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2 ex-Google guys secure venture capital, re-invent vending machines

I feel like somethings just cannot be improved upon anymore, like...walking, denser mid-sized cities with midrises...and vending machines. It's a solution looking for a problem.
 
"Ex-Googler" really doesn't' mean as much as you would think. They hire some of the smartest people in the world to do help desk tickets.

I think the whole Silicon Valley "everything except my coding output is taken care of for me" attitude is bizarre, leads to lots of strange shit like this. Entirely warped sense of reality.
 
They're disrupting the automat!!!

Abbott-Automat-1936.jpg

Douchebags like this aren't selling anything but hubris and branding.
 
Its basically a universal vending machine with a streamlined payment scheme.

I don't share the negativity. Seems like a fine idea for some places, and could make more sense than using traditional vending machines.

The use-cases presented are offices and college campuses and the like, not a replacement for the corner store.
 

IrishNinja

Member
if your bodega replacement has fair prices & folks that don't speak english (and no surly cat nearby) you can keep that shit
 

RinsFury

Member
Its basically a universal vending machine with a streamlined payment scheme.

I don't share the negativity. Seems like a fine idea for some places, and could make more sense than using traditional vending machines.

The use-cases presented are offices and college campuses and the like, not a replacement for the corner store.

Yet they state that this is their ultimate goal.

“Eventually, centralized shopping locations won’t be necessary, because there will be 100,000 Bodegas spread out, with one always 100 ft away from you.”
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
I am guessing their business plan is to be purchased by Amazon for a billion dollars.

It literally has to be. Their model is a logistical nightmare otherwise. Except they don't have any real technological innovations either. They literally just have their business plan
 
So, basically, these are vending machines that will require you to have a smartphone on you, plus have a user account with them, to be able to use them.

I doubt these will even replace regular vending machines, much less stores.

If anything, these will sit next to regular vending machines, inside stores and office buildings and hotel lobbies. Maybe they'll sit next to Amazon lockers.
 
Yet they state that this is their ultimate goal.
They also state this:

Corner stores have been fixtures of their neighborhoods for generations. They stock thousands of items, far more than we could ever fit on a few shelves. Their owners know what products to carry and in many cases who buys what. And they're run by people who in addition to selling everything from toilet paper to milk also offer an integral human connection to their patrons that our automated storefronts never will.

We want to bring commerce to places where commerce currently doesn't exist. Rather than take away jobs, we hope Bodega will help create them. We see a future where anyone can own and operate a Bodega — delivering relevant items and a great retail experience to places no corner store would ever open.

Regardless, the classic shopping model, convenience store and otherwise are all in the sights to be revolutionized by technology. If its not these Bodega folks, it'll be Amazon or some other company.
 
This is the shit I hate. The shit I absolutely, positively do not like.

Let's get the name out of the way. Absolutely cornball move calling this a bodega and using the bodega cat as a meme. Strikes me as two well off dudes that follow /r/blackpeopletwitter and think they know what's hip and cool with millennials. I bet the even did some surveys where they mysteriously found 90% (or more) of people that would call this unoffensive.



Well look at that.

My biggest issue with this is how fucking common it is for silicon valley guys to come out with some startup that talks about making life better that inherently makes life worse for people that fall into lower income brackets. These people are typically minorities too, making things even more tone deaf.

Bodegas are community staples. Relationship are built there with the people that work/own the shop and with people in your neighborhood that frequent the establishment too.

So let's replace those institutions with ikea-looking boxes bearing that Bodega name. Boxes that won't help you out when you need milk for your kids but are short on cash. Or will give you your first job working the register after school. Or will give you a place to dip into when someone from your neighborhood wants to fight for no reason.

Bodegas are the last real example of the American dream; People fulfilling a need in their own community and starting and owning their own business. So of course two Google bros are popping up, wanting to take the name and replace the an extension of your family in some ways with some soulless box.

They roll in with half-baked ideas like "what if Home Depot bought in and sent them to job sites??" Never really considering the people that are actually hurt. They get high off the idea of being a 'disruptor' and changing the way business is done or pushing progress forward. Forward where, my guys? To an antisocial society where we buy shit out of boxes? To a society where less middle class people have good jobs that service the community they're part of?

I'm sure their answers to these questions would be that they should get "training" for 'other fields' or that it's the governments responsibility to look out for those people I'm describing. To which I would agree, however we all have the same government but we certainly aren't governed the same. So what are you doing about that, you silicon valley dweebs.

I bet these dudes consider themselves liberal too. I bet they don't realize this is the shit that makes people turn away from the left because well off, left leaning people don't actually consider those at the bottom all that much.

This is a long post. I apologize. I'm just mad a lot these days.
Salute to you for saying what I was to furious to say.
 
I feel like something like this would be good for apartments or dorms. Something where the apartment company subscribes to a service that puts one in the building and profit shares. I cant see any other major purposes that convenience stores, a local grocery market or even a regular vending machine wouldn't solve
 
This really feels like a) a solution in search of a problem and b) the avatar of gentrification.

I also agree that there's a heady dotcom bubble flavor to a lot of these new startups. "Exactly the same stuff you do now but WITH AN APP."
 
WOW, giving it the name of the thing you are trying to eliminate, probably rename the actual old bodega's "American Bodegas" to imply they were not the true Bodegas.

Just call it 'over priced city supplies for the people who spent $1000 for a freaking phone - machine'.

Is that the current target market for average existing bodegas? Is this really poised to drive existing bodegas out of existence?
 
Is that the current target market for average existing bodegas? Is this really poised to drive existing bodegas out of existence?

Driving bodegas out of existence assumes that New Yorkers will simply stop walking a block to their corner store because there's a wooden box selling room temperature sodas via an app. This might work in cities where a car is required to do anything but not in cities where the primary mode of transportation is walkng.
 
This is the shit I hate. The shit I absolutely, positively do not like.

Let's get the name out of the way. Absolutely cornball move calling this a bodega and using the bodega cat as a meme. Strikes me as two well off dudes that follow /r/blackpeopletwitter and think they know what's hip and cool with millennials. I bet the even did some surveys where they mysteriously found 90% (or more) of people that would call this unoffensive.



Well look at that.

My biggest issue with this is how fucking common it is for silicon valley guys to come out with some startup that talks about making life better that inherently makes life worse for people that fall into lower income brackets. These people are typically minorities too, making things even more tone deaf.

Bodegas are community staples. Relationship are built there with the people that work/own the shop and with people in your neighborhood that frequent the establishment too.

So let's replace those institutions with ikea-looking boxes bearing that Bodega name. Boxes that won't help you out when you need milk for your kids but are short on cash. Or will give you your first job working the register after school. Or will give you a place to dip into when someone from your neighborhood wants to fight for no reason.

Bodegas are the last real example of the American dream; People fulfilling a need in their own community and starting and owning their own business. So of course two Google bros are popping up, wanting to take the name and replace the an extension of your family in some ways with some soulless box.

They roll in with half-baked ideas like "what if Home Depot bought in and sent them to job sites??" Never really considering the people that are actually hurt. They get high off the idea of being a 'disruptor' and changing the way business is done or pushing progress forward. Forward where, my guys? To an antisocial society where we buy shit out of boxes? To a society where less middle class people have good jobs that service the community they're part of?

I'm sure their answers to these questions would be that they should get "training" for 'other fields' or that it's the governments responsibility to look out for those people I'm describing. To which I would agree, however we all have the same government but we certainly aren't governed the same. So what are you doing about that, you silicon valley dweebs.

I bet these dudes consider themselves liberal too. I bet they don't realize this is the shit that makes people turn away from the left because well off, left leaning people don't actually consider those at the bottom all that much.

This is a long post. I apologize. I'm just mad a lot these days.

Great post. It's complete BS that they think this will help lower income, or corner store owners. I refuse to believe they honestly believe that. They're just looking for a huge pay day, and I hope they don't get it
 
Its basically a universal vending machine with a streamlined payment scheme.

I don't share the negativity. Seems like a fine idea for some places, and could make more sense than using traditional vending machines.

The use-cases presented are offices and college campuses and the like, not a replacement for the corner store.
Honestly, the branding is what got them into trouble. The basic concept is fine, and already in practice in tons of places. A vending machine that sells everyday goods isn't new, it's just of too niche value to be of any worth. If these guys think they can solve the supply chain problems around small space retail - go for it.

The problem is that they branded it as a bodega, and it's a disruptive peice of technology. Meaning it was immediately positioned as the enemy of a beloved city institution. Combine that with the rising anti-SV mentality online, and this was bound to get dragged.

I imagine if this is at all successful it'll be bought out by Amazon in less than a year.
 

TheMan

Member
stayed in a hotel that had a mini bar that worked like this. No app, but they'd automatically add the purchase to your bill if you picked anything out of the fridge.
 

Khrno

Member
It's in the article but bodega is a Hispanic/Latin term. Lots of bodegas are owned and operated by minorities in large cities. This company is legit taking the culture and pushing them out with it. Hurting these families worse than some are already now being with rising costs of rent.

It's despicable.

Really? Is that the significance of "bodega" in the US?

For us, spanish speaking people, "bodega" is simply an storehouse/warehouse.
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
Really? Is that the significance of "bodega" in the US?

For us, spanish speaking people, "bodega" is simply an storehouse/warehouse.

it's a favored colloquial term, especially on the east coast, but I'm hearing it more and more on the west coast from transplants. I prefer it compared to "the corner store"
 

99Luffy

Banned
Im not sure Im getting this. Whats so different about the technology in this that current vending machines already cant do the same? theres equipment vending machines used in industries that need to supply their employees 24/7, you see electronics and toiletry vending machines in airports all the time etc.

The future is heading towards amazons cashier free stores. But there will still be stores.
 

Google

Member
I dont quite understand the hate here.

If it fails, it fails. Why so much hate against some entrepreneurs getting some press about their company?

Also; I dont see you guys campaigning in Japan.
 

Acyl

Member
Typical juicero case of rebranding something that works. Although improved vending machines like Japan's would be amazing, this is not that. They are just making a fancy vending machine with a few more things. Idk about you guys but I'm pretty particular on what brands I like. Probably not gonna see my favorite soap in there.
 
stayed in a hotel that had a mini bar that worked like this. No app, but they'd automatically add the purchase to your bill if you picked anything out of the fridge.

By automatically, do you mean actually automatic, or that the maids add anything that's missing to your bill?
 

godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
I dont quite understand the hate here.

If it fails, it fails. Why so much hate against some entrepreneurs getting some press about their company?

Also; I dont see you guys campaigning in Japan.

Yeah seriously. The hate towards entrepreneurs in GAF is disgusting.
 

Fat4all

Banned
stayed in a hotel that had a mini bar that worked like this. No app, but they'd automatically add the purchase to your bill if you picked anything out of the fridge.

was that in your room?

because if so then they know who to charge already and dont need the app or camera, just the cc info of who booked the room and someone to go check whats been taken

hotels have been doing that for a while now i think, depending on the hotel
 

Zoe

Member
Really? Is that the significance of "bodega" in the US?

For us, spanish speaking people, "bodega" is simply an storehouse/warehouse.

You never hear it in Texas.

Im not sure Im getting this. Whats so different about the technology in this that current vending machines already cant do the same? theres equipment vending machines used in industries that need to supply their employees 24/7, you see electronics and toiletry vending machines in airports all the time etc.

The future is heading towards amazons cashier free stores. But there will still be stores.

You will be grabbing the items off the shelf without having to scan anything to pay. No mechanical pieces to rotate the items or to drop them in a slot for you. A single credit card transaction for several items to reduce overhead.

It's Amazon Go on a smaller scale.
 

lenovox1

Member
was that in your room?

because if so then they know who to charge already and dont need the app or camera, just the cc info of who booked the room and someone to go check whats been taken

hotels have been doing that for a while now i think, depending on the hotel

They have weight sensors in hotels and resorts. It's all automatic.
 
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