bags, makeup… When we went to florida, there was even a vending machine there that I could have bought tons of iPod products from (iPod Nanos, iPod touches, iTunes gift cards and headphones).
We are truly living in the future. A time where a machine (dare I say… ROBOT) allows you to buy things you want and need without needing to interact with a human.
At the height of this revolution right now I would have to say is redbox. Redbox, allows you to choose your DVD via touch screen (as many as you want) then once you’ve entered your credit card information (so that they can charge you if you don’t return the DVD) vends your movie using a very futuristic (well to me) slot. Rentals are $1 a day and if you keep it for 25 days it’s yours to keep (the max they will charge you is $25). Not bad.
But wait, it gets better… Become a member of this site http://www.insideredbox.com/redbox-codes/. And you’ll find many codes that will allow you to rent the movie for free. Well, it’ll give you $1 off so if you return the movie within 24 hours the movie is free. So when the library is closed and you can’t borrow the movie you want to see this is the perfect solution!
Chris and I have used this service a few times and only once did we have an issue with a DVD being too scratched to watch. We called up customer service and they refunded our money without us needing to PROVE that it was unwatchable. Not bad customer service for a company that for the most part interacts with it’s customers via machines.
I have realized recently that I am truly living in one of the most exciting times for technology. I am living in the era of the nerd and the geek. As a geek/nerd myself, I am very excited. I love that I can sit in my bed with my laptop and type out a blog, as I listen to music that is stored on my desktop in the other room and check my e-mail on my phone. I love that it’s possible to remote into my computer at home from my phone. I love that I don’t have to be plugged into a wall, or even connected to a wireless network in order to download applications to my phone (while we’re thinking about that I love that I can even have applications on my phone, 3D apps at that!).
To quote Judy Dench in the newest spaceship earth “We stand on the brink of a new renaissance”.
I can’t wait to see where else the digital world takes us. Anyone plan on making a machine that can dispense a computer?
