8 ms·

Seems like a solution looking for a problem. We don't need food delivery robots, people are happy to do the same thing (just look at Uber eats, DoorDash, postma

Seems like a solution looking for a problem. We don't need food delivery robots, people are happy to do the same thing (just look at Uber eats, DoorDash, postmates, etc). And since the robots already charge you a delivery fee, you may as well pay that money to an actual person rather than a company.

rsynnott 3y ago
While I’m very sceptical of these robots (it’s basically self driving cars all over again; roads are harder to use than people think), you could make a decent argument that the ‘gig economy’ stuff is a product of the financial crisis recession and its depressed labour market; as major economies have returned to functionally full employment, the economics have become ever shakier.
apwell23 3y ago
you don't have to awkwardly wait behind the door for delivery person to leave after dropping of your daily chicken nugget order.
- sandworm101 3y ago
  Or you can be cordial and great them at the door. Food delivery has been a thing for decades. I don't like that people treat other delivery drivers so differently just because they are part of an app ecosystem rather than employed by a particular restaurant.
  - lobsterthief 3y ago
    I sometimes order delivery when I’m not in the mood to interact with other people. If I wanted to interact with someone, I’d drive the short distance to the restaurant.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - apwell23 3y ago
    i am just shy
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - earthling8118 3y ago
    Or maybe it's because this is the first time in history that you don't have to greet them. Turns out most people don't want to do so.
    - rsynnott 3y ago
      I think you may be projecting your own stuff on the general public.
frantic2821 3y ago
I wonder if there will be an expectation to tip the food delivery robots
nickthegreek 3y ago
Parking at my university was a complete shitshow. This seems like a great solution for the campus.
xvector 3y ago
Food delivery is so absurdly expensive that automation can help the consumer.
- ryandrake 3y ago
  I doubt that adding less expensive automation is going to somehow reduce the price for the end customer. The savings will go entirely into shareholders' pockets and the cost to the customer will remain the same and/or rise.
JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> people are happy to do the same thing (just look at Uber eats, DoorDash, postmates, etc) The labor costs for these are rising precipitously in many states. I've almost eliminated app-based food delivery in New York, as have many of my friends.
- big_whack 3y ago
  When I was in college, I think you could have pretty easily hired college students to do food delivery on campus at minimum hourly wage. They would have been happy for the cash.
  - xboxnolifes 3y ago
    Minimum hourly wage is becoming a huge cost for these types of jobs.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
zackmorris 3y ago
People are happier doing what they want, instead of delivering food (that a robot could deliver) just to make rent. In 10 years this situation will play out across all jobs in all industries. Nobody from janitors to theoretical physicists will be spared. All work, everywhere, will gradually acquire an ever-deepening sense of futility. Until all anyone can see is that the only people doing this pointless work are the "working" poor. And then we'll ask "why are some rich and some poor?" and discover that economics is just a scam, having no bearing on reality. The rich are con artists, the poor are marks. And why are the poor marks? Because they've been worked so hard for so long that all they can manage is their own survival. If the poor learn how the scam works, there won't be any rich people anymore. That's why the rich do everything in their power to prevent all forward progress in all areas of life that may lift this veil of deception. Get mad at me, equivocate, deny and deflect. It doesn't matter. It's too late, and this is all going to happen faster than anyone ever saw coming. An analogy: I used to get mad when I spilled my coffee each morning. Now I observe the nature and character of the spill, how my hurriedness or caution has little bearing on the odds of it happening, and appreciate that the universe has spilled for me, to give me a little sign that it's still there. That's what it feels like watching increasingly absurd talking heads on TV distract from anything and everything that's even remotely related to UBI. Just because I know the spill is coming, doesn't mean that I can stop it.
- hooverd 3y ago
  Have you considered that the rich would justify culling the surplus population?
- orenlindsey 3y ago
  What if someone actually wants to deliver food? Maybe you like driving, you like being alone in your car and listening to music or podcasts, shuttling food orders around the town. Maybe it's fun for you.
  - earthling8118 3y ago
    That's not a particularly strong reason to force the rest of us to do so. It's similar to the in office vs remote work scenario: it's great if you want to work from an office, but it's not great if that requires everyone else to as well.
foofie 3y ago
> Seems like a solution looking for a problem. We don't need food delivery robots, people are happy to do the same thing (just look at Uber eats, DoorDash, postmates, etc). Once I ordered from one of those companies on a brutally rainy day, and the rider who delivered my order was a mother taking her infant daughter along with her. Before she arrived I was kind of frustrated as the order was taking twice as long as expected to be delivered, but once both of them showed up at my front door all soaking wet with the mother apologizing, it broke my heart. I'm not so sure people are happy to deliver stuff to others. They work jobs because they really need the pay. You might argue delivery companies didn't created poverty, but they aren't exactly paying a living wage either. Robots makes food delivery less exploitative.
- jprete 3y ago
  The main critique I have of your post is that it's very possible that the woman doesn't have other options. In the absence of UBI and other socialist utopias, she and her daughter will probably fall marginally further down the economic ladder.
  - foofie 3y ago
    > The main critique I have of your post is that it's very possible that the woman doesn't have other options. I'm not comfortable with this line of argument. It makes it sound like these delivery companies are generous charities that act on the riders' best interests. Instead, they are just exploiting the most vulnerable not only on their extremely low pay and lack of welfare and benefits but also by treating them as disposable servants. It sounds a bit like something rich people say during a banquet about servants taking home their scraps. That doesn't sit right by me. At least delivery robots are a realization of how these types look at people.
- tennisflyi 3y ago
  Yes. Seems like they've never interacted with the "servant" class and love to only mingle with those in the company cafeteria.

rsynnott 3y ago

While I’m very sceptical of these robots (it’s basically self driving cars all over again; roads are harder to use than people think), you could make a decent argument that the ‘gig economy’ stuff is a product of the financial crisis recession and its depressed labour market; as major economies have returned to functionally full employment, the economics have become ever shakier.

apwell23 3y ago

you don't have to awkwardly wait behind the door for delivery person to leave after dropping of your daily chicken nugget order.

sandworm101 3y ago
Or you can be cordial and great them at the door. Food delivery has been a thing for decades. I don't like that people treat other delivery drivers so differently just because they are part of an app ecosystem rather than employed by a particular restaurant.
- lobsterthief 3y ago
  I sometimes order delivery when I’m not in the mood to interact with other people. If I wanted to interact with someone, I’d drive the short distance to the restaurant.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- apwell23 3y ago
  i am just shy
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- earthling8118 3y ago
  Or maybe it's because this is the first time in history that you don't have to greet them. Turns out most people don't want to do so.
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    I think you may be projecting your own stuff on the general public.

frantic2821 3y ago

I wonder if there will be an expectation to tip the food delivery robots

nickthegreek 3y ago

Parking at my university was a complete shitshow. This seems like a great solution for the campus.

xvector 3y ago

Food delivery is so absurdly expensive that automation can help the consumer.

ryandrake 3y ago
I doubt that adding less expensive automation is going to somehow reduce the price for the end customer. The savings will go entirely into shareholders' pockets and the cost to the customer will remain the same and/or rise.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> people are happy to do the same thing (just look at Uber eats, DoorDash, postmates, etc) The labor costs for these are rising precipitously in many states. I've almost eliminated app-based food delivery in New York, as have many of my friends.

big_whack 3y ago
When I was in college, I think you could have pretty easily hired college students to do food delivery on campus at minimum hourly wage. They would have been happy for the cash.
- xboxnolifes 3y ago
  Minimum hourly wage is becoming a huge cost for these types of jobs.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

zackmorris 3y ago

People are happier doing what they want, instead of delivering food (that a robot could deliver) just to make rent. In 10 years this situation will play out across all jobs in all industries. Nobody from janitors to theoretical physicists will be spared. All work, everywhere, will gradually acquire an ever-deepening sense of futility. Until all anyone can see is that the only people doing this pointless work are the "working" poor. And then we'll ask "why are some rich and some poor?" and discover that economics is just a scam, having no bearing on reality. The rich are con artists, the poor are marks. And why are the poor marks? Because they've been worked so hard for so long that all they can manage is their own survival. If the poor learn how the scam works, there won't be any rich people anymore. That's why the rich do everything in their power to prevent all forward progress in all areas of life that may lift this veil of deception. Get mad at me, equivocate, deny and deflect. It doesn't matter. It's too late, and this is all going to happen faster than anyone ever saw coming. An analogy: I used to get mad when I spilled my coffee each morning. Now I observe the nature and character of the spill, how my hurriedness or caution has little bearing on the odds of it happening, and appreciate that the universe has spilled for me, to give me a little sign that it's still there. That's what it feels like watching increasingly absurd talking heads on TV distract from anything and everything that's even remotely related to UBI. Just because I know the spill is coming, doesn't mean that I can stop it.

hooverd 3y ago
Have you considered that the rich would justify culling the surplus population?
orenlindsey 3y ago
What if someone actually wants to deliver food? Maybe you like driving, you like being alone in your car and listening to music or podcasts, shuttling food orders around the town. Maybe it's fun for you.
- earthling8118 3y ago
  That's not a particularly strong reason to force the rest of us to do so. It's similar to the in office vs remote work scenario: it's great if you want to work from an office, but it's not great if that requires everyone else to as well.

foofie 3y ago

> Seems like a solution looking for a problem. We don't need food delivery robots, people are happy to do the same thing (just look at Uber eats, DoorDash, postmates, etc). Once I ordered from one of those companies on a brutally rainy day, and the rider who delivered my order was a mother taking her infant daughter along with her. Before she arrived I was kind of frustrated as the order was taking twice as long as expected to be delivered, but once both of them showed up at my front door all soaking wet with the mother apologizing, it broke my heart. I'm not so sure people are happy to deliver stuff to others. They work jobs because they really need the pay. You might argue delivery companies didn't created poverty, but they aren't exactly paying a living wage either. Robots makes food delivery less exploitative.

jprete 3y ago
The main critique I have of your post is that it's very possible that the woman doesn't have other options. In the absence of UBI and other socialist utopias, she and her daughter will probably fall marginally further down the economic ladder.
- foofie 3y ago
  > The main critique I have of your post is that it's very possible that the woman doesn't have other options. I'm not comfortable with this line of argument. It makes it sound like these delivery companies are generous charities that act on the riders' best interests. Instead, they are just exploiting the most vulnerable not only on their extremely low pay and lack of welfare and benefits but also by treating them as disposable servants. It sounds a bit like something rich people say during a banquet about servants taking home their scraps. That doesn't sit right by me. At least delivery robots are a realization of how these types look at people.
tennisflyi 3y ago
Yes. Seems like they've never interacted with the "servant" class and love to only mingle with those in the company cafeteria.