And it probably should be. We could even have a set of small plates embedded somewhere for quick swapping on demand.
I like computers, but having an individual computer to run a single drink display really is overkill. At least use one to drive all the labels simultaneously, if you still want the ability to display nifty animations of liquid flowing above the actual liquid actually visibly flowing.
Exactly. This implementation makes no sense. Unless the logos are animated, need to change frequently, or supposed to show advertising (I hope not), a backlit plastic label would do the same job just fine. In fact, that has done the same job for decades at this point.
**sharp exhale** You’re probably right. It’s just like the gas pumps. A big soda cup takes a few seconds to fill up, and the system knows that’s when you’re holding the button down, staring at the tap. All that makes you an advertising target for the duration.
Is there some version of Occam’s Razor where “enshitification” is the most likely answer?
This implementation makes a lot of sense if you think about the ability to support variable amount of screens without the need of complex routing and addressing.
It also has increased reliability where one failure doesn’t break the whole system.
As for the need of it - well, that’s “slurp” they try to sell some cold sugar to impulsive people who like flashy things. That implies animations on the screen and being “not boring”.
The fact that they changed to screens by itself means that backlit plastic label was doing poorer job than this abomination.
yeah, that is the most f’d up thing, I saw it at a travel plaza, it looks like the fever dream of some tech mogul’s kid that they just sink money into because they’re infatuated with it.
Man it’s so crazy how many small computers are around us. Just a few years ago that would have been a plastic label they swapped out when needed.
And it probably should be. We could even have a set of small plates embedded somewhere for quick swapping on demand.
I like computers, but having an individual computer to run a single drink display really is overkill. At least use one to drive all the labels simultaneously, if you still want the ability to display nifty animations of liquid flowing above the actual liquid actually visibly flowing.
They’re probably paying a dollar or two for a esp32 at volume. When one fails a tech probably just throws the old one away.
tween this and the e-ink pricetags on merchandise…
Esp32 probably doesn’t have a bios crash. My bet is a raspberry pi
Not a BIOS crash but a Linux startup has been interrupted here. So likely you’re right
They are RPis.
I saw this setup at my local 7/11
Reminds me of a Rug Doctor rental machine I saw that was proudly displaying the default Raspberry Pi OS background and a login prompt
Exactly. This implementation makes no sense. Unless the logos are animated, need to change frequently, or supposed to show advertising (I hope not), a backlit plastic label would do the same job just fine. In fact, that has done the same job for decades at this point.
I’m betting on this.
**sharp exhale** You’re probably right. It’s just like the gas pumps. A big soda cup takes a few seconds to fill up, and the system knows that’s when you’re holding the button down, staring at the tap. All that makes you an advertising target for the duration.
Is there some version of Occam’s Razor where “enshitification” is the most likely answer?
This implementation makes a lot of sense if you think about the ability to support variable amount of screens without the need of complex routing and addressing.
It also has increased reliability where one failure doesn’t break the whole system.
As for the need of it - well, that’s “slurp” they try to sell some cold sugar to impulsive people who like flashy things. That implies animations on the screen and being “not boring”.
The fact that they changed to screens by itself means that backlit plastic label was doing poorer job than this abomination.
And it still should be.
Cause its stupid. This is even dumber than walgreens replacing freezer doors with LCD screens that don’t let you see whats inside.
yeah, that is the most f’d up thing, I saw it at a travel plaza, it looks like the fever dream of some tech mogul’s kid that they just sink money into because they’re infatuated with it.
its some serious cyberpunk 2077 shit.
I can see someone slinging a cyberdeck pinging a drink machine to infiltrate the LAN.