Note the carton it comes out in; the bitcoin receipts are printed out ahead of time, and stuffed into the vending machine like a pack of cigarettes.
A more advanced vending machine would purchase the bitcoins in real time, with the correct exchange rate, and print out the receipt on the spot. That would actually be pretty cool! Especially to think about security; you can rob a standard vending machine, but you can't steal it, disassemble it, and trick it into ordering thousands of bitcoins.
While just as functional (assuming a stable exchange rate), this particular device has zero notability as far as cool hacks go. It's a bog standard vending machine with bitcoin für euro painted on the side.
Declaring it has zero notability as far as cool hacks go is highly subjective. I for one think this is much cooler then the usual CRUD to-do list webapps we see around here so much.
I think the key thing to note is that it's an art project - perhaps the intention of mixing an old school style dispenser system with a high-tech currency was the intention.
Also a great way to introduce people to bitcoin. With this, users can scan the URL to their mobile (iPhone/Android), bookmark it and within a couple of minutes also send bitcoins from their mobile to friends mobile.
You're right, the main idea was to introduce people to Bitcoin in general. Right now putting in that coin, scanning the code, pasting and address and pressing the send button is the easiest way to donate to wikileaks from Germany :)
The mechanical aspect was 'decided' by the constraint of having it ready for the exhibition. Snapping a used machine of eBay and manually filling it with boxes was the only feasible way, although I started with the idea of a super fancy ATM-style machine.
A more advanced vending machine would purchase the bitcoins in real time, with the correct exchange rate, and print out the receipt on the spot. That would actually be pretty cool! Especially to think about security; you can rob a standard vending machine, but you can't steal it, disassemble it, and trick it into ordering thousands of bitcoins.
While just as functional (assuming a stable exchange rate), this particular device has zero notability as far as cool hacks go. It's a bog standard vending machine with bitcoin für euro painted on the side.