Vending Machines Serve Up Kindles and Art
Amazon attracted second looks from passersbys when the online commerce giant installed a standalone automated vending machine—the Kindle Kiosk—at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas during the International Consumer Electronics Show.
Spotted by Seattle’s GeekWire, the reporter actually stopped and purchased a Kindle power adapter using the vending machine. Although there were some challenges, overall the experience was positive. Wrote Todd Bishop of GeekWire:
Our experience with the Kindle Kiosk at the Las Vegas airport wasn’t entirely smooth. At different times during the process of buying the Kindle power adapter, interface was unresponsive for 10 seconds or more. We were able to work through the sluggishness, and after completing the purchase with our credit card, the adapter slid neatly into the bin at the bottom of the machine.
Kindle Fire tablets, e-readers, and accessories were available, and Amazon has been experimenting with the kiosks at other locations as well, including shopping malls during the holiday season. The Amazon kiosk was created by ZoomSystems, the company that also makes automated retail machines for Best Buy, Macy’s, and other brands. Macy’s e-Spot dispenses iPods and other products from Apple, Sony, Skullcandy, Kodak, and others.
Buying non-food products through a vending machine may seem like a novel concept, but it really isn’t. Before the Kindle Kiosk or Macy’s e-Spot, there was the Art-o-mat.
Art-o-mats are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to sell original art, and they’ve been around since 1997. There are approximately 100 machines dispensing original art throughout the United States and abroad. The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City has one, as does the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and Rock City Gardens outside of Chattanooga.
The idea is the brainchild of North Carolina artist Clark Whittington. Inspiration struck “while observing a friend who had a Pavlovian reaction to the crinkle of cellophane. When the friend heard someone opening a snack, he had the uncontrollable urge to have one too.”
Clark, whose motto is “Don’t go around artless,” used a recently-banned cigarette machine to create the first Art-o-mat to sell his black and white photographs mounted on blocks for $1.00 each. Eventually, Artists in Cellophane (AIC) was formed and became the sponsoring organization.
The vision is to encourage art consumption by combining the worlds of art and commerce in an innovative form. According to AIC, “We believe that art should be progressive, yet personal and approachable. What better way to do this, than with a heavy, cold, steel machine?”
How cool is that?
