We were on our way to Minnesota and stopped for lunch at a little town in Indiana, the kind with the court house in the center square of town, surrounded by stores. There was only one eatery, so we went in. The town, the cafe, and the food were nondescript. When the waitress came to take our order, she couldn’t hear us because the music was so loud. She called over to the manager behind the bar, asking him to turn the music down. Thankfully, he responded, and that’s when I saw a flashy contraption on the back wall. It was about four feet tall and three feet wide. One of the customers kept going over to it, choosing music. Between songs, words flashed on the screen announcing that you could download the app and choose music from your table. Wow! It was an electronic jukebox! Before we left, I asked if they minded if I took a picture of it. The manager was pleased to show me all the menus on the flat screen and explained that you could put a dollar bill in the slot for three songs or pay with your phone.

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When a song was playing, its video showed on the screen. Volume bars danced across the top, and the title scrolled across. The menu said you could hear 80 songs for $20. We could have tasted everything on the menu in that amount of time.

I feel sure the e-jukebox has been around for a while, but it was the first time I saw one. As a hearing-challenged oldster, I wondered if I could pay through the app to lower the volume. I could have had a bidding war with the customer who chose the music. I’d lower it; he’d raise it. Competition would be the name of the game.