ABSTRACT
A transition process is taking place from a service-based community to a self-service community. In the not-too-distant past, the idea of using a kiosk to place an order in a store or restaurant, or to complete a transaction at the point of sale or check in at an airport was more a vision than a reality. Today, public access terminals can provide a self-serve method for customers or citizens to purchase items in a supermarket, obtain services or information in a movie theater, and accomplish transactions with a civil service or a hospital. Stephanidis et al. (1998) have predicted that public information systems and terminals will be increasingly used in a variety of domains. e automated teller machine (ATM), the most common public terminal, is 40 years old. In 1967, the very fi rst ATM was installed; today the estimated number of ATMs globally is over 1.5 million, with an increasing rate of 192.32 ATMs per day (R.B.R., 2006). In the United Kingdom the number of ATM cash transactions per inhabitant was 42.3 in 2004.1 e retail kiosks installed worldwide had reached in 2006 the number of 630,000 units (S.R.A., 2006). From the practical and technological perspective, there are three main factors that drive the adoption of public access terminals: (1) the consumer demand to save time (e.g., they don’t want to wait in line), (2) the
requirement for a 24/7 service provision, and (3) the need for reducing the overall cost of products and services.
