The increasingly standard practice of using technology, apps and downloading to measure, compare, analyse and control how and what we consume could be seen as a logical attempt to minimise life's vagaries. However the international marketing and experience agency, Razorfish, has taken a step in a different direction by infusing a retro contraption with ultra modern near field communication (NFC) technology thus harnessing the power of surprise and bridging the gap between the digital and physical.

Never quite knowing what they’ll receive, the user simply puts a coin inside the machine then holds their smart phone or tablet against it to get their mystery purchase, ranging from apps to e-books, music and film.

We've already seen drip.fm do a similar thing with music downloading so hopefully we'll witness the emergence of other innovations that''ll encourage us to relinquish some of that control we constantly seek, and take a risk on the joys of surprise.