h a l f b a k e r y
Invented by someone French.
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Drive-thru ATM machines are usually built at just the right height for my vehicle, which is a truck. While I was waiting in line watching people in the cars ahead of me trying to reach up and hit the right buttons and read a screen that was at the wrong angle for them it occurred to me that a flexible
arm you could pull into your car would be a lot easier for everyone to use.
This new arm would be rectangular in shape and slightly larger than the largest form of paper currency in whatever country the ATM was in. On the end of if would be a small touchpad and screen similar to the credit card interfaces most stores have now. If something like this existed then people could just pull it into their car, make their transaction and push it back out again. To keep it from getting in the next guy's way a timer would count down from the time the ATM card was removed and automatically pull the arm back to its ready position after 10-15 seconds and refill the touchpad with the maximum amount of cash a person could withdraw during any single stop. (Of course there would also have to be a security feature inside the arm that would sound an alarm if someone tried to saw the arm off and drive away with the cash.)
Annotation:
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We don't have drive thru ATMs over here (so far as I know) but this is a great idea [longshot]. I guess as more things go drive through, this could be extended to other areas too. [+] |
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I was hoping that this might be an atm with a gamble option. Withraw £20 or Gamble. Wheels whirl and you loose your £10 or win £100. Or something. |
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My mind obviously works like [etherman]'s. |
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How about a normal ATM on a telescopic pole with 'up' and 'down' buttons at the top and bottom? |
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wagster - There'd still be the issue of an inconvienent reach. |
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Brau - What do you mean phone booths no longer have handsets? All of the ones down here do. In any case, there's a difference between ATM's and phone booths - the ATM's always have cameras trained on them and people know it. That will make damaging them much more risky and therefore rare. Repair bills won't be an economic issue. |
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I'm not sure how a flexible arm would hold its shape once you get it into your car, plus there's still the issue of retrieving the keypad from the main machine in the first place. |
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How about having the ATM move up and down as per wagster's annotation, and have the arm telescope horizontally? Of course, since my passenger-side window no longer functions, I'd still be screwed. |
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nick - I was thinking the arm would telescope horizontally like wagster suggested, but its base would be designed somewhat like a modified ball-bearing to give it vertical mobility. (A big ring beneath the keypad would resolve the issue of retrieving it from the main machine. That would give you something easy to grab onto to get it into your car.) |
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I'd like a speaker-phone attached to it, so that an On Star representative can ask you "Jeopardy" type questions in the "Right Wing, Latent-No-Democracy Category". Get one question wrong, half your withdrawal is confiscated by local left wing gorilla groups. Get the next question wrong and three-quarters goes to local left wing gorilla groups and so on. |
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