I’ve read about these highly advanced “robotic” mechanical displays that were popular amusements back in the 15th/16th century (? could be way off here). I think I remember them being referred to as automatons or automats (which is a logical name). Does anyone know what I’m talking about?
They’re called automatons. Some pretty cool ones out there, too.
Automats are those places where you could buy a sandwich out of the wall for a quarter.
No cite to hand, but the Japanese had some very cool ones. I seem to recall one that would carry a teacup across a room or something…
Did these really exist? When? Where? I’m 32, and the only place I’ve ever seen them – including all media that I can remember – is in the movie Dark City.
New York City. The coolest place to have lunch, and better coffee than you can get anywhere nowadays.
Ah, so I was right then.
Now if I only I could find some good websites…hint hint
The Japanese automatons are called karakuri ningyo. For pictures and descriptions of a whole shitload, go here
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The plural is ‘automata’.
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Here’s a link: Automata Galleria.
I’m sure there are more, but Google doesn’t help much for this because ‘automata’ is a major subject in theoretical computer science. I searched on “automata -finite -cellular -language*” and still got 185,000 hits, apparently with most of them being irrelevant.
There was a historical freaks and curiosities show on the Discovery channel awhile back, called Would You Believe it? that had a section on automata.
One of the more impressive ones, the Silver Swan, has a web page with history, pictures, and even a video clip of the machine in action.
You’d never beleive that the thing was built over 200 years ago, and that it still works, if you didn’t see it yourself. It’s amazing. See for yourself.
Amtrak’s Hiawatha line, which runs from Chicago to Milwaukee, has an Automat car on rush-hour trains. Not living in that part of the country i’ve never been on it, but i’ve heard the food is of acceptable quality.
Really? I take that train all the time and never seen or heard of this. Its only an hour long trip so I don’t wander the train so I’d never have seen it. There is a vendor-guy who sells cookies and candy and beverages from a card, too. The guy is a real hoot that clearly loves his job.
I recall reading in the paper a while back that there was a company that wanted to compete with convienence stores by having what was essentially a mobile automat. It was basically the side of a [varously sized truck, from moving van to semi] that would pull up somewhere, probably in a big parking lot and would carry all sorts of crap that you could buy (razors, soft drinks, movie rentals, etc.).
The automat was basically just a fast food restaurant/diner crossed with a vending machine. The interesting questions to me is why did they fail?
For other literature references to automats, Mike Hammer is fond of stopping into them. I think in THE SNAKE he did at least.
Horn & Hardart is the famous name in automats; their web page reports “In 1902, Horn & Hardart brought the first Automat from Germany to 818 Chestnut Street.”
Photos of the wall of vending machines here from an exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. Exhibit includes links to recipes for macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and pumpkin pies and automat memories.
Then of course there is The Turck, a fake automoton that we can thank for starting Babbage on the road that lead us to where we are today (sitting at computers).
And in case some folks here are unfamiliar with the word, it is spoken with the accent on the second syllable: au TA’ ma ton.
My parents took me to the Horn and Hardart automat in NYC several times when I was a kid in the 1960s. It was pretty cool, but the reason it failed probably had to do with the complication (and hence expense) of the mechanisms, and the fact that a cafeteria line with a cashier was simpler and more cost effective.