Technology has truly invaded people’s lives; from tablets to smartphones, there is no time which could be called a ‘no screen time.’ Whether one is travelling, eating, waiting at a public place, the smartphone never leaves your gaze. However, a city in France wants to change that.
Grenoble, the capital of the French Alps, wants to help passerby utilize their monotonous waiting time by reading short stories which are ‘dispensed’ from a machine.
The city has come up with an interesting experimental project by which it not only aims at helping people do something better than fiddling with their mini gadgets, but also try to bring back the reading culture that is lost to the technological world, ibnlive.com reports.
The ‘short story dispensers’ deliver good quality popular literature to people waiting in public spaces, just like the way chocolates and chips are dispensed. However, the best part about the dispensers is they are free to use.
The initiative is a collaborative effort between the founders of publishing company Short Edition and the Green Party mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piolle, notes Konbini, a digital media company.
In all, there will be eight machines spread across the town: at the town hall, the tourist office, libraries and in social centers. The idea was inspired by regular candy vending machines, said Short Edition co-founder Christophe Sibieude.
“We said to ourselves that we could do the same thing with good quality popular literature to occupy these little unproductive moments.”
Users have the option to choose the length of the literature depending on the time they have to kill. The ‘three minute’ format, for example, takes the form of a piece of paper that’s 8 X 60 cm in size, while the ‘five minute’ version could be double the size.
A similar project is underway in Toronto, but instead of short stories, the Toronto Public Library is planning a book lending machine at Union Station, the city’s busiest commuter station.
