Guilt is a powerful factor for people looking to stay on a diet or avoid fast food -- it's hard to look another person in the eye and ask for a bucket of chicken. But that's no longer a problem at a Jack in the Box in Bellevue, Washington, where customers can order via an automated kiosk, instead of a cashier.
The concept is simple. You order, swipe your card, and then pick up your order from a human. The machine allows customers to make substitutions or changes to their order, while subtly attempting to upsell drink or food items.
Self-serve kiosks, which let customers order by selecting options on a touch screen, have been around since 2006, but are still not widely in use. Although Burger King, Taco Bell and Carl's Jr. have all test-marked the kiosks at one time, the technology hasn't come to Kansas City.
It remains to be seen whether consumers can efficiently order without a high-schooler to punch in their options. But with phones like the iPhone and Palm Pre, Red Box movie dispensers across the city, ticket kiosks at AMCs and Lowes, self-service checkouts at grocery stores, it would seem that America is ready for touch-screen ordering. However, watching the masses use any of these screens in real life shows that machines aren't making everybody's life more efficient.
But if automated kiosks means McDonald's will stop putting sugar in all of the McCafes, this is progress, folks.
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if automated kiosks means McDonald's will stop putting sugar in all of the McCafes
They don't put sugar in them. It's those gawdawful flavoring syrups that make them so sweet. Try a McCafe cappuccino plain, without vanilla or hazelnut flavoring, and it's not sweet at all.
I don't care if I'm interacting with a machine or a person - my goal is to avoid standing in line or wasting my time at the checkout counter. So I like both the automated checkouts and the fact that the stores usually station someone there to assist in case of questions or issues. (Chimpo, the guy at Lowe's was probably bored stiff and just wanted something to do)
I love the new automated checkouts at Costco - you can usually walk right up to an open one even when the human cashiers all have long lines. I'm getting better with the supermarket ones, too - I no longer need assistance to look up and price produce items or other specialties that lack scan-able bar codes.
I suspect it's the wave of the future, and twenty years from now, a human cashier will be as unusual as an old-style cash register that doesn't make change for you.
Which always reminds me of the late New York Deli out by 71st and Troost. At one point, they had a "Help Wanted" sign up that specified "Must be able to make change" right on the sign. When I remarked on it, the lady said they regularly got applicants who were used to McDonald's-style registers where you simply touched a picture of the food, then keyed in the amount of money the customer gave you and it told you how much change to give them. They couldn't make change in their heads if their life depended on it.
One time I was walking up to use a self-checkout kiosk at Lowe's and the guy that is there to help if you have issues insisted upon checking me out. It kind of defeated the purpose of avoiding any human interaction that I was clearly going for by approaching the self-checkout.
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