I saw an iPod vending machine in the flesh for the first time at the Minneapolis airport. Interestingly, I also saw vending machines there for high-end moisturizers and other products, but of course the iPod machine gets all the press.
You’d think that visitors to the Twin Cities would be saving money for the Mall of America or poor from their visit there, but clearly that is not the case. Minneapolis – St Paul International is no different from the rest of America’s airports and caters to the urge to shop that strikes us while waiting to board.
What’s interesting about the iPod vending machine is how it plays with our expectations; where we’re used to getting $1.50 sodas we can now buy a $250 MP3 player. Like catalogs, the internet, and self-checkout lines, we learn to trust new ways of purchasing without sales people. What will be next?
