3 ms·

Do you mean that you have asked for a physical menu or other accommodation and been refused?

pengaru 3y ago
Yes, increasingly some places just don't maintain a print menu of any kind anymore. At least in one case I was referred to an illegible chalkboard which I guess is better than nothing, even if it was incomplete. But being near-sighted it's preferable to hold a paper menu... Even if it's just some low-brow unlaminated printout I'd be satisfied! But nope, welcome to the future. Nowadays if I find myself in such a place and they at least will accept cash for payment, I'll just make them describe the menu verbally. Maybe if enough of us generate that amount of inconvenience for them they'll get a clue and learn how to use a printer. It's like it's part of their trendy/hipster image to not have menus and do everything through a phone. Part of how they appeal to a younger demographic perhaps? I think that's the visible aspect, but the deeper motive is more about invading customers' privacy by getting hooks into their phones. Then on the cashless side it's discriminatory and rooted in mistrust of employees handling cash...
- burnished 3y ago
  Thank you, it sounded absurd so I had to check. What is the vector for privacy invasion beyond the normal for visiting a website? Is there a company offering pay for access here or something?
- MandieD 3y ago
  Anything that requires the use of a smartphone discriminates a bit against the large group that is the most reliable voting block in most western democracies: people over 70. Yes, lots of them have and fluently use smartphones, but plenty of them don't, and most smartphone interfaces are awful for anyone with less steady hands and diminishing near vision. To me, this is a coordination problem: how to get very technical privacy enthusiasts working together with older people who only wish to be allowed to keep getting around their normal worlds in a way they fully understand. We want what we want for very different reasons, but what we want ends up being effectively the same things.
  - lynx23 3y ago
    > awful for anyone with less steady hands and diminishing near vision You are obviously right when it comes to lack of steady hands, but diminishing near vision is no reason not to use a smartphone. In fact, speech synthesis is what kept blind people mostly functioning in this new world. IOW, if you no longer can see the screen, turn on your smartphones screen reader. Android and Apple both have them built in these days, so you dont even have to buy anything extra.
- dzhiurgis 3y ago
  > trendy/hipster Trendy and hipster would be opposite of that
- arp242 3y ago
  > the deeper motive is more about invading customers' privacy by getting hooks into their phones They just do it because it's easier. No menus to print and update every week or however often. Out of salmon today? Just take it off the menu with a few clicks. It's easier for the same reason that most of us would write a letter in Vim or Emacs or Word or whatever and not on a typewriter. I dislike this trend as I almost never carry a phone and even if I did an A4 menu seems loads easier than a 6 inch screen, and any half-way decent restaurant should just print a menu because it's not that hard or costly, but there is no secret motive here beyond that it's just a bit easier for restaurants.

Yes, increasingly some places just don't maintain a print menu of any kind anymore. At least in one case I was referred to an illegible chalkboard which I guess is better than nothing, even if it was incomplete. But being near-sighted it's preferable to hold a paper menu... Even if it's just some low-brow unlaminated printout I'd be satisfied! But nope, welcome to the future. Nowadays if I find myself in such a place and they at least will accept cash for payment, I'll just make them describe the menu verbally. Maybe if enough of us generate that amount of inconvenience for them they'll get a clue and learn how to use a printer. It's like it's part of their trendy/hipster image to not have menus and do everything through a phone. Part of how they appeal to a younger demographic perhaps? I think that's the visible aspect, but the deeper motive is more about invading customers' privacy by getting hooks into their phones. Then on the cashless side it's discriminatory and rooted in mistrust of employees handling cash...

burnished 3y ago
Thank you, it sounded absurd so I had to check. What is the vector for privacy invasion beyond the normal for visiting a website? Is there a company offering pay for access here or something?
MandieD 3y ago
Anything that requires the use of a smartphone discriminates a bit against the large group that is the most reliable voting block in most western democracies: people over 70. Yes, lots of them have and fluently use smartphones, but plenty of them don't, and most smartphone interfaces are awful for anyone with less steady hands and diminishing near vision. To me, this is a coordination problem: how to get very technical privacy enthusiasts working together with older people who only wish to be allowed to keep getting around their normal worlds in a way they fully understand. We want what we want for very different reasons, but what we want ends up being effectively the same things.
- lynx23 3y ago
  > awful for anyone with less steady hands and diminishing near vision You are obviously right when it comes to lack of steady hands, but diminishing near vision is no reason not to use a smartphone. In fact, speech synthesis is what kept blind people mostly functioning in this new world. IOW, if you no longer can see the screen, turn on your smartphones screen reader. Android and Apple both have them built in these days, so you dont even have to buy anything extra.
dzhiurgis 3y ago
> trendy/hipster Trendy and hipster would be opposite of that
arp242 3y ago
> the deeper motive is more about invading customers' privacy by getting hooks into their phones They just do it because it's easier. No menus to print and update every week or however often. Out of salmon today? Just take it off the menu with a few clicks. It's easier for the same reason that most of us would write a letter in Vim or Emacs or Word or whatever and not on a typewriter. I dislike this trend as I almost never carry a phone and even if I did an A4 menu seems loads easier than a 6 inch screen, and any half-way decent restaurant should just print a menu because it's not that hard or costly, but there is no secret motive here beyond that it's just a bit easier for restaurants.