How Did A Video Game System Become A Point Of Sale Terminal?

The concept of pivoting is a major part of a lot of business systems, as a lot of companies follow the commonly held Darwinian maxim of adapting to survive.

This can be seen with all businesses, from small convention stalls and merchandise stands to huge retail empires relying heavily on advanced, adaptable and easy-to-use point-of-sale systems.

These systems are designed around ease of use, adaptability, security and redundancy, ensuring that they can operate effectively within a business’ existing inventory management and multichannel sales systems.

A remarkable amount of this was made possible thanks to a somewhat infamous multimedia machine that revealed the future of business through its failures in every other market.

The Rise Of Adaptable POS

Up until 1986, point-of-sale systems were extremely expensive, typically bespoke systems only commonly installed in department stores, supermarkets and fast food chains. It is perhaps not surprising that the first company to take advantage of the potential for POS technology was McDonald’s.

The first POS terminal that resembles adaptable, ergonomic touchscreen systems that are ubiquitous today was Gene Mosher’s View Touch system, based on the relatively low-cost Atari ST home computer platform.

This fundamentally changed the ways in which POS systems were designed. Gone were the dedicated, complex and difficult-to-maintain POS systems of the past, replaced with inexpensive computers and multimedia systems that could be programmed to fit the needs of a retailer.

A lot of companies followed in Atari’s wake, but one of the most unusual of these was Philips, who planned to create a one-size-fits-all solution for computing, multimedia and home entertainment.

The Games Console For Businesses

The Philips CD-i was meant to do for multimedia, home entertainment and business what Red Book CD audio did for music; it was to be a standard that businesses could develop software for and use on any compliant system.

This had home entertainment purposes, and the CD-i is rather unfortunately known today as a games console, but the intention was for the system to be used for essentially everything, occupying a position that Android does today as the OS of choice for all kinds of devices.

Unfortunately, the standard faced repeated delays, missed its planned late 1987 launch date by at least a year, and would not be widely available to either businesses or home users until 1991.

It was used for point-of-sale purposes as early as 1990, as car manufacturer Peugeot became an early adopter and relied on the CD-i as part of its POS sales and marketing for the 605 executive car. Several other companies followed suit and took advantage of the adaptable format.

By the time it had arrived, the CD-ROM format had become the standard, and the high launch price of the CD-i made it an extremely difficult sell for home users.

However, it offered a lot of ease-of-use benefits for businesses at a lower cost than competing IBM PC-based systems. 

Ultimately, the CD-i was not as much of a failure in the professional world as it had been in the entertainment world, and its adaptability paved the way for more affordable, easier-to-use POS systems.