Meat Vending Machine.....

Nothing like fresh meat. Oh, you're talking about meat, the kind you eat, er, consume...

Great idea.
 
I think it's not such a farfetched idea. After spending some time in Japan, I've lost fear of edibles that come from a vending machine:


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Reminds me of the Horn and Hardart "Automat" stores of my youth.

I think this concept could become popular with Millennials, many of whom seem more comfortable talking to machines than people anyway. The trick would be how to make an app for it. The meat's already there waiting for the customer anyway, so an app that makes it ready for pickup wouldn't really do anything. But a partnership with Uber or Lyft by which the driver would pick up the meat and drop it off to the user might be popular among hipsters.

Rich
 
RJM62 said:
Reminds me of the Horn and Hardart "Automat" stores of my youth.

I think this concept could become popular with Millennials, many of whom seem more comfortable talking to machines than people anyway. The trick would be how to make an app for it. The meat's already there waiting for the customer anyway, so an app that makes it ready for pickup wouldn't really do anything. But a partnership with Uber or Lyft by which the driver would pick up the meat and drop it off to the user might be popular among hipsters.

Rich
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Name the app "Pimp," take a percentage of the sale and you'll be driven a caddy and wearing furs for the rest of your life (if that's your thing).
 
BARFO..!!!!

What happens if the power goes out for a few hours..???
 
Clark1961 said:
Name the app "Pimp," take a percentage of the sale and you'll be driven a caddy and wearing furs for the rest of your life (if that's your thing).
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So Clark, how many apps do you have out there now? :D
 
I remember going to the Horn and Hardart on my first trip to NY.
18CITYROOM-automat-ss-slide-UUMT-jumbo.jpg


I was disappointed that it really wasn't a giant vending machine like the candy or coke machines. Each plate is manually inserted in the window.

My high school French teacher said she worked there in college. Nickles were the coin of the realm and she says she could scoop out 20 nickels from a large bin at her station with a swoop of her hand.
 
I recall my grandfather in the late 60s thinking of selling rabbit meat in vending machines. Every few purchases would have a pearl in it. The idea was 'housewives' would buy the meat and work themselves towards a pearl necklace.

Grandpa passed away in the 70s fairly wealthy, most of the $$ went to the other side of the family. Don't care about the $$, the dude was cool. Even with his crazy ideas.
 
RJM62 said:
Reminds me of the Horn and Hardart "Automat" stores of my youth.

I think this concept could become popular with Millennials, many of whom seem more comfortable talking to machines than people anyway. The trick would be how to make an app for it. The meat's already there waiting for the customer anyway, so an app that makes it ready for pickup wouldn't really do anything. But a partnership with Uber or Lyft by which the driver would pick up the meat and drop it off to the user might be popular among hipsters.

Rich
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Uber is already doing restaurant runs here. Not sure if it's a nationwide thing though. Driver goes and picks up take out, Uber somehow pays the place, and driver delivers it to the house.

When I say "here" of course, I mean closer in to civilization. Last time I had an Uber drive me out here to the house I think she was getting nervous that she'd be locked up in my basement or something as the cell service died and the road turned to dirt. Haha.

I had told her she could drop me at the gas station at the end of the pavement and I'd bum a ride from a neighbor but she said no it was okay and soldiered on.

The Uber app completely barfed on the route after it lost cell coverage and I had to contact Uber and tell them the real route and to pay her appropriately for it. Bad software engineers. No donut.

Just for fun I looked into doing it. They want a lot newer cars than I own and after doing the math I realized the whole thing is being subsidized by the drivers.

You can't make money driving for them long term. You'll have cash flow, but maintenance and insurance will make your days driving for them unprofitable in the long run.
 
We had a delivery business called in Northern Virginia the "Takeout Taxi" way before Uber/Lyft got the idea.
 
denverpilot said:
Uber is already doing restaurant runs here. Not sure if it's a nationwide thing though. Driver goes and picks up take out, Uber somehow pays the place, and driver delivers it to the house.

When I say "here" of course, I mean closer in to civilization. Last time I had an Uber drive me out here to the house I think she was getting nervous that she'd be locked up in my basement or something as the cell service died and the road turned to dirt. Haha.

I had told her she could drop me at the gas station at the end of the pavement and I'd bum a ride from a neighbor but she said no it was okay and soldiered on.

The Uber app completely barfed on the route after it lost cell coverage and I had to contact Uber and tell them the real route and to pay her appropriately for it. Bad software engineers. No donut.

Just for fun I looked into doing it. They want a lot newer cars than I own and after doing the math I realized the whole thing is being subsidized by the drivers.

You can't make money driving for them long term. You'll have cash flow, but maintenance and insurance will make your days driving for them unprofitable in the long run.
Click to expand...

And now I'm told that Uber has reduced compensation even further. At least that's what my ex-stepdaughter told me. She went back to doing package deliveries because Uber was barely paying for her gas, much less the rest of the costs.

I personally have little use for Uber or Lyft. Neither do I consider them especially innovative. But I grew up in New York City, where radio-dispatched cabs have been available since the 1960's. I found the radio dispatch service most useful when I needed a cab from a point of origin in the "outer boroughs" that wasn't along a major street. In Manhattan or on major streets in the "outer boroughs," it's rarely taken me more than a minute or two to hail yellow cabs the old-fashioned way (an upraised hand).

Despite hipster horror stories about NYC medallion cabs (the "yellow cabs" that are legally allowed to hack), I never had any problems with them in more than half a century of using them. The drivers do tend to be rather... let's say "energetic" in their driving styles, but that doesn't even elicit shrugs from native New Yorkers. As long as a cabbie's driving style stays within the boundaries of the laws of physics, most of us aren't fazed by it. Tourists tend to find it harrowing, but natives take it in stride.

Some of the "black car" or "gypsy" livery cabs and drivers used to be less than wonderful, however. There were few requirements for the drivers other than that had to be at least 18 years old and paid fees to upgrade their state driver's licenses. Consequently, the black car driver pool consisted mainly of drivers who couldn't get a "hack license" for reasons such as not being able to pass the physical (most notably the drug test part), not being able to pass the hack license written test, or having too many points on their driver's licenses. Nowadays the TLC standards for both the livery companies and their drivers are a lot tougher, so the really ****ty livery drivers and companies have been weeded out.

The only thing about Uber and Lyft that I consider reasonably innovative and somewhat useful is the rating system. But even in that regard, I think the benefit is slight. I never had any horrible experiences hailing cabs the old-fashioned way, knowing nothing whatsoever about the driver other than that he or she was able to obtain a hack license.

But, then again, all I expected from the deal was a ride. As long as I got to where I needed to go, the cab was reasonably clean, and the driver knew how to get to the destination and wasn't a complete lunatic, I was happy. I was looking for a cab ride, not a BFF. Maybe the younger set is more demanding in their expectations.

Rich
 
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I've done a lot of commuting around in NYC. While midtown is a reasonable place to try to get a medalion cab by hailing, it indeed could be dicely otherplaces.. And the sad fact is, if you're black, even dressed in a suit and top coat, you can find it hard to get a cab even in this day and age. Seen it happen.

Black cars are supposed to have the same TLC approved drivers as the medallion cabs. The major difference is that they must be dispatched rather than being allowed to pick people up on the street. The big advantage is they aren't "rationed" like the medallions.

Of course, not everywhere is NY. Some places like DC had absolutely horrible cab systems. Uber is definitely an improvement in DC.
 
flyingron said:
I've done a lot of commuting around in NYC. While midtown is a reasonable place to try to get a medalion cab by hailing, it indeed could be dicely otherplaces.. And the sad fact is, if you're black, even dressed in a suit and top coat, you can find it hard to get a cab even in this day and age. Seen it happen.

Black cars are supposed to have the same TLC approved drivers as the medallion cabs. The major difference is that they must be dispatched rather than being allowed to pick people up on the street. The big advantage is they aren't "rationed" like the medallions.

Of course, not everywhere is NY. Some places like DC had absolutely horrible cab systems. Uber is definitely an improvement in DC.
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Yes, nowadays the "black car" drivers are also TLC-licensed, and it does make a difference. You don't get nearly as many junkies or morons as back in the old days.

I've never had a problem calling either a yellow taxi or a black car anywhere in NYC. Hailing is a bit dicier in the outer boroughs, but on major roads it's not that bad. I think some of the black cars are allowed to hack in the outer boroughs now, as well.

The problems with cabbies not wanting to pick up people of color has been going on forever, unfortunately. :(

Rich
 
A lot of places aren't NYC. There are NO taxicabs available in my area. NONE. I once had my car break down, but was able to nurse it to my maintenance shop which is about three miles from my home. This was before Uber/Lyft existed. There was nobody available at the maintenance shop to run my wife, and I home. We ended up walking. No big deal as it was sunny, and in the summer. At least now with Uber we could probably get a ride.
 
Somehow I thought this thread would contain pictures from Amsterdam.
 
Gio Paolinelli said:
I think it's not such a farfetched idea. After spending some time in Japan, I've lost fear of edibles that come from a vending machine:
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So true. I worked in Tokyo briefly and had the same education. Coincidentally, this video about the vending machine culture just came out a few days ago.

 
Clark1961 said:
It was horribly bad beer. Sorta like PBR that had set in the sun for a month, maybe more.
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Hmm. Yeah. That's probably pushing the happiness level down a lot from "Yay! A beer vending machine!" to "Ugh..."
 
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