Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (03/14/91)
Index Number: 13912
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
I've seen the NFB "vending machines" and in this case would have to concur
with David. They dispense very small quantities of gumballs, peanuts or (my
favorite) "hot tamales" (essentially jellybeans with a LOT of cinnamon). They
dispense a small quantity of the item directly into your hand. The quantities
are MUCH smaller than anything I've ever seen in a package, and the price per
unit volume is a good deal higher than packaged goods.
In any case, there's only one rational way to resolve this question: take a
reasonably large sample of vending stands in buildings where the gumball
machines have been installed and find out if there's been any change in the
stands' incomes. Anything else is just idle speculation. If the machines do
depress the stands' incomes, then there's a problem and all the debate is
valid. If they don't, then the whole discussion is nothing but a big entropy
generator.
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