Space Travel and Vending Machines – What do they have in common?

We have put men on the moon and have kept humans in space for decades. We have robots on Mars that have been working far longer than anyone ever expected and we have probes circling other planets and even a couple ready to exit our solar neighborhood. So what does that have to do with vending machines? Nothing. Well, sort of.

Last week I had a conversation with a co-worker. He made a good point. We as humans have the ability to do all of the above but for some reason we have an inability to manufacture a vending machine that works consistently. Seriously, how many times have you walked up to a vending machine and put your money in only to have your selection stick in the machine? A vending machine is very simple and probably has more ‘computer’ power than the Apollo moon lander.

Why is it that we can put a man on the moon and yet the vending machine doesn’t work right? Knowing that we have a lot of technology in our day-to-day lives, all courtesy of the space program, why don’t things work right? Ok, so they needed a ballpoint pen to hold in a breaker so they could leave the moon. It broke because it was hit by their suits and not because of pure failure. Considering the feat and where things have gone technology wise you would think a simple vending machine would work correctly.

Have we become so technologically advanced that when it comes to simple things we are clueless? I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with some amazing people. The knowledge they had in their heads was unbelievable. Yet, they had a hard time grasping some simple day-to-day things.

Have we as a society, in terms of technology, reached the same point? Are we so closely tied to technology that we can’t do simple things or make simple machines that work consistently? Calculators work flawlessly every time. Computers will work for years and years doing what they should. Argument on computers is they fail a lot. This is not true though. They work fine and just as they should. A computer crash 99.9% of the time is not hardware related; it’s software or user error. Sure hard drives will fail, cooling fans will fail, and CPUs will fail. It is, after all, a machine but the failure rate of a computer due to hardware is much, much lower than that of a vending machine.

So, again the question: Why is it so hard to make a vending machine that works consistently? Is it harder than putting Man on the moon? Is it harder than keeping humans in space for decades? Is it harder than sending a robot to Mars? Or is it a matter of vending machine manufacturers just wanting to make things cheap and make a profit? I’ll go with cheap to make a quick buck.

The next time you put your money in a vending machine think about the men that went to the moon and the ones in space. Would you trust this machine with their lives? If not, will you trust it with your quarter?