ATM's beginnings (and end)

40 years ago Mr.Shepherd-Barron (82) from Northern Scotland had an inspiration while he was in his bath:"It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash." Plastic cards had not been invented, so Mr Shepherd-Barron's machine used cheques that were impregnated with carbon 14.The machine detected it,then matched the cheque against a PIN number.The first machines were vandalised,and one that was installed in Zurich in Switzerland began to malfunction (wires were sparking and interfering with the mechanism).
Even though he invented the machine,Mr.Shepherd-Barron believes its use in future will be very different.He predicts that our society will no longer be using cash within a few years."Money costs money to transport. I am therefore predicting the demise of cash within three to five years."He believes that we will soon be swiping our mobile phones at till points,even for small transactions.
p.s. Yes, that is an error message on an ATM!