4 ms·

So if you lose your phone, forget your phone, if you don't have any battery, or if you have any internet issue, you can't order. You cannot have the whole menu

So if you lose your phone, forget your phone, if you don't have any battery, or if you have any internet issue, you can't order. You cannot have the whole menu in front of you, you have to scroll and change sections. If it's cold, you can't order without talking your gloves off, if it's sunny, you better have a very bright phone or the menu will be unreadable. As everything in China, you cannot pay without being electronically tracked, and you can't give a tip without going through a system that will likely take a cut. I will refrain to reach the Godwin point here since I assume it's been debated ad nausaum. And of course, if something is not on the menu, you can't order it. As usually with systems that are 100% digital, it gives you zero margin of maneuver outside of the happy path. I don't want every restaurant to turn into a Mac Donald. If I want Mac Donald's, I go there.

janhenr 4y ago
This is not entirely correct, many places still do accept cash and allow you to order without your phone. It just so happens that most people prefer to order and pay by phone.
- BiteCode_dev 4y ago
  Just like they prefer having the great firewall protecting their internet connexion ?
  - belval 4y ago
    We had a sushi restaurant (in Canada) that belonged to Chinese expat that worked with the whole QR code + order + pay on your phone and I did find it pleasant. I would go as far as saying that I prefer it. It might be cultural, but I can count on a single hand the number of times I went to a restaurant and the interaction with the waiter/waitress improved the overall experience.
    - guenthert 4y ago
      > It might be cultural, Or it might be personal.
newswasboring 4y ago
> And of course, if something is not on the menu, you can't order it. ... That's how it works right? The menu shows what they are offering and then you pay them. Why would you expect things not in the menu?
- thrown_22 4y ago
- BiteCode_dev 4y ago
  While it is not something common, it just happens. In Australia the food culture is you can customize almost anything on the menu and customers expect to be able to pretty much choose whatever combination they want as long as you have the ingredient and they can pay for it. In France, a menu may not contain something you can eat, but some restaurants will create a full dish for you on the spot. It's very common restaurants with a Michelin star for example: as a veggie and foodie, I get regularly this treatment since french cuisine is very centered on meat. Some restaurants have the menu changing every day (I ate in one this week) depending of the farmer's market. The waiter just let you what's available. I know of at least one restaurant with no menu: you express a theme, and the chief will try to invent something matching it. In Thailand, there was a restaurant were I used to go that had a regular menu for tourists with high margin meals, and a secret menu for regular customers that was actually good. In Mali and Argentina, some restaurant menus are fake. You can't order most items, while there are items that you can get pretty much everywhere (riz au gras, pollo a la milanesca) even if it's not in there. Now, it's tempting to decide that one path is optimum and shape society to only provide it. However, you kill diversity, margin of security, innovation, charm, and so on. Don't get me wrong. Making the happy path the easiest and proffered way is OK. Offering a digital menu and payment system as a main option is great. But making alternatives close to impossible is, at best, a good way to end up with with a bland life, and at worse, will create a dangerously inflexible and intolerant system. It's why we should keep cash, paper forms and phone support despite the automated main experience been more efficient when all goes well.
  - PhasmaFelis 4y ago
antifa 4y ago
McDonalds (and most of their competitors) are actually pretty good/ok for customizations. Usually what's missing is some edge cases like "no ice" or fully exhaustive lists.

janhenr 4y ago

This is not entirely correct, many places still do accept cash and allow you to order without your phone. It just so happens that most people prefer to order and pay by phone.

BiteCode_dev 4y ago
Just like they prefer having the great firewall protecting their internet connexion ?
- belval 4y ago
  We had a sushi restaurant (in Canada) that belonged to Chinese expat that worked with the whole QR code + order + pay on your phone and I did find it pleasant. I would go as far as saying that I prefer it. It might be cultural, but I can count on a single hand the number of times I went to a restaurant and the interaction with the waiter/waitress improved the overall experience.
  - guenthert 4y ago
    > It might be cultural, Or it might be personal.

newswasboring 4y ago

> And of course, if something is not on the menu, you can't order it. ... That's how it works right? The menu shows what they are offering and then you pay them. Why would you expect things not in the menu?

thrown_22 4y ago
BiteCode_dev 4y ago
While it is not something common, it just happens. In Australia the food culture is you can customize almost anything on the menu and customers expect to be able to pretty much choose whatever combination they want as long as you have the ingredient and they can pay for it. In France, a menu may not contain something you can eat, but some restaurants will create a full dish for you on the spot. It's very common restaurants with a Michelin star for example: as a veggie and foodie, I get regularly this treatment since french cuisine is very centered on meat. Some restaurants have the menu changing every day (I ate in one this week) depending of the farmer's market. The waiter just let you what's available. I know of at least one restaurant with no menu: you express a theme, and the chief will try to invent something matching it. In Thailand, there was a restaurant were I used to go that had a regular menu for tourists with high margin meals, and a secret menu for regular customers that was actually good. In Mali and Argentina, some restaurant menus are fake. You can't order most items, while there are items that you can get pretty much everywhere (riz au gras, pollo a la milanesca) even if it's not in there. Now, it's tempting to decide that one path is optimum and shape society to only provide it. However, you kill diversity, margin of security, innovation, charm, and so on. Don't get me wrong. Making the happy path the easiest and proffered way is OK. Offering a digital menu and payment system as a main option is great. But making alternatives close to impossible is, at best, a good way to end up with with a bland life, and at worse, will create a dangerously inflexible and intolerant system. It's why we should keep cash, paper forms and phone support despite the automated main experience been more efficient when all goes well.
- PhasmaFelis 4y ago

antifa 4y ago

McDonalds (and most of their competitors) are actually pretty good/ok for customizations. Usually what's missing is some edge cases like "no ice" or fully exhaustive lists.