hurrengoa
vending machines    One can go out of the office to the hallway to get a coffee. We can always find a machine that offers a refreshing beverage on the street corner, at the entrance of a sports center or on the beach. Maybe, we are used to these vending machines because we are not aware of their importance and value. Since the creation of these robots, our customs and surroundings have also changed. Even if it might sound weird, the first product that a vending machine sold was holy water. It was Hero, the Greek mathematician, teacher in the famous library in Alexandria who in 215 b.C. invented a machine to sell holy water that functioned with the mechanical system based on the balance between a coin and the weight of water. The modern vending machine that we know is the one that Richard Carlisle created in 1880. While the store was closed, he kept the library in London to keep selling books and postcards. This discovery was so successful that, in 1888, Thomas Adams chewing gum company placed some machines in New York city’s subway stations to sell tutti frutti chewing gums.
Last century’s most iconographic vending machines are probably Coca-Cola and Pepsi’s. Vending machines have played an important part for those two companies in advertising. Vendolator company in Fresno was essential in this process. Nowadays, one can find almost anything in the universe of vending machines. Japan is the country that has developed these the most. Besides selling the common things like beverages, tobacco and candies, one can also buy rice, eggs, umbrellas, telephones, flowers and used underwear. These machines are part of the Japanese urban landscape.
We need money to use vending machines. And we usually get this money from another robot: ATMs. Many people believed that, due to the fast computer development, the development of the classic vending machines would go backwards. However, that didn’t happen. Nowadays, the tendency is to recover the preciousness of classic models. Art-o-mat company has gone further than the rest on this matter. The vending machines of this company are unique pieces with a glamorous style.