Today we posted two press releases to the ISS website about automated self-storage facilities that have recently opened in Florida. Both use patented technology created by Automated Self Storage Systems and Westfalia Technologies, but RoboVault (the snazzier of the two) is being marketed as a kind of self-storage Fort Knox. It incorporates high-tech security like biometric fingerprint scanning, motion and heat detectors, and photoelectric beams.
What makes these facilities unique is the system delivers the storage unit—whether it houses household goods, wine, a car or jewelry—right to the customer at the ground level. He enters the gate, inputs his PIN, and voila! The door opens, and there's his stuff.
So here's the million-dollar question (about a $22 million facility, by the way): Is this self-storage progress? Or is it the first step toward the dissolution of what has historically been a people-oriented business with a personal touch? Perhaps some of you agree with the conclusion reached by Styx: "The problem's plain to see: too much technology. Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize."
What's your take? Please submit your comments to the blog, or jump on over to the discussion titled "Robotic Self-Storage!" on Self-Storage Talk.