Chapter 10 Question 006

Why do vending machines allow customers to pay for several newspapers when they sell newspapers, but not when they sell drinks? (Brenda Quigley) If you put a four-dollar coin into a beverage vending machine and press the Coke button, a can of Coke will roll out of the exit.If you still want to buy another can, you'll have to toss another four coins.By contrast, if you put four dollars in a newspaper vending machine, the front compartment of the machine opens, and you can easily grab the entire set of that day's New York Times.Of course, according to the rules, you should only take one copy, and most customers are not greedy for this little bargain.But why is the security of newspaper vending machines so low?

The most obvious advantage brought by the low safety of the machine is that it is cheap.There is no need for a complex mechanism that only spits out one newspaper at a time.The coin lands on a set of simple mechanical levers, which are pressed, releasing the lock on the front compartment of the vending machine and opening the hatch; when the hatch is closed, everything returns to its original state.If built in this way, the cost of beverage vending machines will be much cheaper.So, why are there such design differences between the two vending machines?The truth can only be hidden in the income.

The key difference between the two products is that while a dishonest customer benefits from getting more drinks, getting more newspapers does little good.It is no more profitable to have ten copies of the same newspaper than to have only one.