41–50 of 73 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When machines were cash only, there was a big box of cash sitting unguarded on a lonely corner at 3am...
I've drilled out the lock on an old Coke machine my dad bought at an auction. It's not a fast, discreet, or easy process.
I looked into doing this in the 2010s and it’s really an enormous pain in the ass to scale. A lot of the turnkey options were pretty much scams too. Machines that vended DVDs were popular back then. You have to find the hot spots, negotiate for the space, deal with any vandalism, reload the machines, respond to problems. Not what many would consider “passive”
The only kind of vending machine low maintenance enough that I think it can count as passive is digital vending machines that only take electronic payment, e.g. a Bitcoin ATM. There's no physical goods to restock so once it's in place, you're hopefully good for a long time. But as you point out, even getting the location, the machine, and then installing it, is enough work to potentially not fully count as passive.
I hope we reach the vending machine density of Japan.... Was extremely helpful to have a vending machine every 10 m when it was 40C outside with extreme humidity last summer when I was there.
There used to be more vending machines, but the prevalence of convenience stores every 200m (or so it seems) makes them less viable financially.
It is a sad day when a favorite vending machines that sells something unusual just vanishes. Usually this is something like a type of seasonal beer that vending machines will have in stock longer than the stores do.
Whole large banks of vending machines in Shinjuku have gone the way of the dodo. Sadness.
Have people not heard of depreciation, maintenance, restocking? Oh. Oh waitaminute I see the angle here. Mining company shares to goldbugs, substandard shovels and rations to 49ers, stakes in stablecoin exchanges to the common techbro, and now, at last, "ISO-Certified Vend Automation Accreditation Training" where you can get all the tools you need to STRIKE IT BIG. Then you can rope in more people with the scam, and…
The Japanese have numerous vending machines of high quality that offer decent prices with good selections of food. Perhaps it is in our Future in America too
yes it was brazen, yes it worked
Have people not heard of depreciation, maintenance, restocking? Oh. Oh waitaminute I see the angle here. Mining company shares to goldbugs, substandard shovels and rations to 49ers, stakes in stablecoin exchanges to the common techbro, and now, at last, "ISO-Certified Vend Automation Accreditation Training" where you can get all the tools you need to STRIKE IT BIG. Then you can rope in more people with the scam, and…
>Looking for actual returns that aren't sacked with fees and conditions The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF[1] has 12.0% annualized returns over the past decade, and only charges 0.03% in management fees. [1] https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profi...
Where to put excess capital for the average person is a solved problem. People just want to be different.
I looked into doing this in the 2010s and it’s really an enormous pain in the ass to scale. A lot of the turnkey options were pretty much scams too. Machines that vended DVDs were popular back then. You have to find the hot spots, negotiate for the space, deal with any vandalism, reload the machines, respond to problems. Not what many would consider “passive”
> You have to find the hot spots, negotiate for the space, deal with any vandalism, reload the machines, respond to problems. Not what many would consider “passive” I’ve spent a lot of time in various solopreneur, micropreneur, and indie hacker communities. One thing you have to understand is that for a large majority of people (we’re talking 90%+), the alternative to not-quite-passive income, isn’t a cushy software…
Sounds about the same as a tech lead or SRE job minus the sweating in a warehouse.
Hey, in this industry we desperately need to replace the lazy boomers who don't hustle anymore and want to spend half their work from home day picking up their kids from soccer practice. Anyone willing to pivot into a tech job is welcome in my book just maybe not in much beyond a junior dev position.
I'd prefer they take those bootcamp skills and apply them to front office work like talking to clients and gathering requirements or sales. A little bit of tech knowledge can go a very long way and we sorely need that in traditionally non-technical roles. I don't get the obsession over coding for a living when the salary isn't that different elsewhere in the office. I've never met a bootcamp person who really wanted to code. Incentives are better aligned with other work and leaning on what they learned in bootcamp.
This isn’t Japan half the cost will be in securing the machine from vandals and thieves
One would think there would be a higher rate of vandalism in Asian societies as all it takes is one with a crowbar[1] and the more prominent mask wearing culture. 1 https://japantoday.com/category/crime/charges-dropped-agains...
This isn’t Japan half the cost will be in securing the machine from vandals and thieves
One would think there would be a higher rate of vandalism in Asian societies as all it takes is one with a crowbar[1] and the more prominent mask wearing culture. 1 https://japantoday.com/category/crime/charges-dropped-agains...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Japanese have numerous vending machines of high quality that offer decent prices with good selections of food. Perhaps it is in our Future in America too
My house mates’ drug dealer used a vending machine yes it was brazen, yes it worked
Were they concerned about getting nicked every time they refilled the machine?