WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.280 Imagine, if you will, you're looking for a modest distraction from your soul-sucking job. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:09.040 So you head to the vending machine for a bag of chips and a Coke. 00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:15.280 You're only soulless in the whole world. But the universe apparently hates you, and your perfectly adequate dollar bill 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:19.280 is rejected over and over again, even though you've tried smoothing it out 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:23.520 and flipping it over more times than the USB connector in the back of your freaking PC. 00:00:23.520 --> 00:00:29.440 So how is it? We've mastered intercontinental flight, nuclear fission, a crown rack of lamb, 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:33.680 but a bill acceptor that always works still eludes our grasp. 00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:37.280 I mean, the people that own vending machines presumably want the money, 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.280 so why don't they just take it? Just take it! 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.880 It turns out that bill acceptors have been around since the 1960s, 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:50.080 and their original design had issues that made them annoying to use for decades to come. 00:00:50.080 --> 00:00:54.800 The main problem was that they used magnetic heads to scan a bill when it was inserted. 00:00:54.800 --> 00:00:57.920 These were similar to what you'd find in old audio cassette players. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:01.520 See, the ink they used to make paper money actually contains iron, 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:07.920 but it's not for nutritional value. It's so magnetic heads can detect ink patterns on a banknote to figure out how much it's worth, 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:12.000 and to confirm it is indeed money instead of some random piece of paper. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:15.280 Problem is, with all the notes that go through an average vending machine, 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:20.960 those magnetic heads get dirty pretty fast. And it's not like there's always someone around to clean them off. 00:01:20.960 --> 00:01:26.240 Making the problem worse was that older designs had to physically press the head against the bill, 00:01:26.320 --> 00:01:30.720 so the machine was actually smearing dirt all over one of its most important parts. 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:35.760 Not to mention that squeezing the banknote that way made a paper jam more likely. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:41.760 But current technology is better, so why are vending machines still so temperamental? 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:46.320 Although more recent magnetic bill acceptors use an improved reader that doesn't need to 00:01:46.320 --> 00:01:49.520 physically touch that dollar bill that's been God knows where, 00:01:49.520 --> 00:01:57.040 dirt still finds its way to other crucial components. The little wheels that grab and pull your bill through the slot can clog up and break, 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:01.360 and the optical sensors used by many newer vending machines to determine if the bill is 00:02:01.360 --> 00:02:06.560 real or fake can get dirty as well. In effect, you can see for yourself by trying to use your phone's fingerprint reader 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.880 after making yourself a delicious PB&J. 00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:15.520 Some vending machines can actually compensate for a dirty bill slot 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:19.520 by increasing the intensity of the light the optical sensors use, 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.840 and some of those can even do it automatically if it detects lots of buildup. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:27.600 These advancements have made vending machines play more nicely with paper, 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:30.960 or polymer, depending on where you live, compared to a few decades ago, 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:36.560 but they're still obviously far from perfect. There are still enough delicate moving parts for things to go wrong. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:39.280 Just ask anyone who's ever owned an ink-gent printer. 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:46.080 But even if the bill acceptor is super clean, the software still has to be configured properly. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:49.440 Some of them can have their sensitivity adjusted depending on the time of day, 00:02:49.440 --> 00:02:52.800 so it might be more likely to spit a bill back out at night 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.840 when people may be more likely to try and use a counterfeit. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:59.680 Additionally, it needs to be updated whenever currency is redesigned, 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:03.600 and given how many vending machines just aren't serviced regularly enough, 00:03:03.600 --> 00:03:09.680 it's not exactly surprising that rejected bills are still commonplace in the year of our Lord 2022. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.920 Of course, most vending machines sell fairly trivial items like my favorite smoothie ingredients, 00:03:13.920 --> 00:03:18.560 pork rinds, and Mountain Dew, so a crappy bill acceptor usually isn't the end of the world. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:23.440 The models built into more sensitive applications like ATMs and casino cash validators 00:03:23.440 --> 00:03:26.640 tend to be quite robust and serviced more frequently, 00:03:26.640 --> 00:03:33.760 so they're typically a lot less frustrating to use. You know, we could avoid so much of this if we just used $1 coins instead. 00:03:34.880 --> 00:03:38.720 God bless Canada. And bless you for watching this video. 00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:44.240 Like the video if you like it, dislike it if you disliked it. Check out our other videos and comment below with video suggestions. 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.880 And don't forget to subscribe and follow. I tell you this every time.