Vending Machines Have Come A Long Way
Vending machines have come a long way since they first appeared in the late 1880s.
Vending machines began with books and soon moved to packets of gum, cigars, postcards, and stamps.
It was in the 1920's that we began seeing the drink and snack vending machines we're familiar with today.
And a century later, we're seeing way more than just drinks and snack food in vending machines.
They have become fully customizable.
The custom vending machines out there today have made life easier and way more convenient anybody could have ever imagined.
Consumers felt a bit trapped that their only choices in office vending machines were chocolate bars and chips.
Especially with the rise of obesity, people wanted better, healthier choices in their vending machines, both at work and at schools.
So now with healthy vending machines we can enjoy fresh sandwiches, yogurts, fruit and energy bars.
Vending machines selling "strange" items is nothing new in Japan but it is here in Australia.
There are plenty of websites showcasing the most obscure custom vending machines you will ever find.
You can purchase slabs of meat, umbrellas, full entrees, electronics, and even whiskey.
You can't pay for any of those items with the change in your pocket.
That’s why some vending machines have the technology to accept credit cards.
Chances are the one in your office doesn't, but the technology is definitely here, it's just a matter of it being worth the cost.
The added fees for using credit cards leave little room for a profit margin.
An idea that might make more sense is paying for items in a vending machines on a smartphone app.
These days everyone has a smartphone and a simple app, like the one Google just created, can allow you to make a purchase on a vending machine with a simple click of a button.
However, the newly developed application is only available on Android phones, actually there is only one phone ith this ability.
And the program is currently only available on a mere 6,000 machines.
But in the next decade or so we'll be seeing even more advances in vending machines.
Vending machines are much too convenient to ever go out of use and it won't be long before more custom machines pop up with even better methods of payment, and a wider variety of products available through them.
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