Software Vending Machines

anubis__ writes "CNN details a sort-of software vending machine named 'SoftwareToGo' that CompUSA is testing out in their Seattle, WA, Dallas, TX, and San Francisco, CA stores. The upside to this vending machine is that your CD is burned when you request it, so the latest patches available for the software you're buying might already be included with the installation. The downside, like anything requiring some level of technical aptitude in the US, is that the machines are avoided by the masses of shoppers." This has been in the works for a year or so.

Comments

Basic Problems

[(54)T-Dub]

I thought this would be a great way to buy PC games from distributors known for sloppy work until I red this:

There are more than 20 titles from Activision, 10 from Edmark, more than a dozen from Microsoft and Symantec but none from Broderbund, Electronic Arts, Adobe or Intuit.

Then I thought, well at least windows will be up to date which would make new installs easier:

Microsoft, however, is keeping some of its marquee titles -- such as the Windows operating system and Office software suite -- off both the Internet and the SoftwareToGo machines "mostly because of security considerations," Berett said.

ROFL, i give up.

From A San Francisco CompUSA user..

[Anonymous Coward]

I recently saw one of these in the store. They're kinda impressive, easy to use, and rather techno-geek aware. Unfortunately, like everyone else said, no one uses them. I imagine it's not because of some desire to pull software off the shelf, but rather, because the only software you can print out is utter crap. I've found better software sold at Goodwill. Sure, I suppose if I wanted a ripoff of Mario Teaches Typing or 101 Card Games, I could use this machine. I glanced through the selection, and out of 300 or so titles to chose from, I couldn't find a single one I would be interested in for any reason -- even if they were free! Throw some Linux distros, a few good MS products (with updates) FreeBSD, porn, movies and music, something worth buying, and I think these machines will take off.

Re:How is this better?

[DragonMagic]

Typical /. elitism.

Most people in this country do NOT have broadband. It could also be that they don't want to spend a couple hours downloading a large file, then have to burn it.

Not only this, but the vending machine offers a way to browse many different companies' titles in one kiosk. You can search for an age-specific software title (as the article illustrates) or get the newest patches with the software all in one.

This isn't aimed at people like you who download and burn with the greatest of ease. It's made for the people who normally go into a CompUSA to buy sotware, as a way to clear up some shelf space for the lesser titles that hardly get any room, among the bigger titles that clog the shelves. It's a way to search without having to see whether a title's hidden behind another, etc. It's also a way to keep these products in stock, which saves money for the store.

It's somehow better in many, many ways.

Re:Didn't really work for music...

[ChicagoFan]

I used to work for a music store, and we had a machine for sheet music that was similar to this one. You put in your money, select your song and key, and it prints out.

I don't recall ever seeing anyone using it

Actually, in the days when I bought sheet music, I used that sort of machine in the store a number of times. From what I recall, the selection was not ideal (or I would have used it more), plus of course, there was still plenty of pre-printed music for sale as well.

If the selection were much better, and pre-printed selections were weak, it might have taken off.

ChicagoFan

How these machiens work

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a nice huge refrigerator near the front of the store at the customer service desk. Scattered around the store are a bunch of small blue terminals. You select your software from a touch screen console, browsing through a nice simple menu sorting software according to titles, genre, etc. Once you make your selections, the refrigerator at the front loads a blank CD into its huge burner array, fires up the RAID system to get the ISO, burns it, and spits out the CD. Another robotic arm takes the CD and tosses it into a label printer which churns out a nice label and a CD case. The clerk takes the CD out of the printer and hands it to the customer once they've paid their bill.

Re:Targeting...

[Jerdie]

When a customer picks up the CD at checkout
The cd does not get created at the machine, and you pay at the checkout.

Starbucks

[JediTrainer]

Already being done