Today, many companies are coming up with
ways to enhance what can be accomplished through self-service and they
have come a long way since the first kiosk was introduced. Now self-service kiosks are popping up everywhere
in the community – from grocery stores to DVD rentals, airports to train
stations – people are demanding self-service to be an option. Just
recently, a national pilot program for Peapod was implemented.
Peapod is a mobile application for online grocery shopping. This program is
setup in train stations across the US (where people typically have to wait long
periods of time for the next train) and individuals step up to a specific panel
on the train platform and downloads the Peapod app. They can then virtually
grocery shop through aisles, pay online, and be done; quick and easy. That is
essentially what the customer’s want; a quicker and easier way of doing
everyday tasks. And with the sort of technology resources we have, why not make
life a little more efficient.
“I really think the future holds many great possibilities. I
think the ATM was the first instance where a person had the opportunity to
interface with a piece of machinery, and that allowed that person then to be
comfortable with interfacing to other pieces that came out since then—like PCs,
as an example, and we all know the success of the PC. I think we’ re going to
see much, much more of that happening in the future. I think people nowadays
and in the future are going to have the opportunity to not only come up with a
lot of new products but also to be able to use those products in ways they
never dreamed of.”
-Don Wetzel, Co-patentee
of the Automatic Teller Machine.
I agree with Wetzel, the future allows for infinite
possibilities that can only be imagined right now. Eventually, a shift from
self-service kiosks will move to be completely in the cloud. For example, already
people rarely go into the bank. ATM’s are what people prefer to use, but slowly
the need for ATM's will be unnecessary because of the cloud. People can deposit
checks, transfer money, etc via digital devices. Pretty soon everything
will be automated; you will be able to talk to a Virtual Agent and tell it what
you want, and it can do it for you.
Do you envision a world were kiosks will live in the cloud?
Or are there certain situations where the presence of a kiosk is needed?
