Too Much Technology

[MikeRivers]

Ordering a grilled cheese sandwich at The Melt in San Francisco starts with looking at the menu with your cell phone, placing an order, getting a QR code sent to your phone, swiping the QR code when you get to the restaurant, then picking up your order.

 

What's next? Will they track you by your phone's GPS and a delivery person will ride up to you on a bicycle to deliver and hand you your sandwich wherever you happen to be?

[ggm1960]

I like Jimmy Johns, I can order my sandwiches and pay on-line then just show up and grab them. That's convenient. On the other hand it's annoying when you buy a $2.00 item at a store and at check out they ask for your phone number, e-mail address, name, etc..

[Raymar]

Eventually we won't need the technology and telepathy will take its place, we're almost there.

[blue2blue]

 

I like Jimmy Johns, I can order my sandwiches and pay on-line then just show up and grab them. That's convenient. On the other hand it's annoying when you buy a $2.00 item at a store and at check out they ask for your phone number, e-mail address, name, etc..

 

Like the old Radio Shack policy of getting your address every single time you went into one of their stores no matter how often you'd been there. One time, I'd just had enough and I refused to give it. I was paying cash. The total cash sale was less than $4 and I was damned if I was going to give it one more time. The guy behind the counter, a former military officer (I found out in the course of the ensuing conversation) insisted. I insisted he didn't need it, that I was sick of giving them my address over and over and that if they couldn't keep it in a central database, I was done giving it to them. We went around and around. He'd made one mistake though, he'd already taken my money (I think they were supposed to ask for that before the transaction normally). I finally walked out with my part and the guy sputtering angrily in back of me.

 

This was at a point when they were really hitting their 'computer expertise' (which, of course, they had precious little of), and it struck me as infuriating to be hassled over and over for a single unchanging piece of information that they simply did not need for cash sales.

 

Maybe they needed more technology -- but they also needed the brains to know to use it.

[UstadKhanAli]

 

Like the old Radio Shack policy of getting your address every single time you went into one of their stores no matter how often you'd been there. One time, I'd just had enough and I refused to give it. I was paying cash. The total cash sale was less than $4 and I was damned if I was going to give it one more time. The guy behind the counter, a former military officer (I found out in the course of the ensuing conversation) insisted. I insisted he didn't need it, that I was sick of giving them my address over and over and that if they couldn't keep it in a central database, I was done giving it to them. We went around and around. He'd made one mistake though, he'd already taken my money (I think they were supposed to ask for that before the transaction normally). I finally walked out with my part and the guy sputtering angrily in back of me.

 

 

That was really something, wasn't it? When did they stop doing that? It wasn't so long ago. They probably stopped doing that when they began that ad campaign saying that "Friends call us The Shack".

 

After a while, I would respond, "You already have it." Or look them right in the eye and give them a friendly but firm "no". I never got an argument from that. If they did, I would leave and never return.

[Bookumdano2]

 

Ordering a grilled cheese sandwich at The Melt in San Francisco starts with looking at the menu with your cell phone, placing an order, getting a QR code sent to your phone, swiping the QR code when you get to the restaurant, then picking up your order.

 

 

You darn kids with cellphones.

[UstadKhanAli]

Much of Asia has been using their smartphones for years to purchase things in stores.

[Beck]

 

I like Jimmy Johns, I can order my sandwiches and pay on-line then just show up and grab them. That's convenient. On the other hand it's annoying when you buy a $2.00 item at a store and at check out they ask for your phone number, e-mail address, name, etc..

 

 

And that's just one more entity that has your phone number, e-mail address, name, etc... and also anyone standing there in line or sitting at a table near the register that overhears and jots it down.

 

When I was still in law enforcement in the '90s I would sometimes go into Family Video after work still in my uniform. They ask you to announce your phone number out loud with complete strangers standing all around. I would write it on a piece of paper, show it to them and then put the paper in my pocket. Most in law enforcement have unlisted phone numbers, for obvious reasons. I had a talk with the manager back then about the policy, particularly the risk it could pose to female patrons. They do the same thing at Target "For the return policy." I would never give my number. Some clerks take it as a personal rejection when I'd say no thanks... look at you with surprise.

 

I had my share of "personal encounters" with Radio Shack employees as well in many stores in different towns. Can't believe they stayed in business with such nasty attitudes. I would complain to store managers and regional managers with some success, but it seems to be a company-wide problem. I refused to give them my phone number for cash purchases too. Most wouldn't make a big deal out of it, but some acted like the sky was falling and they couldn't function without the phone number step. "But you have to give me your phone number!" "No I don't." And so it went.

 

As for technology in general IMO we

[TieDyedDevil]

 

Ordering a grilled cheese sandwich at The Melt in San Francisco starts with looking at the menu with your cell phone, placing an order, getting a QR code sent to your phone, swiping the QR code when you get to the restaurant, then picking up your order.

 

 

Or... I suppose one could walk through the door, place an order, and wait a few minutes for them to make your sandwich. Or have they moved beyond interacting with their customers...?

[philbo]

 

Like the old Radio Shack policy of getting your address every single time you went into one of their stores no matter how often you'd been there. One time, I'd just had enough and I refused to give it. I was paying cash. The total cash sale was less than $4 and I was damned if I was going to give it one more time. The guy behind the counter, a former military officer (I found out in the course of the ensuing conversation) insisted. I insisted he didn't need it, that I was sick of giving them my address over and over and that if they couldn't keep it in a central database, I was done giving it to them. We went around and around. He'd made one mistake though, he'd already taken my money (I think they were supposed to ask for that before the transaction normally). I finally walked out with my part and the guy sputtering angrily in back of me. This was at a point when they were really hitting their 'computer expertise' (which, of course, they had precious little of), and it struck me as infuriating to be hassled over and over for a single unchanging piece of information that they simply did not need for cash sales. Maybe they needed more technology -- but they also needed the brains to know to use it.

 

 

The easiest path is to just lie... tell 'em "1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC" and give 'em a 1-800-555 number. What are they gonna do, call you a liar? And if they do, just agree with them...

[rjt]

I don't mind the new technology. Both my computer and my cell phone went down last week. So I am learning Win7 as an operating system and figuring out a cell (Android,) the old contact list was incompatible with it. While I'm not thrilled with the learning curve, the newer stuff does more.....and it is easier to use when you figure it out. (For example, on my old phone, to back up the now incompatible phone book, you connected the phone to the computer via USB, then ran a small program which saved the data. On the Android, you sync your phone to a Google account wirelessly, takes about 5 seconds and you can enter numbers either on the phone on in Google using your computer keyboard..... much nicer.) The other problem is a lack of standardization (although that will come.) In some places you swipe you card, others swipe your phone, others you enter you credit # etc. It is just hard to keep up, and often there is little info included with the product. For example (picking on the phone again), there was a very short "Tips and Tricks" foldout included.... I had to download the PDF manual from the net. With my camera, there are still a few things I haven't figured out....and I've had that several years. I think I require a tutor!!

[the stranger]

That's a lot of work for a grilled cheese. :|

[techristian]

 

Ordering a grilled cheese sandwich at The Melt in San Francisco starts with looking at the menu with your cell phone, placing an order, getting a QR code sent to your phone, swiping the QR code when you get to the restaurant, then picking up your order. What's next? Will they track you by your phone's GPS and a delivery person will ride up to you on a bicycle to deliver and hand you your sandwich wherever you happen to be?

 

 

Was this your only option?

 

Dan

[MikeRivers]

 

Was this your only option?

 

 

According to their fact sheet:

 

"THE MELT uses mobile technology that allows customers to remotely place a meal order from their computer or mobile phone and pick it up at any MELT location, always hot and ready, anytime. When ordered via the mobile application, the customer will receive a QR code on their smartphone that can be scanned at any restaurant location, allowing them to pay through their phones, skip the line, and pick up their freshly made order within minutes."

 

So it seems that it's possible to at least pay for an order at the restaurant, so it may be possible to also place an order at the restaurant. But it sounds like that procedure isn't encouraged.

[Dingoist]

 

According to their fact sheet: "THE MELT uses mobile technology that allows customers to remotely place a meal order from their computer or mobile phone and pick it up at any MELT location, always hot and ready, anytime. When ordered via the mobile application, the customer will receive a QR code on their smartphone that can be scanned at any restaurant location, allowing them to pay through their phones, skip the line, and pick up their freshly made order within minutes." So it seems that it's possible to at least pay for an order at the restaurant, so it may be possible to also place an order at the restaurant. But it sounds like that procedure isn't encouraged.

 

 

Hell, I find drive-thrus inconvenient. It's often faster to park, walk in, order in person and get out than take the drive-thru convenient approach.

 

Sometimes it's even faster to dine-in as well.

 

Darn fangled technology.

 

I happen to like to smile at pretty waitresses, and give a tip on good service. How can I do that with my cell phone?

[spokenward]

The writer of the linked article plays along that this is a nascent real restaurant chain. My thought is that it is more likely a patent play on a bunch of process-related mobile and restaurant technologies. Sequoia is an investor and they have a significant mobile portfolio.

 

But I thought, well, that's kind of obvious and discarded an earlier post along those lines. Then all day long I wondered why I was thinking about a forgotten restaurant franchise in the Upper Midwest called King's Food Host

 

This chain had nearly lethal grilled and fried sandwiches and onion rings that -

 

You would order from a phone in your booth!

 

Just imagine! It was like from the future in the middle 1960s.

[MikeRivers]

There used to be (maybe still is) a BBQ restaurant in Upland CA where there was a wooden cow on each table. If you wanted to get a server's attention, you hoisted a flag on a pole attached to the cow (an extended tail). It worked great.

 

I'm wondering if this Melt thing tracks your location from the phone's GPS so it knows when you're within cooking distance of your meal so it will be taken off the grill just in time for your arrival. You'd better not get stuck in a traffic jam a block away or decide to stop into the drug store next door before you pick up your lunch.

 

I like your theory about it being a demonstration of technology that would be more practical for other applications than ordering lunch.

[Bookumdano2]

..............."You would order from a phone in your booth!........."

 

I remember a couple of places like that in the late 50s, early 60s.. Ugly, greasy, black phones with no dial, right at each booth next to the jukebox selector on the table.

[the stranger]

I happen to like to smile at pretty waitresses, and give a tip on good service.

 

Do you give pretty waitresses better tips?

[Vito Corleone]

 

What's next? Will they track you by your phone's GPS and a delivery person will ride up to you on a bicycle to deliver and hand you your sandwich wherever you happen to be?

 

 

THAT would be cool!

[WRGKMC]

 

Like the old Radio Shack policy of getting your address every single time you went into one of their stores no matter how often you'd been there. One time, I'd just had enough and I refused to give it. I was paying cash. The total cash sale was less than $4 and I was damned if I was going to give it one more time. The guy behind the counter, a former military officer (I found out in the course of the ensuing conversation) insisted. I insisted he didn't need it, that I was sick of giving them my address over and over and that if they couldn't keep it in a central database, I was done giving it to them. We went around and around. He'd made one mistake though, he'd already taken my money (I think they were supposed to ask for that before the transaction normally). I finally walked out with my part and the guy sputtering angrily in back of me. This was at a point when they were really hitting their 'computer expertise' (which, of course, they had precious little of), and it struck me as infuriating to be hassled over and over for a single unchanging piece of information that they simply did not need for cash sales. Maybe they needed more technology -- but they also needed the brains to know to use it.

 

 

I quit giving that info out when they started that. They would argue with me that it was needed and I'd say theres nothing

in the law that says I have to give you personal info to make a purchase. Even when I'd use a credit card

they would ask for my name. I say, read the front of the card, my name is on there isnt it?

[Anderton]

The people who said television was going to kill movies forgot that many people go to movies to be part of a shared experience.

 

Sure, some people go to restaurants to pick up orders to go, they just want food. But other people go to restaurants for the shared experience.

[blue2blue]

 

The people who said television was going to kill movies forgot that many people go to movies to be part of a shared experience. Sure, some people go to restaurants to pick up orders to go, they just want food. But other people go to restaurants for the shared experience.

I stopped going to movie theatres because I didn't want to be part of that shared experience. Overloud, hyped sound, bored, lackadaisical employees, rude, boorish patrons... and then there are the crap movies. I swear, if it wasn't for the Coen boys, I'd have completely given up on ever seeing a new, decent movie. As it is, I wait until I can watch comfortably, in private, without annoying distractions.

 

 

The last time I went to the movies to be part of a communal experience was a special, one-off showing of a pre-release version of a long-in-the-making Firesign Theatre movie where I estimate about 97% of the audience was tripping. Hard. Ah, the 70s. The movie wasn't as good as their albums, but it had some moments, even though a fair amount of the dialog was delivered over slides instead of footage. Later me and a pal drove to Oceanside for no good reason... but it was a great trip because he explained molecular bonding to me. I'd sat through semesters of chemistry -- and even ended up with a good grade -- but never got it until that impromptu lecture absorbed while we drove along the coast through the early morning darkness, ending up on the pier at Oceanside right at sunrise.

[MikeRivers]

 

The people who said television was going to kill movies forgot that many people go to movies to be part of a shared experience.

 

 

People who say that television will replace the newspaper has never tried swatting a fly with a TV set. As for the movies, (a few) movies continue to bring in the big bucks because the price of going to the theater has gone up substantially since when I used to go to a movie for a quarter. Theaters are getting smaller, and the number of people going to the movies is getting smaller. I hope that the number of people watching movies at home would get smaller as movies become more available on portable phones, but it probably will.

 

 

Sure, some people go to restaurants to pick up orders to go, they just want food. But other people go to restaurants for the shared experience.

 

 

What gets me is the people who get take-out food from fancy restaurants. They probably want THAT food but don't want to drive, park, pay $50 or more than the price of the food for a couple of drinks, a bottle of wine, and a dessert large enough to feed a family of six.

[Raymar]

I saw a couple of pre-code Jean Harlow films at the Billy Wilder theater in Westwood a month back, one featuring a young mustacheless Clark Gable. The place was packed, the audience was into it, can't quite get that experience from a TV or laptop screen. Has a theater ever been packed with people to see a TV show? Television has taken a real downturn lately, perfect for portable phones.