incuTANK: Sharing ideas and innovation.

A few days ago, factor wrote about a beer vending machine… Great idea all the way around, personally I love the convenience and automation of vending machines. Its funny cause I still don’t understand why people wait in line for movie tickets instead of using the self service machine, I’m talking about the difference between 10 mins or getting some ice cream.

As you can already see, I’m the guy who would rather use an ATM vs teller, or buy my tickets online vs waiting for concert tickets. And that’s why I really love vending machines. I think they are such a cool concept, quick way to get what you want without having to deal with a pushy sales person, no lines, and having complete control over the entire transaction. The best part is if I don’t like what I see, I can leave no questions asked. I understand that it does take away from the customer experience for certain products and situations that you need to touch and feel but if you are anything like me, my gas station encounters are never that memorable.

But where is this innovation taking place? Take Japan for example, they have taken vending machines to extreme levels and have popularized one stop vending centers featuring bizarre items such as toilet paper, beers, fishing bait and food. Read this post by the photomann as he details some of vending unique machines he was seen in Japan. Engadget.com finds this gem as people are actually purchasing lobsters from a machine and bringing them home, wow! Why don’t we have more of these in the states, maybe its just too weird, or maybe there are worries about quality. Or maybe we are spoiled and used to a service where people wait at our beckon call.

Like factor said: Why aren’t there more beer vending machines in bars? Who wants to wait in a crowded bar area when you can march right over to the beer vending machine for a quick cold one. Forget the tip.

The more searching around I did, I stumbled upon two noteworthy vending machines state side. Moobella is a startup company in the northeast that has created a patented ice cream vending machine. The vending machine makes fresh ice cream on the spot in many different flavors and toppings. The real innovation is how they make the ice cream. The machine literally flash freezes the cream and adds the flavors and toppings and your custom order comes out. Think about how perfect this would be in a college dorm, late nite ice cream could really hit the spot. But how does it taste? The foodnetwork recently highlighted the machine in a recent show (Food Finds) and it seems like people really like the taste.

Or how about Redbox. If you haven’t seen these machines before, they are big red vending machines with a simple simple interface that allows anyone to rent movies for one dollar a day. For the most part, they are located in high traffic areas in supermarkets and drugstores. I love this thing, basically a perfect compliment for any store, walk in, get a decent selection of newly released DVD’s, a quick transaction, no cash, no sign up or membership needed. I use it once a week, no waiting on line at blockbuster and no waiting for my Netflix in the mail. The design team really worked on the user experience from start to finish as almost anyone can figure out how to operate this machine.

The idea: How about something geared towards the commuter. Someone on the go and uses a train or bus in the morning. Perhaps a vending machine that sells newspapers, gum and a snack. Or better yet, try and capitalize on the popularity of the IPod and have a kiosk where people can download podcasts, movies, RSS feeds and songs on the go. I think the idea could really get popular whenever you are traveling (i.e. airport) and before your long flight home you can download some sort of media whether it’s the new maroon 5 cd or just the weekly market update right at your finger tips. Downloads would have to be fast and I’m not sure how yet to monetize this but maybe making the user watch an advertisement for 5 mins or a quick charge on the credit card? Regardless I think there is a need, whether I’m at the gym or on the subway, something like this would be perfect.