There's a quiet revolution going on in the bowling world. Hear about it at Urban Legends and Stranger truths. Pin setting machines which sweep away and then reset the pins. In the United States, bowling alleys, at least, are being replaced by strings. The pins are suspended like marionettes, and those that are knocked over are pulled out. The string machines are cheap, and they're easy to maintain. You just need someone to run back where the strings get tangled up