Coinstar, Walmart and iTunes

I have been meaning to write this entry for about 8 weeks, ever since I first noticed a family using the coinstar near our local Walmart.

I've seen the machine there standing tall taking peoples money and converting gallons of loose change into real money - coins are not real money apparently.

You can either get a voucher for the ammount to be used in the store where it is located OR donate it charity OR you can now get a coinstar card that you top up. When you check out their website coinstar tell you according to their research 81% of the users of the machines made a special journey to the store for that machine.

When I was a kid and even when I used to work retail, I'd go home with my bum bag full of change, when I couldn't get it changed at work, read palm it off on my manager whilst cashing off.

Every so often I'd sit down and count out all my change, like "a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge!". Then I'd bag it all up and triumphantly march to the bank and deposit it. All of it. Into my account.

It was a simple exercise in counting.

I don't understand why anyone can't do this. Why would anyone delegate this task to a machine. OK machines make our lives easier, they perform repetative chores quickly, without error and tirelessly.

Especially, and here is the kicker, since these machines are designed to count up all your money and then take a cut and keep it. It's 8.9% last time I checked that's nearly 9 cent in every dollar.

They've crossed the pond too - a quick google points to a post in a guys blog that claims they are in the UK near his Local Lord Sainsbury store, they only take 7.9% - still nearly eight pence in every British pound.

Why would you do that ? OK I'm all for paying for a service, usually I pay for a service I can't provide myself, a butcher or a
mechanic. Paying for a machine to count my change, that has got to be the height of idocy. I mean you see whole familes crowding around the magical machine whilst it whirs and counts and clunks and humms. Stuf that when I have kids I'll have them, slave labour esque, counting away daddies change, down the back of the sofa, in the crevices of the car.

In questioning someone about the coinstars "They are obviously for stupid people, only stupid people would waste that ammount of money, to cover up the fact they clearly can't count or add up."

There was a rumor that Apple was in talks to dish out iTMS vouchers, without the commision. That piqued my interest because I don't mind paying for my music - I even argued that point recently at work. That way, I'd get all the fun of the counting machine and then some music. Here Gizmodo reports that it is actually being rolled out.