Get Your iPod Fix From a Vending Machine 104
burnteternal writes "iPod Hacks reports that new iPod Vending Machines are popping up all over the U.S.; it includes links to pictures and a video of it in action."
Credit ... is the only enduring testimonial to man's confidence in man. -- James Blish
The best part: (Score:5, Funny)
saw this a month back (Score:2)
Re:saw this a month back (Score:1)
Re:saw this a month back (Score:2)
My experience says that current generation vending machines are not sufficiently reliable to trust with a $100 purchase.
Re:saw this a month back (Score:2)
Off topic now i know but what's with this ad?
http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/ [apple.com]
"I'm a mac, i feel comfortable wearing blue canvas shoes, even though i look a bit of a prat in them, i don't mind because steve
Re:saw this a month back (Score:1)
Re:saw this a month back (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:saw this a month back (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:saw this a month back (Score:2)
Re:saw this a month back (Score:2)
the reason is that with debit cards, it is your money, losing it is the same as if someone swiped your wallet. No one refunds you if y
Keep in mind (Score:2)
Re:Keep in mind (Score:1)
Re:Keep in mind (Score:3, Funny)
Are you suggesting that one should be aware of the reality of the situation before commenting? Forsooth!
Wrong type of vending machines (Score:5, Informative)
Actually they are robotic vending machines. Nothing actually drops. Heheh.. I've seen this things dispense coke before and the sounds and movements it makes is cool. Here is there website.
http://www.zoomsystems.com/index.html [zoomsystems.com]
Re:Keep in mind (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Keep in mind (Score:1)
I've seen many a Snapple machine that dispenses glass bottles the same way a regular one does. Dropping from 5 feet or so. I haven't seen one break yet, though I did see someone stupidly get two at once....and they fell on eachother...then the glass broke...
Still Waiting... (Score:2)
biodiesel (Score:1)
I'm calling it the Pump and Fry.
Re:Still Waiting... (Score:2)
I think you missed it.
About 7 or 8 years ago, I did buy french fries from a vending machine at a highway rest stop, on I-81 N in New York, just past the Pennsylvania border.
If my memory serves me, the results were not bad. Certainly closer to real fries than the "coffee with whitener" out of a rest stop vending machine is to real coffee.
Re:Still Waiting... (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's [wslack.com] someone's photo blog with a picture of one of the machines.
Barcelona also had a gigantic inflatable swarthy Santa Claus with a black beard with his arms stacked high with a giant mounded assortment of raw meats. That has no relevance to this discussion, it's just one of those things that's too weird not to mention when my trip to Spain comes up.
Re:Still Waiting... (Score:2)
Re:Still Waiting... (Score:2)
French Fries vending machines exist (Score:2)
They used to have them in Zürich (where I live). I've been to Berlin last week, and they still have them in train stations.
I bought french fries from such a machine once. It cost about five US$, and I got a tiny paper cup thingie with like four small french fries and a few crumbs inside. They were four damn good french fries, though :-)
Re:Still Waiting... (Score:2)
Not just iPods... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not just iPods... (Score:2)
Re:Not just iPods... (Score:2)
Re:Not just iPods... (Score:2)
not surprising (Score:4, Informative)
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/ipod-vending-m
Don't expect to see iPod vending machines on street corners anytime soon. This one appeared in an Atlanta airport, where such a machine would make sense. Your everyday air traveller is an affluent entertainment-hungry impulse buyer willing to spend any amount of money to avoid being bored for the next hour or two. Plus, the machine is simply not going to get ripped off in an airport crawling with security.
From the looks of it, this machine isn't even Apple's doing, but rather some company called Zoom Systems [zoomsystems.com].
Re:not surprising (Score:2)
That was my first thought. And then I thought, "Wait a minute...a new iPod doesn't have any music on it, so it won't keep you from being bored at all." I'm wondering if the company is hoping that an air traveler will be making their purchase in between those two thoughts.
On the other hand, it also sells iPod accessories and cables and such, w
Re:not surprising (Score:2)
Re:not surprising (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:not surprising (Score:1)
Re:not surprising (Score:2)
Re:not surprising (Score:1)
Re:not surprising (Score:2)
Re:not surprising (Score:2)
Then you find out that the battery is dead.
This may suit the needs of a business traveler that has a laptop with music on it, but I figure that most people who are that with it would have an iPod.
So we can chalk the sales up to:
1) People who are interested in the novelty of purchasing
Re:not surprising (Score:1)
Bingo! Just another way to get your loved ones a last minute gift from your business trip. It would make even more sense if you could purchase your iPod duty-free from one of those vending machines if you travel internationally.
Not new news (Score:1)
Seen at the Argent in San Francisco (Score:2)
Re:not surprising (Score:2)
Thought something else (Score:1)
Bad Idea (Score:2, Informative)
Buying a port
Re:Bad Idea (Score:1)
I'm not is the following group but I know quite a few people who would be both able and willing to buy a 300-500 dollar iPod on a whim. These same people also take quite a few flights in a given year (2-3 a month). I think you would be suprised at how well this vending machine will be.
I doubt you will see these in High Schools or anything but in an airport I think it makes perfect sense.
Re:Bad Idea (Score:2)
Re:Bad Idea (Score:2)
There's one at the Claremont Lounge too. Oh wait, no there's not.
Re:Bad Idea (Score:2)
Busy business traveller/father is on a stop over/arriving/departing to return to family. Traveller is guilty for spending last few weeks away from kids, and maybe even missed birthday. Too busy to shop on the road, they want to buy something for them.
So they are rushing to their gate and see iPods for sale - and what better opportunity to take the 3 minutes to buy an iPod as a "make up" gift.
And for everyone else... the "Oh SH*T! I forgot my adapter!" works just fine too...
Re:Bad Idea (Score:1)
The solution to this problem was the machine I saw at San Fransisco airport selling single-purpose players preloaded with audio books. I could just about imagine buying one of those if I was facing a 10-hour flight and I'd forgot my iPod/book/suicide pill.
In the UK, Heathrow and Gatwick have far more pronounced airside shopping malls than I've seen in my (limited) sample of US airports - so you could easily buy your iPod, a laptop and some music
Re:Bad Idea (Score:1)
But this machine needs to offer music on the spot! It would be cool if you could surf the iTMS and purchase albums before the iPod was dispensed, but logistically I suppose there are issues like getting it out of the box (and charging it?) before the music could be loaded from a port on the exterior of the mach
Re:Bad Idea (Score:1)
This is ridiculous (Score:1)
Re:This is ridiculous (Score:2)
Individual music tracks strike me as the sort of impulse buy and at the right price where they might be a good thing to sell from vending machines. Especially in bars and clubs and at concerts and other
Re:This is ridiculous (Score:2)
and they can even retrive from your ipod your drm info and lock it so that the card is only good for your registered equipment.. but make it so that you don't have to have the card in to listen.
the amount of memory needed for an album with losy acc isn't much and memory is cheep..
i thin
Re:This is ridiculous (Score:1)
Re:This is ridiculous (Score:1)
You fail.
Re:This is ridiculous (Score:1)
They already tried that, minus the $4.00 S&H. Remember kozmo.com [wikipedia.org]?
There is one at Atlanta's Airport (Score:1)
Oh, really? (Score:1)
Just poking fun at you.
Re:Oh, really? (Score:2)
There is one at the Georgia World Congress Center (Score:2)
Wow (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wow (Score:1)
So tell me why this third party would be advertising for Apple, because I can't figure it out. And I don't buy the reasoning that Apple made a company to advertise for them.
Atlanta Airport (Score:1)
Re:Atlanta Airport (Score:1)
I've seen ipod's in vending machines... (Score:2)
e.
Receipts? Warranties? (Score:1, Insightful)
you can extend warranty later (Score:2)
i know some people instead get a warranty through the store they bought the hardware from as opposed to manufacturer. that's why Best Buy/staples/circuit city/etc employees will always promote how much awe
Perfect (Score:2)
Re:Perfect (Score:2)
Re:Perfect (Score:2)
Guard: Hey, that guy is breaking into a vending machine.
2nd Guard: Well, he ain't no terrorist then. He aint our jurisdiction.
1:4 sold/stolen ratio! (Score:1)
Whoever came up with this idea should be fired, bankrupted and exiled.
Would be more useful if they came with music... (Score:1)
So you're getting ready for your long, grueling flight across the country by purchasing an iPod from the vending machine, then on the plane what do you do? Oh, nothing, because it doesn't have any damn music on it. Lets say by chance you actually have a laptop full of music and iTunes to sync with your new purchased iPod, well then why did hell did you buy it to begin with. Damnit!
Japan (Score:2)
There's one at the Sony Metreon (Score:4, Informative)
Re:There's one at the Sony Metreon (Score:1)
-c
Re:There's one at the Sony Metreon (Score:2)
the promotion idea mentioned above..... (Score:2)
ever left home without a charging or sync cable? i can't tell you how many times i have been traveling with people that forgot their phone charger. maybe they also sell those adapters to power your gearo from the a
It actually makes some sense (Score:2)
What if it doesn't work? (Score:1)
Yeah, we got one, too. (Score:1)
Funny thing is that the same machine started out selling general office stuff like ink jet cartridges, as well as a few iPod things. Then suddenly it was all iPod all the time.
Perfect for stolen credit cards (Score:2, Informative)
Not sure who takes the loss, but its probably going to be the biggest problem for the company running the machines.
Re:Perfect for stolen credit cards (Score:2)
I read that as... (Score:2)
Now, that would be cool.
So THAT'S why Apple kept telling us.. (Score:1)
( Don't get it? See this portion of a screenshot of an old Apple website page. [plasticbag.org] )
Last minute gifts (Score:1)
Ka-ching. (Score:2)
1. Insert coin.
2. Select your track.
3. Profit!
Seriously -- put a Mac mini inside a Wurlitzer, connect it to the Internet and you can update the tracks remotely. Cool! (I'll accept 10% of the gross if you want to run with the idea...)
Waiting for that asteroid (Score:1)
It's another one of those occasions where I see what the human race has "accomplished" and fervently hope for an asteroid come by and clean the slate.
Now if they had a way to preload it with tunes, *that* would be something.
Saw people lined up to buy them on Easter. (Score:1)
System Shock 2 style (Score:2)
To fix iPod is.... The worst thing ever! (Score:1)