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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.
...but as other people noted in the last thread, you miss out on some of the other other niceties. For one, I hate "online" manuals. You can take your PDFs and stuff 'em. I treasure my spiral-bound manual for Neverwinter Nights.
Also, about patches: this would be nice for things that need updated patches, like Windows.... except Microsoft won't sell Windows or Office at these kiosks! Erk.
Auto-reply to ACs: "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
I'm a very active CD archiving person, with live music (think phish/dead/etc, its all legal, but thats really beside the point). In the long term, say 6-8 months, I find that alot of my burned disks become unreadable...which would annoy me alot more if my 400 dollar copy of windows XP pro was burned onto it. I wonder if this is addressed at all by this system, or is the buyer just screwed?
"Give someone a program, frustrate them for a day... Teach someone to program, frustrate them for a lifetime."
This is the technology that might replace their obsolete distribution model.
--
Ride, shoot straight & speak the truth.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Hanlon's Razor
"Debian Linux - 6 CD's, $6.00"
"Mandrake Linux - 3 CD's, $3.00"
"Fedora Linux - 3 CD's, $3.00"
"Gentoo Linux - 1 CD, $1.00"
"Knoppix Linux - 1 CD, $1.00"
"Vector Linux - 1 CD, $1.00"
"Peanut Linux - 1 CD, $1.00"
"Microsoft Windows XP Home - 1 CD, $89" This actually might be a good way to get novices to try Linux, especially the Knoppix (or the BitDefender Knoppix based "Linux Defender", which makes an excellent recovery disk)...
...sheet music, that is. 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, which made me mad mostly because I was the one who had to unload it from the truck and it was dang heavy.
People in general are just not going to want to do anything more than push one button, maybe two. It's a lot easier to paw through the bargain bins and the store shelves.
I also just don't trust something like this. Personally, I want to take something physically from a shelf and walk it up to the counter so that I know exactly what I'm getting.
Do you feel safe sticking $100+ into a vending machine? I mean, it's a pain enough to try and stick a single dollar bill into a Coke machine, but try sticking five or six twenties in there.
Also, these would be targeted like ATMs, but probably with less security. They'll probably sit inside the store, but without the procedural security of a cashier's drawer.
Will the product be cheaper than the boxed version? If not, why wouldn't you just buy the boxed?
I was living in NY when they first rolled out the Metrocard vending machines. Its amazing how long it took the average person over the age of 35 or so to get a card. There were people with stacks of these cards because they couldn't figure out how to renew an old one.
Maybe in about 4 decades when the vast majority of society is technically adept, but by then they'd probably come up with something new that dumbfounds us oldtimers. As it I refuse to send or reply to cellphone text messages. I don't need another language of shortcut keys taking up valuable brain space.
My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...