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Comment by spinchange | Hacker News Reader

I can't believe those Presto touchscreens at restaurants are $100 per month. I love gadgets and technology, but much prefer dealing with a server and think most people do. My kids like the games and nag incessantly to play the "pay" ones, but I hardly think this is the end of waitresses and waiters. (I hope)

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Agreed, I think replacing waitresses with touchscreens removes an important part of the whole dining out experience.

A touchscreen waiter seems very cold and utilitarian. It reminds me of the cheap LCD displays that have replaced gas station attendants. Almost all of the gas stations that I've used recently have them, and they all have very poorly worded prompts that show no regard for the time that I spend interacting with it.

I can't help but feel that we're headed the same route with eating food:

WELCOME. PLEASE SWIPE CARD.

SELECT FOOD.

THANK YOU. DISPENSING FOOD. PRESS ENTER DESERT?

COME AGAIN. SPC. 2 MEAL LOBSTER FRIDAY.

That's not the experience I'm looking for when I want to go out on a friday night. I want a real person to show up at the table and all of the imperfections that comes bundled along with it.

Is that just because it's what I'm used to? Will our kids grow up in a world without waiters and not even care?

My desire to interact with a waiter varies depending on the nature of the restaurant. Clearly this system isn't going to be installed at a 4 star restaurant any time soon, but if I go to a restaurant just to eat it would be useful. It would also be useful in a crowded pub where the service is generally slow and terrible and the social aspect is more about hanging out with your buddies than being waited on with a date/wife/kids. People could enter their food and drink orders and they would at least know they are in process.

In San Francisco there is a sandwich shop called Specialty's that has installed iPad kiosks patrons can order from, which allows them to handle the lunch time rush with essentially no line and two cashiers. You are also assured that your order is correct because you can see all the ingredients on the sandwiches and make additions and subtractions. It's really quite great, although I have thought it is the sort of thing that is much more likely to be successful in a technology hub than in most cities.

If people really wanted gas station attendants, they would go to gas stations that had them instead of LCD displays, and you would see more of them. In reality, you can hardly find a gas station that has an attendant outside of states that don't let you pump your own gas, because the demand isn't there.

Same goes with the the self-checkout lanes at grocery stories.

I've noticed that just about any place with decent food and counter service seems to do brisk business. Look at the crowd at Chipotle or Panera at lunchtime. Maybe some people want a server some of the time, but in an era when fewer and fewer people cook, at least as many people want decent food at a decent price. Eliminating a 20% tip plus the cost of the server's benefits and wages baked into the bill helps with the price bit.

I think that would remain a restaurant luxury, mostly like it is now. Lower rank locals will be forced to make cuts in personnel.

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