Vending machines 2.0

Source: BusinessWeek

Taken a look at vending machines lately? Forget stale Cheetos and M&Ms, new vending machines "aimed at young shoppers and wealthy frequent fliers" are starting to invade the landscape. No need to scrounge for quarters. These machines take credit and debit cards and your choices might include perfume, iPods or Rosetta Stone language learning software. "Delayed, bored, and affluent air travelers have been by and large the biggest buyers so far." But ZoomSystems is about to roll out iPod machines at 400 Macy's stores. Consumers, who now buy big ticket items online without ever talking to a salesperson, are clearly making the leap to upscale vending machines. Time will tell…is this a novelty or are these high tech machines here to stay?