Pennsylvania Wine Vending Machine Has Kafka-esque Security Measures

Can you believe that, in the 21st century, a place filled with household lasers, instant worldwide communication and Daft Punk’s amazing new Tron album, you cannot buy wine in a grocery store in Pennsylvania? Liquor can only be bought from state-owned and controlled stores.

But there’s a technological workaround – although it seems as much in the spirit (ahem) of the law as is the Sabbath mode available on some kitchen appliances. It uses vending machines, which are legal, and it goes like this:

Each machine is connected to a state employee in Harrisburg, via video-camera. A customer chooses their wine, swipes their ID, puffs into a breathalyzer and faces the camera. The state employee checks that the ID matches the person and, if they’re not already intoxicated, the person is allowed to buy the wine (the machine vends only wine right now).

What next? Backscatter nude-o-grams to make sure you’re not already carry another bottle? Oh, and as if this wasn’t bad enough, the first store with the machine, Giant Eagle in Robinson, only keeps it switched on until 9PM.

Clearly these laws aren’t meant to protect the people. Rather, a state monopoly on booze is a clear money-spinner for the local government. Still, the workaround is admirable, in a hi-tech, convoluted fashion, which is exactly the kind of workaround we like. Of course, this machine will never come close to the sublime ale-dispenser that is Wired.com’s Beer Robot.