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It’s been said many times that we now live in a throw-away culture. If it’s old, throw it out. If it’s not the latest version, trash it. If for some reason you’re not happy with something anymore, then just dispose of it. It’s a culture that sounds extremely frivolous, and…

It always annoys me when I’m stuck outside with my laptop trying to find a Wi-Fi network. Luckily where I am here in Taipei, there’s city-wide free Wi-Fi, so that’s never been a problem. It looks like it probably isn’t a problem in Japan either, because Asahi’s vending machines will…

If there’s one thing that’s for certain, it’s that the Japanese love their wacky vending machines. Whether they’re doling out bananas, crabs or making ice cream sundaes, they always seem to have a trick up their sleeves. But this machine just makes hot beverages like tea and coffee. So what’s…

If recent developments are any indication, I think we’re on the precipice of a whole new era in vending machines. Thanks to modern technology, these mechanical devices are about to get an upgrade. Here’s one new concept design which adds a large touchscreen to the front of the machine to…

We often lament the fact that in the US we generally only get the plain vending machines with the mechanical buttons that have been around for decades. In other countries, the vending machines are much cooler, often packing in touchscreens and serving oddities like crab or bananas. A company called…

Do you own an amusement park? Are you a gumball addict? Are you Richie Rich? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you simply must have this monstrous gumball machine. Just like it’s name says, it carries 14,450 gumballs and uses the “classic “Beaver” mechanism”…, which

We have seen some very strange vending machines around the world over the years. You have your cool and understandable machines like the bread maker and the pizza maker. Then we get really weird machines like the one in China that dispenses live crab. The German version of PETA, called…

Here in the States, the oddest vending machines we get tend to be the sort in Airports that sell things like cameras and MP3 players. We don’t really get any of the truly disgusting ones like the Chinese vending machine that sells live crab. A strange vending machine has now…

With Japan and China already filling their vending machines with bananas and crabs, I guess they needed to come up with something different to sell instead of cans of Coke and Snickers bars. So what’s next for Asia’s vending machines? Precious metals, of course!…

In the future, a trip to the vending machine will no longer require bills and coins. You’ll need a mobile phone and a PayPal account though. Make Magazine spotted this concept device made by Ray Tanaka and his colleagues at PayPal Labs. The setup allows users to pay using their…