Whats the point of buying an iPod at an Airport though?

Nothing like buying an DAP with no music on it before taking that big flight :P

Maybe I can make $5,000 a month with an iTunes vending machine!

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I thought Apple would have opened kiosks or stoers in major airports by now. One section that sells iPods and accessories for all Apple products and another section that has download centers that users can connect their laptops or iPods to DL movies, TV shows and mucis to.

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I saw iPod vending machines in concourse D at Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport while I was traveling over the holidays. It was stocked with iPods, iPod Nanos, Shuffles and a variety of iPod accessories and headphones.

Honestly it was pretty convenient if you are traveling and don't currently own an iPod, or want to buy one as a gift.

I was looking for an iPod shuffle for my wife for christmas and saw them in the vending machine and made the mistake of not buying it. I ended up searching all over the city we were in for a shuffle last weekend... 2 WalMart's, 2 Targets, 2 Best Buys, a few Radio Shacks and they were ALL sold out of the shuffle.

It sucked because I knew exactly where I could buy one... that damn vending machine.

Luckily we made a 2 hour trip to Chicago and I was able to grab one at the Apple store.

But it opened my eyes to the potential of iPod vending machines.

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The vending machines are showing up in recently acquired May Department Stores converted to Macy's by Federated out here in the Pacific Northwest. However, they look unfinished so far. Many of the selections haven't any product (not from sellouts) and there are no prices posted.

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there is one of these vending machines in Macy's at Lloyd Centre in Portland, Oregon.. one day it was fully stocked with ipods, and ipods acces. and here it is after christmas, and it was completely empty... apparently people use them.. (in oregon, we don't have sales tax)

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Vending machines have proved to be a popular alternative to normal stores it Japan so I say it is about time someone tried it over here. In Japan there are small stores that are nothing but wall to wall vending machines. I don't know if we need to take it that far but I wouldn't mind seeing more products and credit/debit card support added to vending machines here in the states.

Also I wouldn't be too surprised to see iTunes Store kiosks sometime in the future now that iPods and iTunes support Library syncing.

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I bought my 30GB iPod in a vending machine in a mall in Atlanta. I'd been wanting one for a while, and when I saw the vending machine I decided to get one. If you're in the mall already, it's pretty convenient. I've also bought USB cables and power adaptors in the vending machine, and again, it's pretty convenient.

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Love the one at San Francisco Airport - you can buy an iPod and a pack of condoms from the same machine!

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Wait... three iPods in one month and you're calling it a success? Any idea about the TCO on one of those vending machines?

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ummmmm ipodruz, do the math:

3 X $350 = $1050

Granted, it would be a slightly higher number (a whopping 6!) if people are buying the smallest capacity iPod, but still $1000 worth of iPods in a month is not good. I think the poster just screwed up the post a bit as the following sentence mentions the $55k in a month number.

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This is a machine I would love to hack. Think about it...all bills and lots of it!

PS Do ipods come with enough juice to play during a flight?

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the a is crossed out, so instead of reading "a thousand dollars worth" it reads "thousands of dollars worth"

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All I wanted was a Coke.

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$55,000 / 350 = 157. More if they were selling the cheaper models (which I would assume that they would).

Sounds like a gold mine to me. Someone should set up a kiosk next to it to sell iTunes songs or rip CDs. (Person inserts a CD, hooks in their ipod, and inserts $1.00 (for cost of the service), gets the CD copied to the ipod). Totally legal, too!

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"okay so..... C....... 7....... NO NNO NO NO NNOT B7!! I don't want a zune!!"

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Dows anyone know what kinds of payment does this machine accept? (Credit/Debit/Cash)?

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I bought a shuffle as a gift at the ATL airport last X-mas on the way to my Mom's in FLA.

Very convenient, and this was when there were NO shuffles in the stores anywhere, or so I'd heard.

The machine takes plastic, not sure about cash.
There's a very good GUI and the robotic arm drops the product perfectly.

This is no Horn -n- Hardardt's machine.

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Hopefully NOT cash, Stefan Colmer. I'd hate to be the person stuck behind that old granny buying an iPod for her grandson in $1's.

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The vending machines only take cards, no cash.

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What happens when the first one gets stuck? Call the 1800#? I think not! Give me that trash can, *SMASH*, give me my ipod!

SECURITY!!!!

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