Sony Vending Machines (Kiosks)

[JSWolf]

I was at Logan Airport in Boston, MA. yesterday and saw one of these Sony Kiosks. It had in it headphones, PSP games, memory sticks, a Sliver Sony Reader PRS-505, and other odds and ends.

Sony wants its electronic products to be readily available to consumers via automated kiosks strategically placed in malls and other such places.

But be sure not to call these vending machines. Gower Smith of Zoom Systems, which is providing the technology for Sony, says that these are robotic stores and not vending machines. These specially-designed kiosks will come in either of two versions, one four feet and the other eight feet wide, both with a touch screen where displayed products' info and specs, as well as trailers and music videos, will be shown. Movie will also be shown in here.

Link

[jamesdmanley]

what? no tvs?

[stxopher]

That would be the Ipod vender next to it.

[mjh215]

"But be sure not to call these vending machines. Gower Smith of Zoom Systems, which is providing the technology for Sony, says that these are robotic stores and not vending machines."

It's a machine, which vends products... Hence a vending machine. It is a very fancy model. Nice lines. I'm sure with it has a very complex dispensing system. But it is still a vending machine...

-MJ

[AshW]

There's no way I'd ever trust that sort of purchase to a vending machine. I've had far too many chocolate bars get stuck in those contraptions

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by AshW

There's no way I'd ever trust that sort of purchase to a vending machine. I've had far too many chocolate bars get stuck in those contraptions

that's exactly what i think everytime i see one of those.

[tcv]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

that's exactly what i think everytime i see one of those.

Heh. The image comes up of someone watching the little wire turn only to see the Reader tip forward and get stuck between the wire and the glass. The customer, of course, bangs on the glass, then harder. Finally, he started to shake the machine, pulls it from the top, at which point it tips over and falls on the man, killing him.

And the strangest thing about the story? He was going to read...

P is For Peril.

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by AshW

There's no way I'd ever trust that sort of purchase to a vending machine. I've had far too many chocolate bars get stuck in those contraptions

That happened to me last week - the wire thingy turned but the choccie stayed put, and shaking the machine did not dislodge it. So I applied some lateral thinking and put some more money in to buy the same bar again - this time both dropped to the slot.

So, if your Reader gets stuck in the vending machine, be prepared to fork out for another one.

[AshW]

Originally Posted by tcv

Heh. The image comes up of someone watching the little wire turn only to see the Reader tip forward and get stuck between the wire and the glass. The customer, of course, bangs on the glass, then harder. Finally, he started to shake the machine, pulls it from the top, at which point it tips over and falls on the man, killing him.

Not as unusual as you might think!

An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (11 November 1988, p. 2697) documents 15 cases in which men trying to get a can out of the machine were crushed. Three died, the other 12 required hospitalization for injuries such as fractures of the skull, toe, ankle, tibia, femur, and pelvis; intracerebral bleeding; knee contusion; and one punctured bladder. In fact interestingly enough 1 in every 10,000 vending machine interactions ends in fatal injuries.

Yeah... people can be pretty dumb.

[acidzebra]

I saw one of these Sony boots when flying back from NY to the Netherlands this summer. I actually almost bought a pair of bluetooth headphones (after verifying the specs on my blackberry) but decided against it - probably no or half charge on the batteries.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

We have a vending machine at work. The people who used to fill it up would leve the odd space in between things, so if you weren't paying attention you'd put your money in and watch as it dispensed some air.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

We have a vending machine at work. The people who used to fill it up would leve the odd space in between things, so if you weren't paying attention you'd put your money in and watch as it dispensed some air.

ah... sadism still alive and well in the workplace, i see.

[Boston]

They need to add the ability to sell ebooks which can be transferred directly to your Sony reader.

[mjh215]

This kid really wanted his Sony Reader;
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/200...81_ntnews.html

-MJ