The EcoATM made its debut last week at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, but unlike all the other products that manufacturers hoped you’d throw your hard earned dollars at, this innovative piece of tech wants to give you cash for your gadgets. E-waste is a growing problem with few programs in place with enough incentive to get consumers to properly dispose of their unwanted gadgets, but the EcoATM makes recycling your electronics something to get excited over. Akin to the automated aluminum can and glass recycling kiosks found in supermarkets, the EcoATM uses advanced machine vision, electronic diagnostics, and artificial intelligence to evaluate and buy-back your used electronics!
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To use the EcoATM, simply drop your gadget into the “mouth” of the machine. From there, the EcoATM will take various pictures of your device to determine what kind of shape it is in. Once that is complete, you will need to plug your piece into one of the many cables attached and the machine will conduct numerous tests to see if your gadget is in working condition. After the evaluation is complete, the EcoATM will pay you what it believes your device is worth based on what other e-recycling companies would be will to pay for it.
One test conducted by EcoATM founder Bill Bowles found a Verizon iPhone 4 to be worth $221. And while not all electronics will ring up so high, the EcoATM will still offer to take your gadget and give you some dollars for it.
So far the ecoATM can only be found in select locations in California, Seattle and the midwest, but if the process is as seamless as the demonstration suggests, we don’t doubt that it will catch on. Check out a video of it in action above!
+ EcoATM
This really cracks me up. I’m thinking that most people wont even notice that they are getting ripped off by the people who are supposed to be helping them. Sure if you want to do something with your device OTHER THAN THROWING IT in the trash, but did you notice it stated it was worth up to $148.00 and actually ONLY GOT $67.00. Grin… That’s like saying you have a house that’s worth “up to” 10 million dollars but I’ll give 3 million for it. What a joke. (I wonder if AT&T is behind this)
Dan From San Antonio
I can see where this is going, especially when these units start accepting ipods, ipads, mp3 players, etc. ………instead of going to pawn shops, thieves will just take what they’ve stolen to kiosks.