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Comment by slipperlobster | Hacker News Reader

Yeah. I feel like any time this comes up on HN, the comments heavily skew towards moving _away_ from integrating technology into the dining process. I'm all for it. I don't want to do the whole song-and-dance of chatting with a server, I don't want to deal with them coming to the table mid-bite to ask if everything is OK. Just let me order via a QR code and table number. Hell, I'll even clean the table when I'm done.

This obviously does not apply to fine dining, only really fast casual/fast food.

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I don't mind restaurants that have tablets on the table in place of paper menus. There is a sushi restaurant in my city that does this and I love it. This avoids the same problems you're talking about, with servers coming to check on you etc.

Where I have an issue is when the restaurants expects me to have my own device, to install their app, or even just jump through hoops (scanning a QR code) etc.

I'm not attached to my cell phone. I often like to leave it at home. And I'm sure as hell not going to install a restaurant's app on my device.

Another thing the tablet does better is just better UX. My phone screen is tiny and my old man eyes are poor. A tablet is often much easier to read and use.

I've only seen QR code -> PDF menu (and one where it was QR code -> web interface to order food/drinks). I agree with you re: app, but I think it's completely reasonable in 2023 to expect the general public to carry their mobile phones around with them.

> I think it's completely reasonable in 2023 to expect the general public to carry their mobile phones around with them.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on that one. Phones get lost, stolen, damaged, compromised, forgotten and batteries die or get low enough to not want to drain what's left reading a menu when paper menus have existed for trillions of years and didn't need fixing.

Many families also have a "no devices at the dinner table" policy and so it's annoying for the restaurant to undermine that.

So no. I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to use MY phone when I'm in person at your establishment.

The market will ultimately decide, however. I know I'm the grumpy old guy that hates tech despite being a software engineer.

I think it's completely reasonable to expect that 90+% of your customers have working phones with them.

Obviously batteries die so restaurants always have a backup solution, which sounds like the one you'll use.

Everybody's happy.

I suspect you might be in the minority, unless the staff is outright atrocious. I love interacting with other humans. Working remote so much face to face interactions are a positive for me. I don't want to spend my entire day pushing and clicking buttons then my "break" from that is pushing and clicking different buttons.

I'm there to eat, not socialize with people explicitly paid to act nice to me, though. Let's not even get into tipping culture, here...

I think as far as tipping goes Software vendors are working overtime with business owners that customer tip nonetheless even if there is no human in sight in whole establishment. Maybe a poor robot needs screws tightened, or joints lubricated with money in tip jar by generous patrons like you.

My comment re: tipping really was just further emphasizing the "forced pleasantries" of modern dining. I know this is a relatively bitter/cynical take, but at the end of the day, I'm there to get food, the workers are there to work and get money. I'm not trying to be someone's friend while they're at work.

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