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> At the very least, most of a restaurant's and a coffee shop's labor can be replaced with automated ordering, having the customer collect food themselves when

by rapnie 5y ago

> At the very least, most of a restaurant's and a coffee shop's labor can be replaced with automated ordering, having the customer collect food themselves when it's ready Automation, automation, digital transformation, sure we can do it all. But in many cases it makes things suck a bit more, and life crappier overall. If I go to a restaurant a real person taking the order is part of the ambiance and expected service. You pay for it (maybe not in USA though). At the last place I visited some guy dropped a tablet on the table. It said 'Next-gen Restaurant Experience' at the back. We got to fiddle a long time to type our 6-person order in. Crappy. Last time I visit there. > retail/grocery -> see what Amazon is doing They facilitate rat-race shopping. No more small social chat at the PoS with employees that know you. Just in and out, and back to work. We this kind of automation every time we lose small social interactions that are important in a healthy society, imho. Sorry, end rant/

throwaway675309 5y ago
I think it really is highly dependent on the individual. For your example with restaurants I have the absolute opposite preference. When I go to a restaurant I'm usually dining with friends so the social aspect is already covered - I don't want/need to make small chat with a waiter. Would be completely happy with an automated process there, for my mind that means more of my tip might go to the cook who is actually preparing my food in the first place.
- rapnie 5y ago
  With the waiter it is more about someome friendly taking the order, giving some advice, noting down some special preferences. And before that everyone looking at their own menu card at ease (okay, having 6 tablets might be an improvement then).
gruez 5y ago
>If I go to a restaurant a real person taking the order is part of the ambiance and expected service. You pay for it (maybe not in USA though). >At the last place I visited some guy dropped a tablet on the table. It said 'Next-gen Restaurant Experience' at the back. We got to fiddle a long time to type our 6-person order in. Crappy. Last time I visit there. I'm definitely okay with fiddling with a tablet if it meant I didn't have to pay a 15% tip. >They facilitate rat-race shopping. No more small social chat at the PoS with employees that know you. Just in and out, and back to work. The amount of "small social chat at the PoS with employees that know you" I see happening (ie. when waiting in line) is approximately zero. In that case, the loss is zero.
- novok 5y ago
  The real future of this is everyone using an app on their phone that they are familiar with, like uber eats or doordash, with a few loaner tablets. Although in the end the waiter might be necessary from a customer support and questions perspective tbh. I did an ordering app thing in a restaurant and we still talked to the 'bus boy' to ask questions in the end.
  - ryandrake 5y ago
    You could also make a reservation and submit your order from your phone and pay for it before you leave. Then you can show up at the estimated time, sit down, and immediately start enjoying your meal! No more waiting for the host to seat you, then waiting for the waiter to bring you water, then waiting for the waiter to take your drink order, then waiting for the waiter to take your food order, then waiting for all the food, then finally waiting to get the bill, waiting for the waiter to pick up your credit card, and waiting for the waiter to come back with your card. There is so much inefficiency about your typical restaurant visit just begging to be optimized out. Restaurants win, too, because they can accommodate more customers per hour. I tend to just not go to sit-down restaurants because they always manage to turn a 30 minute eating session into a 90 minute wait-fest.

by rapnie 5y ago

throwaway675309 5y ago

I think it really is highly dependent on the individual. For your example with restaurants I have the absolute opposite preference. When I go to a restaurant I'm usually dining with friends so the social aspect is already covered - I don't want/need to make small chat with a waiter. Would be completely happy with an automated process there, for my mind that means more of my tip might go to the cook who is actually preparing my food in the first place.

rapnie 5y ago
With the waiter it is more about someome friendly taking the order, giving some advice, noting down some special preferences. And before that everyone looking at their own menu card at ease (okay, having 6 tablets might be an improvement then).

gruez 5y ago

>If I go to a restaurant a real person taking the order is part of the ambiance and expected service. You pay for it (maybe not in USA though). >At the last place I visited some guy dropped a tablet on the table. It said 'Next-gen Restaurant Experience' at the back. We got to fiddle a long time to type our 6-person order in. Crappy. Last time I visit there. I'm definitely okay with fiddling with a tablet if it meant I didn't have to pay a 15% tip. >They facilitate rat-race shopping. No more small social chat at the PoS with employees that know you. Just in and out, and back to work. The amount of "small social chat at the PoS with employees that know you" I see happening (ie. when waiting in line) is approximately zero. In that case, the loss is zero.

novok 5y ago
The real future of this is everyone using an app on their phone that they are familiar with, like uber eats or doordash, with a few loaner tablets. Although in the end the waiter might be necessary from a customer support and questions perspective tbh. I did an ordering app thing in a restaurant and we still talked to the 'bus boy' to ask questions in the end.
- ryandrake 5y ago
  You could also make a reservation and submit your order from your phone and pay for it before you leave. Then you can show up at the estimated time, sit down, and immediately start enjoying your meal! No more waiting for the host to seat you, then waiting for the waiter to bring you water, then waiting for the waiter to take your drink order, then waiting for the waiter to take your food order, then waiting for all the food, then finally waiting to get the bill, waiting for the waiter to pick up your credit card, and waiting for the waiter to come back with your card. There is so much inefficiency about your typical restaurant visit just begging to be optimized out. Restaurants win, too, because they can accommodate more customers per hour. I tend to just not go to sit-down restaurants because they always manage to turn a 30 minute eating session into a 90 minute wait-fest.