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The Internet is a wonderful thing... it lets every Tom, Dick, Harry and in this case Prazy speak their mind on anything and everything under the sun. It's often a double-edged sword since not only does it let one speak their mind but it allows everyone to hear (read anyway) these opinions and thoughts.

Keeping all this mind, I still figured I had to share my self-professed amazing idea to the world (or at least the portion of it that might inadvertently read my blog). So what is it? Wait for it...

Self-service kiosks at movie theatres!

There I was standing in line at a movie theatre waiting to buy my tickets with a queue of about 30 people in front of me (particularly large by usual standards here) and 2 minutes before the movie was scheduled to start. Before I go any further I should probably the explain the concept of EFTPOS to anyone reading (if you are not from New Zealand). Essentially, it's an immediate fund transfer mechanism, similar to a credit card but more immediate - the money disappears straight out of your bank account.

So there I am wondering how much of the movie I might miss and suddenly I thought if something as complex as domestic air travel could be automated to the extent of self-service check-in, in this age of the computer and digital revolution why not something as simple as movie tickets. Putting on my application architect/developer hats here is the high-level design...

• Client inserts a credit card/eftpos card into a terminal
• Client selects a movie and session time (easily obtainable of the theatre's website)
• Available seats are presented to the client (if required)
• Client selects number of tickets
• System displays total price and asks for confirmation
• On client OK (involving a card pin number), the system prints out the tickets, returns the card and of course, debits the account.

The feasability technically of this is not the issue, I guess the profitability and efficiency is. This might not work in small theatres but when you have a multiplex of 10 or more theatres, why not? At the risk of sounding like a cost-focused manager, this should surely reduce costs by eliminating the need for staff manning ticket counters (the efficiency of automation etc etc..). The cons of minimal human interaction are far outweighed by the quick service and user flexibility. Another con that some might suggest is dependency of the computer literacy of the user, but if ATM machines can work.. why can't these?

All I ask is if someone does implement my grand plan is that I get to play with Beta versions and the royalties of course ;-)