Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

For advertisers there’s nothing like a captive audience, and that’s probably the biggest reason this MediaCart might actually catch on. It’s a high-tech take on the shopping cart that incorporates a large LCD display on the front of the cart, with a set of controls on the handle. While the cart attempts to sell the consumer on the idea with promises of store searches, instant price checks and lists of what’s on sale, we all know it will be the advertisers that will make this thing a real success. Because who doesn’t want to spend their time at the grocery store watching commercials while they battle other shoppers for the last box of Stove Top Stuffing?

The MediaCart is powered by WindowsCE (insert tired joke about bluescreens and/or crashes) and as a result it looks like Microsoft itself is getting behind the idea, which can’t hurt its chances. And besides helping consumers and advertisers, the MediaCart can actually be beneficial to the store itself, since the system can track the motion of all the carts, providing insight into where shoppers spend the most time. (Or even what areas of the store shoppers are avoiding.)

[ MediaCart ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]