Because soda and snickers are too mainstream, a French start-up has come up with a vending machine that dispenses short stories for free.
The city of Grenoble in south-eastern France has been installed with 8 of these machines.
KILLING TIME INGENIOUSLY
As much as reading allures the French, this is the coolest invention in town. Now, whether you are waiting for a bus, held up in traffic or standing in a queue you can kill time ingeniously because this brilliant machine lets you nibble short stories.
HOW DOES IT SERVE?
The sleek orange and black cylinders hold 600 short stories chosen by the thousands of subscribers and authors to the French publisher. At a simple touch of a button, readers can choose as per the time they can spare, one minute, three minutes or five minutes of fiction. These receipt-like rolls of paper include poems and other short fiction written by the Short Édition community.
Just two weeks since launch, co-founder Quentin Pleplé shares that more than 10,000 stories have already been printed.
YOU READ, YOU BECOME
“We need them [stories] to construct who we are as individuals,” says Plebe.
In the age of digital media, Short Édition has initiated this novel idea to cultivate reading habits among people. As intellectual laziness thrives, especially in millennials in the wake of social media, this vending machine will you instantly access rich short stories, easy for reading and storage.
After all, you can feed your stomach every now and then, let’s feed the soul while on the go.
The French publisher hopes the stories will be used to fill the “dead time” of a commute, “in a society where daily lives are moving quicker and quicker and where time is becoming precious”.
This time-saving, kickass invention will go a long way in subtly protecting the reading appetite of people who mindlessly refresh their news feed in dead time.
This idea was conceived by the Short Édition co-founder, Christophe Sibieude who was standing in front of a traditional candy vending machine and wondered if there might be a better way to pass the time other than snacking.
After the pilot program, Short Édition hopes to spread the affinity for short stories worldwide.
“Anyone who wants to place short story dispensers in their shops, malls or waiting areas are welcome to get in touch with us,” Sibieude said.
Don’t you desperately want this in your town? However, with the promising popularity, we can hope to soon be savoring text while strolling, waiting or even on the run.
Image Credits: Google
