@cibomahto on Twitter posted this awesome pic of a vending machine at the Makerbot headquarters in NYC:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cibomahto/5437529995/

It's full of kits, and has a spot for Ramen as well.

OK, I say we should do this with our vending machine, but I know there might be some hungry dissenters around.

I found the instruction manual on how to program our model. Can't post it to the forums, but can be e-mailed if wanted. Last time I checked, we had plenty of space in the vending machine open for possible electronics.

-The DTs

Idris, thanks for looking this up! This would be awesome if we could make it work.

i should point out that the vending machine isn't 'ours' it's brandon's and he's donating profits (minimal as they are) to us. you'll have to con him into putting things in there.

personally, i'm in favor of keeping it full of chips and candy as folks consistently buy it faster than it can be refilled. ramen would be a BRILLIANT addition.

while it'd be "cool" to have electronics in there, most of our electronics folk already have pretty well stocked kits, so i don't see it getting a lot of use for that.

Kits would be awesome, arduinos at a minimum.

A vending machine brings most folks a vision of a vertical metal monster, but really we could do this with nothing more than lockboxs and locks.

We could make a couple of wooden boxes and a combo lock that is programable...
Put the contents in the box (glass topped) and sell the combo via PayPal or ?

We could even mount the vendor boxes near the area that would use it?

Just stretching the boundary a little...

I like the idea a lot.

I Really like the idea of ramen and suchlike in there.

As far as electronics, it strikes me that there's often empty space in the machine.

I like cool. a LOT. If there's a chance of enhanced coolness, I say go for it.

If we do put gear or kits in there, I want to be the one to ask, "what's the harm?"

I ask one simple question who is going to pay for the kits in the first place to place in the machine.

i think what orion is pointing out is that holding inventory means $$ sitting on a shelf, and while $30 in chips becomes $35 in cash in short order, $300 in parts is a bit more to spend up front.