Kiosk History – the doomed weather kiosk in downtown Washington and Fake News  

By | November 16, 2024

Last Updated on November 16, 2024 by Craig Allen Keefner

Kiosk History – the doomed weather kiosk in downtown Washington and Fake Newsweather kiosk

The reliability of weather reports from a kiosk on Pennsylvania Avenue was a hot topic a century ago.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Washington’s weather kiosk was located on Pennsylvania Avenue, near E Street NW. It happened to be directly adjacent to The Washington Post building at the time.

Initially, the kiosk was quite popular with the public, and its reports were frequently cited by the media, particularly The Post. But after a couple of decades passed, Washingtonians began to complain that the kiosk was not reporting accurate temperature readings. The kiosk’s temperature was often 10 degrees warmer than the actual temperature, particularly on sunny afternoons.

The kiosk became a Great Depression-era “fake news” controversy in Washington.

Read the full article and thanks to Francie Mendelsohn of Summit Research for sending to us.

Author: Craig Allen Keefner

Craig Allen Keefner is an industry analyst, content strategist, and longtime authority on self-service kiosks, digital signage, unattended payment systems, and interactive technology. He manages content and industry strategy for Kiosk Industry and The Industry Group, with a focus on kiosk software, hardware-software integration, accessibility, payment compliance, healthcare kiosks, restaurant self-service, and emerging AI automation. Craig has covered the self-service and kiosk industry since the 1990s, tracking how public-facing terminals move from concept to field deployment. His work combines industry research, vendor analysis, operator conversations, standards tracking, trade show coverage, and practical experience with the real-world constraints of kiosk deployments. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiosk