Have you ever found yourself needing to distract yourself while waiting for a train, an appointment, or a friend? Nowadays, most people rely on their smartphones or tablets to cure impatient boredom. Gone are the days of carrying around a good book. People often play games or surf the Internet while trying to kill time...but one company in France is trying to change that.
The start-up in Grenoble, France, created something called the Short Edition. It's a vending machine, conceived by Christophe Sibieude, that doesn't dispense junk food...but short stories.
The next time you have time to kill, don't stare at your cell phone.
Instead, you could be finding a brilliant short story to read!
So far, only eight machines have been installed in one French city.
You select how much time you have to kill (1, 3, or 5 minutes) and then it prints out a story for you.
The stories themselves are written by the Short Edition community. There are poems, short stories, and comic strips that anyone can browse.
Short Edition prints the stories out on narrow, receipt-like paper.
The recyclable paper is easy to read, store, and share with others.
If you'd like to know more about this genius project, visit the Short Edition website. They have FAQs andvideos that explain the vending machine and community (although the site is, admittedly, in French).
Smartphones are insanely useful, but sometimes it's good to find a reason not to stare at a little screen like a technology-obsessed zombie.
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You could not pay me enough $$ to drive this road. Just look at the 2:40 mark!