alt Hacker NewsWhat you've re-invented is Keydoozle, from 1937.[1] This was the first automated grocery store. Three stores were opened, but there were enough mechanical problems that it didn't work well.
[1] https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/keedoozle-automated-store-p...
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And what some of us might not have the context for, is that grocery stores at the time were usually clerk-serviced; Just like you don't pump your own gas in New Jersey, at the time the norm was that you handed the clerk a list of products and they fetched them from the shelves for you.
Arguably this model has a great deal of compatibility with robotic compact storage, especially in high-land-value areas.
Wow, this man was decades ahead of his time. My hat off.
Thank you for that rabbit hole. Interesting that the same guy gave us both of the present day shopping systems just one was too far ahead
There were also automats, automated restaurants serving all food through a vending machine (or more accurately, wall). Classically all for a single fixed price (a nickle).
These are featured in several cultural references, such as the 1962 Delbert Mann film That Touch of Mink, and PDQ Bach's "Concerto for Horn and Hardart" (being named after a prominent New York City automat chain).
Mink: <https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Y3GXMB4VPY8>
Concerto: <https://yewtu.be/watch?v=NT6bxlnS1Is>