Business Notes VENDING MACHINES

The process is as simple as getting your snapshot taken in a dime-store photo booth. But instead of spitting out a strip of black-and-white pictures, the vending machines from Short Takes, a Minneapolis company, record an instant video greeting. Customers pay $10 for a blank cassette, which they insert in a slot in the machine. Then a camera in the booth records ten minutes of monologue, mugging or whatever message the customer wants to send. A mailing envelope is included.

Short Takes has installed 20 booths so far in New York City and Minnesota, and plans to distribute 1,000 more around the U.S. during the next year or so. Coming later this summer: Baby Takes. Proud parents in maternity wards at three Minneapolis hospitals will soon be able to introduce the newest ham in the family. Come on, kid, wave!