Vending Troubles

     So, today I spent some time walking around the Tacoma mall, and I marveled at just how much you can get out of vending machines these days. Its a tech geeks dream. Anything from a new PSP Go, to an iPod touch, to USB thumb drives of Star Wars and Hello Kitty. it was crazy.
     And then there was the methods of payment. Not only did most of these machines accept the usual bills and coins, but I finally saw some of those credit and debit readers that I saw so many years ago in California. Some even had interactive touch screens for selecting my choices.
     Though there was a sobering reminder that just because something is new and technologically advanced, does it mean that it will work better. When I slid my debit card to get a nice cold Coca-Cola, what I got was a charge one dollar more than what the machine had displayed for the price of the coke, and no coke. Yep, that is correct, the vending machine digitally ate my change. I was furious. I then cursed the machine to suffer in the lowest circle of Hades, and vowed to contact my bank later to block the charge.
     So, with my new-found experience with the wonders of modern technology, I'm happy to say that we have a long way to go before we get to the utopian world of trouble free shopping that always gets advertised. I think we're closer to the mad-cap mayhem that was often seen on the Jetsons, with the wonderful trappings of society constantly failing, and the same old complaints issuing from consumers lips. I'm happy because this means there is still a place for something like Digital Fruit, because problems are what we fix.
     Till next time, I'll catch you on the flip side.