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> Just let me walk up to the counter, read a physical menu, place my order with a human being and get out of there. The problem is, as wages and COL go up, thi
by Analemma_ 3y ago
> Just let me walk up to the counter, read a physical menu, place my order with a human being and get out of there.
The problem is, as wages and COL go up, this gets harder and harder to do. Humans are expensive, and as they keep getting more expensive, it stops making economic sense to use them for low-margin goods and services like lattes. Notice how we don't have elevator operators, pump station attendants, etc. anymore, because eventually it became uneconomic to do that with people instead of making the customer do it themselves.
The future for most retail and food service businesses is fewer people and more automation (e.g. ordering at your table via an app and the server only comes by to bring your food); it can't really be any other way unless you want your food subject to Baumol cost disease.
- gspencley 3y agoSure. But according to the article the cost of the tech is not worth it for the businesses and so they're cutting those expenses. Reducing labour costs only helps business when customer demand either remains constant or doesn't dip enough to offset the savings. And customer demand is driven, in part, by demographics. I have a feeling that apps will become more popular over time, not only due to cost savings (assuming this will be true) but also because the target demographic will be more accustomed to using their phones for absolutely everything. I completely recognize that I'm the middle-aged equivalent of the 80 year-old who still pays for groceries with a personal cheque.
- alt227 3y agoThe only reason it is like this is capitalism. Success in this system demands constant growth to define success, and eventually cutting down on human labour is one of the only ways to grow profit. Gas stations could absolutely afford to pay someone to pump the gas if they wanted, but it would mean slightly less profits for shareholders. Its the same as what is happening at supermarkets with self serve checkouts at the moment. Dont defend this practise with arguements of it being unecononic, its purely about more profit.
- bbarn 3y agoAt some point you run out of jobs to replace, while just making your product less appealing. The entire world can't be employed by tech, and the answer isn't cut out workers - it's stop making things expensive. If technology drives efficiency, why do prices constantly rise instead of fall?
- Analemma_ 3y ago> If technology drives efficiency, why do prices constantly rise instead of fall? This is the Baumol's cost disease I was talking about: technology only drives efficiency in some sectors, but in every sector it doesn't touch (mostly because human availability is the bottleneck), prices have to rise to match the equivalent wage workers could be getting at the other places with more efficiency.