For simple transactions that a customer does frequently, self serve kiosks are OK (see bank machines - most frequently used for small withdrawals)
For anything more complex, or for transactions that a customer does not do frequently (and therefore does not get to “practice”), … not a good idea.
I had to laugh last time I flew Alaska Air. Instead of having a few self-serve kiosks, they had ONLY self-serve kiosks. Imagine the lineups of clueless folks who do not fly frequently, staring at the touch screen. Each transaction was taking 4 times longer than usual. What they had to do was put an agent at EACH AND EVERY SCREEN to help customers. They “helped” by actually doing the entire transaction.
Do you mean at a self serve checkout (Do they have those at Walmart)? When you scan liquor, the red light turns on, the kiosk locks up, an employee asks for your ID, goes into an employee screen, enters your birthday, and then you can scan all the alcohol you want after that point.
It does prove that corporations are not “job creators,” though. On the contrary, they expend a lot of effort in trying to minimize payrolls as much as possible.
This conversation is reminding me of a trip I took yesterday to buy my sister a baby gift. The store didn’t have one of those kiosks you can use to print the registry yourself…you had to get a store employee to help you. So, I found someone to help me, spelled my sister’s name 4 times before she got it right, and finally got my list. I was standing there thinking “or, I could have typed my sister’s name myself in 5 seconds, and saved myself and this nice lady all this trouble.”
I don’t like the grocery-store self checkouts, they always seem to give me trouble. I know, user error…but that’s why some transactions require training. And let’s face it, some really don’t.
Well, not necessarily. Somebody’s going to have to build, install and maintain these machines. And somebody is going to have to prepare all the extra food that will be required because people constantly fuck up their orders. Most importantly, somebody’s going to have to uninstall all these terminals when this idea turns out to be a colossal failure.
McDonald’s is severely overestimating the intelligence and tech-savviness of its customers. I doubt you could successfully implement an all-touchscreen checkout system in a fucking Apple store.
Funny, there was just a big story in the news last week that McD’s is planning to hire 50,000 new employees.
Of course corporations are job creators. It’s just that job creation is a byproduct of their main function, which is generate a return for their investors. Net-net that means more jobs, not less, even if any given corporation is eliminating them.
It should also be noted that most economists recognize that small to medium sized businesses are the main engines of job growth. Makes sense, since they have the best opportunity to grow.
I had a friend that loved McDonalds but wanted his Quarterpounder fresh, so he’d order it without a pickle. Fresh burger every time.
I think the success of these things will depend on the demographic served. In the area I live, I’ve watched self-serves in Lowe’s, Walmart and a supermarket chain. Rarely used, and massive head scratching when they are used.
Hopefully it will end with machines doing all the work for us, and the rest of us living lives of leisure. But the transition from now to then might be a little rough.
I propose a Basic Income Guarantee: A sum of money granted to all citizens, sufficient for them to live on, regardless of whether they work or not.
It’s not the same thing, but I now do all my pizza ordering online. No worries about being misunderstood, and I can make my order absurdly complicated. If this change will allow the same advantages at McDonalds, I’m cautiously in favor.
As far as jobs go, didn’t McDonald’s just go on a huge hiring spree?
The winning formula is not to 100% replace all the cashiers with self-serve kiosks, but to hybridize. The self-serve checkouts at the grocery store are quick and accessible for people who only need a few things and can work the computer easily, but there are still cashiers to help with large orders or people uncomfortable with the self-serve. Several airlines use self-serve for people who aren’t checking baggage and just want to get on the plane, while still employing people behind the desk to take checked bags and handle special requests.
Simply replacing all the cashiers with kiosks is a bad idea, but making a kiosk available for those who want to use it is a great practice. The people who just want a soda or fries or a #1 can go up to the kiosk, be through their transaction in two seconds, and in so doing make the line at the cashier more efficient. The folks who would have been sitting at the register taking orders can instead be helping in the back processing food.
That’s because that guy can walk down a line of cars and get orders into the system faster than each car can individually stop at the box. More orders in the system can speed up the process by keeping the cooking stations busy.
Think of an extreme example where four cars in a row come in and order nothing but one drink. The drink guy will be busy putting together orders while production on the other stations has nothing. In effect those stations are waiting for something to do because they are waiting for small orders to clear through the que. If they were aware that the people behind the car at the order box wanted 12 happy meals and 11 big macs they could be started on those orders. Having the orders started earlier means they are done sooner and the only bottleneck point is the time it actually takes to take the money and hand the food to the customer.
[ul]
[li]Interaction on a message board is quite different than face-to-face interaction. It requires less energy, is asynchronous, and more or less anonymous.[/li][li]A message board is a self-selected audience rather than whatever hoodrat teenager / immigrant happens to be working the counters at McD’s (or wherever) that day[/li][/ul]
