These touch-screen Coke foutains.

[TorontoTrekker]

I still haven't found any up here. They will likely be in Toronto first, anyway.

There are a couple. I don't recall where, though - I haven't seen one yet, but a friend of mine has mentioned seeing them. In fact, this evening he posted on Facebook that he was at a Five Guys that recently opened (probably in Mississauga, which is where he lives), and they have one.

I want to say that he mentioned that there's one at the Scotiabank Theatre, but I wouldn't bet my life that I'm remembering that correctly.

 

[NebulaClassGuy]

Re: These touch-screen Coke fountains.

These have been popping up in restaurants and such where you dispense your own drinks for a while now around here. If you've not seen them just imagine a giant iPod that serves Coke products.

You go up to it put your cup inside it and dispense the ice through the push-switch as you would with most other soda dispensers. Then things can get... "complicated"

You press the type of drink you want on the screen (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprtie, etc) and then a second menu comes up with the option for what flavor of that drink you want (Vanilla, Cherry, whatever) these machines claim to have over 100 different drink possibilities from it.

All fine and good but I've encountered two problems with them.

1. Older people are confused by them. Operating them shows to be difficult to those who've not much experience with a computer, iPod or other graphically interactive device.

2. The drinks out of them taste weird. I normally just get a plain Coke out of these things and have yet to once get a "real Coke" taste. I don't know if they're out of whack on how much syrup-to-water they're getting on if (more likely) there's enough trace amounts of previous uses of the machine in the lines to contaminate my drink.

I'm thinking they should have Beta-tested these things more.


Anyone else encounter them or have similar experiences?

I haven't seen these or used one yet, but I would like to. As for the taste, I'd imagine that as a cost-cutting feature, they're probably just using Sodastream products, hence you're not getting the "genuine" Coca-Cola taste.

 

[IndyJones]

^ No, this is Coca Cola all the way.

 

[Trekker4747]

Re: These touch-screen Coke fountains.

I haven't seen these or used one yet, but I would like to. As for the taste, I'd imagine that as a cost-cutting feature, they're probably just using Sodastream products, hence you're not getting the "genuine" Coca-Cola taste.

Yeah, I think that would be false advertising and would get someone's ass sued into oblivion.

 

[RoJoHen]

Considering Coke or Pepsi are usually the ones who actually install the soda machines in the first place, there's no way they're supplying off-brand syrups.

 

[NebulaClassGuy]

^

Ah, my bad... I figured it was a third-party machine supplying brand-name sodas.

 

[Trekker4747]

^

Ah, my bad... I figured it was a third-party machine supplying brand-name sodas.

Even in such a case the shop owner, especially those in chain restaurants, wouldn't risk a lawsuit, loss of a sponsor or just an all-out ass-reaming by putting Coke branding on a non-Coke product.