Years from now, it might seem quaint to have a package delivered to your apartment door -- why risk it when you can have it electronically dispensed at your local convenience store? That's the future that Amazon.com seems to have in mind; it's reportedly installed an experimental delivery locker at a 7-Eleven in Seattle. The contraption -- described by The Daily and discovered by GeekWire this weekend at the 1522 East Madison Street location -- has over 40 drawers of different sizes to store boxes and envelopes containing customer orders. Reportedly, you'd be able to select a 7-Eleven for delivery when you make a purchase on the website, and then pick it up on the way home from work, by punching a PIN number provided by Amazon into the terminal. Amazon hasn't yet commented on the machine, but apparently it's been running a similar delivery service at Japanese convenience stores for some time. According to an employee at the Seattle 7-Eleven, the locker will be switched on this Friday.

Update: Reader Roland L. directs us to a similar service offered by DHL in Germany. The "Packstation" allows for 24-hour pick-up and drop-off of parcels at over 2,500 locations across the country.

Sources: GeekWire, The Daily; Amazon.jp via Capitol Hill Seattle