The Evolution of Vending Machines

The Evolution of Vending Machines saturdayeveningpost.com

For more than 2,000 years, vending machines have made purchasing goods more convenient.

46 points•ohjeez•4 days ago•16 comments•

#machines #vending #vending machines #evolution #goods #purchasing #convenient #made purchasing

16 comments

carver29414 days ago

The amount of complex software running these now is insane, yet they still manage to consistently fail on card readers.

sippingabonedry4 days ago

It's not that complex. It's just real software, not web stack garbage.

llbbdd3 days ago

Might be worth a refresher on the guidelines, or at least a thoughtful examination of why this completely unrelated topic lives rent-free in your head.

m4634 days ago

Someone has to bring up japanese vending machines. They are sort of amazing.

That said, I've seen more weird giant vending machines in airports nowadays, the memorable ones to me selling all kinds of lego sets.

thenthenthen4 days ago

There is a guy in Japan who keeps up a vending machine park, video here: https://youtu.be/wEOkMRCWPb4?si=irP7e_7Op52p_yQM

China also has some crazy vending machines, from ‘robot arm’ icecream machines to 3d printed candy and chocolate machines.

miladyincontrol4 days ago

Some these vending machines are something wild these days. "Block's Retro Repairs" on youtube bought one of those cotton candy ones that uses a robotic arm, bloody thing had it's heat probe battery powered with no mechanism to recharge it ever. And quite a bit of calling back home before authorizing itself to run.

Talk about planned obsolescence. Difficult, but not impossible to hack together a fix for.

skyberrys4 days ago

By the end of the read I was wondering why I can't setup a few vending machines, sit back and watch the profits roll in. I know it's likely more complicated that I imagine, but it seems like such a hands off way to manage commerce. It wraps up inventory management and sales into one convenient package and takes out the daily responsibilities.

vjvjvjvjghv4 days ago

I know people who have vending machines. It's a very nice business but like almost everything else you need experience to do it right. It's not easy to find good locations, you need to stock the right stuff, you need to deal with repairs. It's not as hands off as you may think.

bombcar4 days ago

And all the good locations are already taken.

georgeburdell4 days ago

I have a relative with several vending machines. He is also in a position of power at the location where they're placed. So yeah you'd be competing with a guy like that.

EvanAnderson4 days ago

I'd always heard, at least here in the Midwest US, that vending machines are run by organized crime (being historically cash-based) and vending routes and locations involve a certain amount of "protection". Maybe cashless vending machines are changing the landscape. Maybe it's all hokum.

ljf4 days ago

For a while I seemed to end up on a YouTube algorithm that was full of people doing just that - a good few found success, but there seems to be a good chunk of work to do looking after the machines and stock.

skyberrys3 days ago

What a funny spot for the algorithms to take you.

extr0pian4 days ago

I'd imagine that the property owner where you're placing the vending machine is going to want to cut, and probably some sort of rent payment and lease agreement signed.

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16 comments

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