While I am still waiting for the touch screen menu tables to hit restaurants so I can literally drag the ingredients I don’t want off of my meal (I don’t know why, but that always sounded like fun to me), the simplest form of convenience food has gotten a digital makeover first. Buh-bye old school vending machines, hello touch screen snack machine of the future.
The new Diji-Touch vending machine aims to replace classic vending machines with the metal spiral (that will never let go of my Baby Ruth but has no problem dangling it in front of me) with a touch screen surface modeled after the iPhone and allows customers to choose their snacks with the swipe of a finger.
The touch screen vending machines allow you to see all of your choices and once picked, the choice will enlarge and spin, giving you fun little presentation of the snack you are about to enjoy. The new model also allows you to find out the nutritional information of each choice and even play games to win free snacks or other prizes.
The vending industry pulls in an impressive $30 billion a year, and rolling out their new, enhanced machines will help them stay competitive in a technology driven market. I just hope the new technology won’t ruined the classic tradition of getting your skinny-armed friend to jimmy out some free sodas to pass around. Oh, the good old days.
