4 ms·

And it is only a matter of time until McDonalds is effectively a brick and mortar sized 3D printer of food-like compounds with a Siri interface...

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
Vending restaurants are already pervasive in Japan. There might still be a human cook involved, but you order with coins at a machine.
- Larrikin 13y ago
  Personally I think its great most of the time. Human interaction should still be an option, especially when it comes to specialty orders. I always felt something like this could work well at places that have a lunch rush in America. A string of machines that don't accept substitutions and only credit cards, along with a line for people who want a human to take their order.
  - mcrider 13y ago
    This has already happened in countless other industries (airlines, banking to name a couple which have moved most customer interaction to the web). There's no reason it shouldn't happen with the food industry, there is just too much inefficiency in the current process.
- jessaustin 13y ago
  It has been a few years, but my impression of the coin-operated stand-up ramen shops I frequented in Tokyo was that the cook and cook's assistant were the only people working there, and they often had no time to spare dealing with money. If labor costs must be reduced, it seems better to cut the cashier than the cook.
  - snogglethorpe 13y ago
    They probably do reduce the staff workload by some amount (although there doesn't seem to be any obvious difference in staffing levels between Japanese restaurants that use "shokken" and those that don't). I've also sort of assumed that one of the reasons they use them is because they make it a little easier to avoid "trouble": typically you pay first when you use a shokken, and you pay after your meal when you don't...
- judk 13y ago
  This was called automat in the USA, popular in the 1970s.
jrs99 13y ago
how about an app and a drone that dips a fry into ketchup and drops it into your mouth.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago

Vending restaurants are already pervasive in Japan. There might still be a human cook involved, but you order with coins at a machine.

Larrikin 13y ago
Personally I think its great most of the time. Human interaction should still be an option, especially when it comes to specialty orders. I always felt something like this could work well at places that have a lunch rush in America. A string of machines that don't accept substitutions and only credit cards, along with a line for people who want a human to take their order.
- mcrider 13y ago
  This has already happened in countless other industries (airlines, banking to name a couple which have moved most customer interaction to the web). There's no reason it shouldn't happen with the food industry, there is just too much inefficiency in the current process.
jessaustin 13y ago
It has been a few years, but my impression of the coin-operated stand-up ramen shops I frequented in Tokyo was that the cook and cook's assistant were the only people working there, and they often had no time to spare dealing with money. If labor costs must be reduced, it seems better to cut the cashier than the cook.
- snogglethorpe 13y ago
  They probably do reduce the staff workload by some amount (although there doesn't seem to be any obvious difference in staffing levels between Japanese restaurants that use "shokken" and those that don't). I've also sort of assumed that one of the reasons they use them is because they make it a little easier to avoid "trouble": typically you pay first when you use a shokken, and you pay after your meal when you don't...
judk 13y ago
This was called automat in the USA, popular in the 1970s.

jrs99 13y ago

how about an app and a drone that dips a fry into ketchup and drops it into your mouth.