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Bowling ball return button

 No more post-game ball-lugging
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This is quite simple and I wouldn't be surprised to see it baked somewhere. Assuming it's not...

There is simply a button on the ball return machine, perhaps near the Reset button, and you press it prior to your last shot. Then, rather than returning to your seating area ball return, the ball is whisked away behind-the-scenes and is automatically placed on the rack of balls in the lobby. There could even be a scale so that balls could be re-racked by weight.

—toomuchmike, Feb 23 2004

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       I'd have too much fun walking around pressing this button on other people's returns...
—Freefall, Feb 23 2004
   

       Would it also whisk your shoes back to the hire rack?
—benjamin, Feb 24 2004
   

       Do they still have that little button you can press for cocktail service? Or was that just when I was a kid? (Dang, I never got to use it...)
—Ander, Feb 24 2004
   

       Baked...   

       go down to your local alley and chuck one down the lane. you will see your ball magically whisk behind the scenes and appear on a rack next to you!
—Deadlock'd, Feb 25 2004
   

       This could be extended to an international ball return system. Simply press the return button and your ball is conveyed straight to a cupboard in your house.   

       Although I wouldn't want it to be run by an airline as your ball would end up on the otherside of the earth.
—rambling_sid, Dec 29 2004
   

       [Deadlock'd], it seems obvious you didn't actually read the idea.
—5th Earth, Dec 29 2004
   

       What if you don't know whether you're taking your last shot until after the ball is already down the lane?
—supercat, Dec 29 2004
   

       That's what those video monitors are for.
—Nemmy, Dec 30 2004
   

       //That's what those video monitors are for.//   

       Yes, but if the first ball of frame 10 doesn't knock down all the pins, you won't know until after your next ball is going down the lane whether you'll be getting one more (i.e. whether you'll complete the spare).
—supercat, Jan 03 2005
   

       One final post-game shot with no pins. [edit] I mean with however many pins are left, [supercat]. I was getting mixed up about the rules.
—caspian, Jan 05 2005
   

       //One final post-game shot with no pins.//   

       So you're suggesting that if the second shot of frame 10 misses, the sweeper should kill the remaining pins and retreat, and let the bowler roll the ball down an empty lane?   

       If the tenth shot completes the spare, of course, the bowler should get another shot.   

       Of course, I suppose that if the score-keeping machine is keeping track of that, it could also know whether to 'pocket' the ball without the user having to push the button immediately before the last ball, assuming the player had either indicated somehow that he was using the alley's ball, or else the alley's ball was marked somehow (e.g. with an RFID chip).   

       Actually, that latter idea could be somewhat cute. Mark the alley's balls with RFID chips and let users select a ball from a menu. This might be easier for users than having racks of unsorted balls and having to go through them.
—supercat, Jan 05 2005
   


 

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