INSTAGRAM FAILS TO DELIVER & SO DOES CHRONICLE!

Instead of a newspaper vending machine, we have a casino & the house always wins. INSTAGRAM seems to take exception to public service announcements. So, here is yet another attempt to warn people not to lose their money with a rigged machine.

YESTERDAY, I TRIED TO USE THIS ‘VENDING’ MACHINE TO BUY AN EXTRA COPY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. MY INTENTION WAS TO OBTAIN AN EXTRA COPY TO SEND TO MY BROTHER & HIS WIFE IN PHOENIX. I THOUGHT THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THIS. THE MACHINE ATE FOUR QUARTERS, BUT THE DOOR TO IT WOULD NOT OPEN, IT YIELDED NAUGHT.

I CALLED THE MAIN SWITCHBOARD NUMBER OF THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, AND LEFT A MESSAGE. THE NUMBER THAT I CALLED, 415-777-1111.

I TRIED TO POST A COPY OF THIS MACHINE WITH A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HAPPENED ON INSTAGRAM, AFTER GIVING THE NEWSPAPER A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME TO RESPOND. IT SEEMS THAT INSTAGRAM CENSORED MY PHOTOGRAPH & COMMENTS. THE COMMENTS WERE FACTUAL, NOT A WORD OF IMPROPER OR ABUSIVE LANGUAGE. IT SEEMS THAT IT’S TOO WEIRD OF AN EVENT TO BE MERE CHANCE, BUT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

THE MACHINE TO AVOID IS LOCATED NEAR THE CORNER OF HOWARD & 9th STREETS. THE SIMPLEST SOLUTION FOR THOSE WHO FREQUENT THAT AREA IS TO BUY THEIR COPY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE IN A CONVENIENCE STORE. IT IS CLEAR THAT THE MACHINES ARE NOT HONESTLY OPERATED.

I DO REMEMBER A FEW YEARS AGO SEEING SOMEONE TAKE A SMALL METAL OBJECT & EMPTY THE MACHINE THAT WAS IN THAT SAME LOCATION OF IT’S MONEY. ‘TIS A SHAME, BUT THEY DON’T RETURN CALLS, SO CUSTOMER SERVICE IS CLEARLY NOT A VALUE.

AND THE FAILURE OF INSTAGRAM IS JUST PLAIN BEWILDERING. I THOUGHT IT WAS FOR INSTANT SHARING OF IDEAS, NEWS, ETC.

Low Technology Vending Machines

These were the first coin-operated vending machines I can remember. In my earliest memories, some of the items for sale cost only a penny, sometimes a nickle. It’s ironic, in this era of 21st Century, high-end technology, there still seems to be a niche market for these, right here in downtown San Francisco. Enjoy the trip backwards in time, although I must warn those of you who are ‘of age’–it costs more this time! Enjoy!

These low-tech vending machines bring back an era that is basically gone. I think the novelty of doing this appeals to the younger generation & the fact that they remind those of us who were around when these were used on a daily basis, provides some psychological reassurance that not all of our past is completely erased yet. It’s nice to have a tangible reference point & this is what keeps them in business.