4 ms·

uWink: A Cold Greasy Plate of Fail

41 points by mqt 18y ago

allenbrunson 18y ago
i've been hearing about uwink for years now. i thought it was originally a little terminal thing they installed at bars and restaurants where you could play against others across the country, but i could be wrong. it's too bad the implementation seems to suck. i would have expected more from nolan bushnell, given his track record with atari.
- fraXis 18y ago
  I have eaten at uWink over a dozen times now over the past 10 months and I have never had any trouble with their ordering system, service, or credit card/check processing.
  - mechanical_fish 18y ago
    Of course you didn't have a problem. You're reading news.YC. Odds are that the uWink experience is just like your average day at work. I'm holding out for the command-line version of uWink. I think I'd be better off ordering drinks with raw SQL.
    - sant0sk1 18y ago
      SELECT * FROM bar WHERE taste LIKE '%Guinness%';
      - spydez 18y ago
        Just don't drive if you're going to do that. Drinking everything they have that tastes like Guinness might make you a bit tipsy...
        chengmi 18y ago
        SELECT * FROM bar WHERE taste LIKE '%Guinness%' LIMIT 3;
byrneseyeview 18y ago
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=OTC%3AUWKI http://finance.google.com/finance?q=OTC%3AUWKI You, too, can own a slice of fail!
- rms 18y ago
  http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.717053/browse_thread/thread/59ad89f02573a4c8 http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.717053/browse...
rnesh 18y ago
As far as my experience with uWink goes, I've never seen anyone have so many problems in a single visit. I've been there around 15-20 times total, usually with large groups, and its never been that bad. It's true, occasionally you'll experience some hiccups, but I've never seen this many in one visit.
bld 18y ago
Sounds like they could learn a thing or two from Sheetz's Made to Order system.
- tyler 18y ago
  I'm willing to bet that most people here aren't familiar with Sheetz considering it is primarily a Pennsylvania thing. Sheetz is famous in the area for having really decent food, orderable through little kiosks at every store. They pretty well own their niche at least in the area I'm familiar with. They're a good example of a business entering a saturated market (gas stations) but doing it better than everyone else to the point that most people that I know will go out of their way to go to a Sheetz rather than any other gas station. Typically, they have their gas just a little below the average in the area, surcharge free ATMs, the Made-To-Order kiosks (sometimes located at the gas pumps), clean bathrooms, and a bit of a more friendly atmosphere than other gas stations. They're actually a rather good example for startups.
jrockway 18y ago
Once we were seated, I swiped my driver's license Wait... what? You have to be able to drive to buy food now?
- tyler 18y ago
  He mentioned drinks on the rocks, which would indicate alcohol. It was probably just confirming their age.
ricardo 18y ago
There's a uWink coming soon to downtown Mountain View (corner of Castro and California where they old ranch house used to be). I just hope it isn't too gimmicky.

41 points by mqt 18y ago

i've been hearing about uwink for years now. i thought it was originally a little terminal thing they installed at bars and restaurants where you could play against others across the country, but i could be wrong. it's too bad the implementation seems to suck. i would have expected more from nolan bushnell, given his track record with atari.

fraXis 18y ago
I have eaten at uWink over a dozen times now over the past 10 months and I have never had any trouble with their ordering system, service, or credit card/check processing.
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  Of course you didn't have a problem. You're reading news.YC. Odds are that the uWink experience is just like your average day at work. I'm holding out for the command-line version of uWink. I think I'd be better off ordering drinks with raw SQL.
  - sant0sk1 18y ago
    SELECT * FROM bar WHERE taste LIKE '%Guinness%';
    - spydez 18y ago
      Just don't drive if you're going to do that. Drinking everything they have that tastes like Guinness might make you a bit tipsy...
      - chengmi 18y ago
        SELECT * FROM bar WHERE taste LIKE '%Guinness%' LIMIT 3;

byrneseyeview 18y ago

http://finance.google.com/finance?q=OTC%3AUWKI http://finance.google.com/finance?q=OTC%3AUWKI You, too, can own a slice of fail!

rms 18y ago
http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.717053/browse_thread/thread/59ad89f02573a4c8 http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.717053/browse...

rnesh 18y ago

As far as my experience with uWink goes, I've never seen anyone have so many problems in a single visit. I've been there around 15-20 times total, usually with large groups, and its never been that bad. It's true, occasionally you'll experience some hiccups, but I've never seen this many in one visit.

bld 18y ago

Sounds like they could learn a thing or two from Sheetz's Made to Order system.

tyler 18y ago
I'm willing to bet that most people here aren't familiar with Sheetz considering it is primarily a Pennsylvania thing. Sheetz is famous in the area for having really decent food, orderable through little kiosks at every store. They pretty well own their niche at least in the area I'm familiar with. They're a good example of a business entering a saturated market (gas stations) but doing it better than everyone else to the point that most people that I know will go out of their way to go to a Sheetz rather than any other gas station. Typically, they have their gas just a little below the average in the area, surcharge free ATMs, the Made-To-Order kiosks (sometimes located at the gas pumps), clean bathrooms, and a bit of a more friendly atmosphere than other gas stations. They're actually a rather good example for startups.

jrockway 18y ago

Once we were seated, I swiped my driver's license Wait... what? You have to be able to drive to buy food now?

tyler 18y ago
He mentioned drinks on the rocks, which would indicate alcohol. It was probably just confirming their age.

ricardo 18y ago

There's a uWink coming soon to downtown Mountain View (corner of Castro and California where they old ranch house used to be). I just hope it isn't too gimmicky.