The Advancement Of Vending Machines
If you live in the modern world, you must have seen a vending machine. From a coffee vending machine to a toy vending machine, you have probably seen many different types.
Vending machines are an excellent time saver when it comes to buying and selling food, drink and pretty much anything really. There's no need for the vending machine owner to use staff to sell products and there's no need for consumers to be restricted to shop opening hours.
In India, the newest product to be sold in them is gold coins and medallions which are bought as tokens to observe traditions on auspicious days. The machines are also installed in China and they will be in other countries soon too.
It's food and drink though that is perhaps the most common type of product sold in vending machines in the UK. They can be found in schools, leisure centres, cinemas, offices, hospitals and more.
The technology has come along a lot from the days when only food and drink that is long-life and designed to be served at room temperature could be sold from them.
Hot pizza machines are being trialled in New York which bake in 90 seconds and baguette vending machines are now dispensing bread in France.
The technology for payment has also moved on a long way. Firstly, machines were able to give change, removing the need for exact coinage, and then they were able to accept credit cards to take payment. Now, you can even pay through your mobile phone - you get a special code texted to you and the charge for the item is made to your phone bill.
There are plenty of bizarre things that are sold in modern vending machines. You can even hire hair straighteners by paying for them to be heated up for two minutes - perfect for making adjustments on a night out.
In Holland you can borrow a bike from their Bikedispenser, which is ideal for a country without hills, obsessed by bicycles.
You can even buy clothes from vending machines. Underwear, trainers and more are no problem even if the stores are closed.
In the USA, you can get your prescription medication without intervention from a human. The solution is called InstyMeds and it allows you to cut out the queues at the pharmacy.
Even live animals can be vended! In China, it's possible to buy a live crab. The crustaceans are kept chilled to put them into a dormant state and they are packed into plastic boxes (with air holes).
It is easy to see that modern vending machines have come a long way from the simple offerings of only a few years ago. Who knows where they will be in years to come!