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The Summer of Kiosks

The impending change of season brings a curious sense of mystery and hope to a newcomer covering the kiosk industry, according to KIOSKmarketplace editor John Harrell.

May 9, 2002

"Life is change/How it differs from the rocks." -- Paul Kantner

When Jefferson Airplane rhythm guitarist-vocalist Paul Kantner penned those lines, his life had undergone some intriguing but traumatic turns. The Summer of Love was an idealistic memory, San Francisco had become bloated with a counterculture population influx, and strident politics was replacing free love as his primary source of inspiration.

Amazingly enough, all this happened in the course of a year. The Summer of Love was a 1967 phenomenon. Kantner wrote the lyrics for that song, the title track for the Airplane's Crown of Creation, in early 1968.

Life is change, indeed, and it can change quickly.

It is easy for me to nod my head in agreement on that. As we zip past the midway point of spring and plunge headlong toward summer, I awake to the realization that a new industry and new workplace brings challenges and approaches that were unthinkable a year ago.

KIOSKmarketplace.com editor John Harrell

Life is change, and for me, that means my first Summer of Kiosks.

Keeping a schedule

The typical summer routine in the Harrell household for years has revolved around one sporting event or another.

In the early 1990s, soccer was the axis around which life revolved. Remember the early 1990s? Remember a little soccer tournament played in the United States called the World Cup? The World Cup was a four-year fixation for me, starting with the end of Italia `90. Each summer meant talking to coaches, watching videotapes of qualifying matches, getting to know the players.

By the time World Cup 1994 kicked off in Chicago, I felt as prepared as I could ever be to cover the tournament. Quite frankly, I also felt exhausted. These days I still follow the sport -- my tip for this year's World Cup: Argentina over Portugal in the final -- but the sparkle is not as bright as it once was. My enjoyment stems from watching, not covering soccer. Some experiences simply should not be repeated.

In recent years, horse racing has been the fun summertime activity, and not just because I worked for a racing publication. Living in Louisville and working in Lexington means something is always happening in the Thoroughbred industry, whether it be racing at Churchill Downs or yearling sales at Keeneland. It is a busy time, even after the Kentucky Derby.

Apart from the occasional vacation, summer has meant work, and work hard. If you thrive on it, like I do, then it can be entertaining and engaging.

Slap of the guiding hand

So what will the Summer of Kiosks bring? You tell me.

This is my first summer on the kiosk beat. Soccer and horse racing are both mature industries -- and, yes, they are industries; just forget about calling them sports, because they ceased to be just sports eons ago -- while kiosks are not.

The summer brings the obligatory shows to cover, such as KioskCom's European show in Amsterdam and the Retail Systems conference and exposition in Chicago, both scheduled for June. There are also kiosk test projects to follow, new projects to announce, and the obligatory reporting of joint partnerships and product releases.

What gives this summer a sense of expectancy that soccer and horse racing failed to deliver is the higher level of unpredictability. In soccer, it was "Hey, it's June, time for the World Cup." In horse racing, it was "Hey, it's July, time for the yearling horse sales." In kiosks, there are no specific time markers; just a sense of "Hey, it's August, I have no idea what's going to happen."

I thought it would help to go back and peer through the Year in Review story that ran on KIOSKmarketplace at the end of 2001. A year-long timeline of 2001's events and happenings, produced by poring over hundreds of stories, the Year in Review reminded me that at the end of 2001, I came to the conclusion that it is safe to make no predictions about the kiosk industry.

Last summer was marked by lots of bad news (bankruptcy for ObjectSoft, a NASDAQ delisting notice for UBICS, the crumbling of CAIS Internet Inc., problems for BlueLight.com). But there was plenty of good news as well (7 Eleven Inc. begins testing its Vcom financial services kiosks, Australian kiosk manufacturer NeoProducts Pty. Ltd. invests in the UK market).

Upon final analysis, it is clear that, unlike past summers, I should not schedule too far ahead for anything. Yearling sales and soccer tournaments follow specific schedules, but the kiosk industry works from its own, unpredictable groove.

For the first time in years, I don't know what to expect as May winds its way to June. In a way, the mystery adds a sense of anticipation to the lazy, hot days to come.