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Laserjet 4P
Mar 28, 2005

What does it mean?
Fun Shoe

darkhand posted:

You know what needs a pinch of automation is car dealerships. Nobody loving likes anything about buying a car yet no one has really changed the game.
Blame lobbying.

quote:

My county has like 6 McDonald's so a locale like that, I don't think it makes sense to replace a few of minimum wage employees with robots and some engineers to maintain them at 60k+ salary or whatever.

The question is what'll happen to any store aimed at certain income groups when those income groups can no longer afford to purchase there anymore.

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Rectus
Apr 27, 2008

Lurking Haro posted:

How do you keep people waiting for their order if you only sell one every 5 minutes? I flipped burgers and could easily prepare a meal myself in that time. This includes frying up a batch of fries.

Even McDonalds in Japan takes your order and calls you out when it's done to keep the orders going.

I might have exaggerated a bit, but it took at least 15 -30 minutes to get the order. And it was dinner time on a friday.

Sentient Data
Aug 31, 2011

My molecule scrambler ray will disintegrate your armor with one blow!
Mcdonalds isn't really aimed at the poor any more, they've switched their prices to target the suburban lazy like wendys.

Back to content, I miss third party unofficial addons to games. I remember back in the 90s you could buy weird expansion packs to duke3d and doom in regular stores. This has been sort of taken over by the modding community, but it's just not the same.

On the same topic, games having CD music was fun; you could put in a different CD while the game's playing to have a different sound track, and you could listen to the music on its own as long as you remember to skip track 1. There was a quake1 demo that came on a CD in some kind of multimedia magazine, I think it was associated with MTV or something like that. It was funny, since the demo was still coded to pull the intro screen's music from track 2, but the multimedia CD had demos of singles from various groups like green day, so quake would play with pop music in the background instead of the ambient stuff


vvv: That's the kind of thing that's missing from youtube

Sentient Data has a new favorite as of 22:12 on May 22, 2016

Guy Axlerod
Dec 29, 2008
My little brother had this game:


I played the quake demo and it started playing the little kid sing-along songs over quake.

Lurking Haro
Oct 27, 2009

Rectus posted:

I might have exaggerated a bit, but it took at least 15 -30 minutes to get the order. And it was dinner time on a friday.

Something else must have hosed up royally, since orders are displayed on monitors in the kitchen anyway. Self-service terminals just supply a prettier version of the touch screen register any fast-food chain uses today.
Maybe it worked too good and they got swamped with orders? It's faster to tap the "No" button when asked for extra cheese instead of waiting for the cashier to say it.

GWBBQ
Jan 2, 2005


umalt posted:

On the other hand, you can get a higher bandwidth of customers (I can't remember if there's a better word, so 'bandwidth' it is).
Throughput. It's swapped definitions with Bandwidth in popular usage, to the point that I've seen the width of a frequency range called throughput when that's the literal definition of bandwidth.

joshtothemaxx
Nov 17, 2008

I will have a whole army of zombies! A zombie Marine Corps, a zombie Navy Corps, zombie Space Cadets...
The Panera in my town recently installed touch kiosks. Twice now their system "lost" my order. I don't go there anymore.

atomicthumbs
Dec 26, 2010


We're in the business of extending man's senses.

Lowen SoDium posted:

Carl's Jr. (gently caress you, I'm Eating!) has announced that they working towards automated restaurants, and I believe that Wendy's said that they were going to installed self-service kiosk in many of their locations to get around a $15 minimum wage. In the next few years, teenagers and burnouts working in fast food will be obsolete. In a few year after that, most unskilled labor will be gone too. I would go as far as to guess that with in 15 years, retail stores will be almost completely automated except for the one token human to is there to override the computer and address customer complaints. In malls, it will probably even be a mall staff position or something where 1 person is the token human for 3 or 4 stores.

:jerkbag:

Lowen SoDium posted:

Self Driving cars, deep learning computers, natural language processors, IBM Watson, this thing. The advancements made in the last 10 years have been incredible and it doesn't take a very vivid imagination to see what you could do with these technologies with a few more years of development. Maybe 15 years is too optimistic, but it will happen, I think it will probably happen pretty rapidly.

Throughout all of human history, jobs have been replaced by technology, but I really think we are not very long for a automation revolution that is going to effect a lot more people than even the industrial revolution did.


I think it's going to effect a lot more than cashiers, self driving cars could completely replace human drivers for taxi services and OTR truck drivers. Maybe I am wrong and there will still be a human presence in retail stores, but I think that it will be a reduced number. Businesses will do as much as they can to reduce their operation cost, and automation helps with that a lot.

atomicthumbs has a new favorite as of 23:33 on May 22, 2016

Shugojin
Sep 6, 2007

THE TAIL THAT BURNS TWICE AS BRIGHT...


I really look forward to the first time a fully automated fast food joint gets hacked by a bored nerd who makes it start pumping out goatse burgers nonstop

Tunicate
May 15, 2012

Out Our Way, April 20, 1929

BogDew
Jun 14, 2006

E:\FILES>quickfli clown.fli

Sentient Data posted:

On the same topic, games having CD music was fun; you could put in a different CD while the game's playing to have a different sound track, and you could listen to the music on its own.
I remember this also worked with music CDs. Need for Speed High Stakes had an in-game CD control.

Powerlurker
Oct 21, 2010

roffels posted:

I can imagine if you had a McDonalds or whatever other fast-food app for regulars that they could use on their phone to order, they would. It could be a potential labor savor and it would get around inefficiencies like bottlenecks in the line such as indecisive people in front of you not knowing what they want to order yet.

See also parents who wait until they are at the front of the line to ask their kids what they want.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Powerlurker posted:

See also parents who wait until they are at the front of the line to ask their kids what they want.

The answer is always chicken nuggets why do they even ask

Buttcoin purse
Apr 24, 2014

Goober Peas posted:

Touchlamps. I was going through some tapes from the early 80s and forgot how big of a thing this was for a while. I remember loving when we would go to Sears - the window air conditioners blowing streamers, the dishwasher with the see-through front, the washing machine with the see-through lid, the wall of televisions, the Ataris on display, and the touchlamps.

:911:

Don't forget a C64 with:

code:
10 PRINT "IM GAY"
20 GOTO 20
My uncle had a touch thing on the wall to turn some lights on and off, I think a double tap would dim or something. I bet the lights would turn themselves on and off when it got humid or something like our old TV :v:

umalt posted:

On the other hand, you can get a higher bandwidth of customers (I can't remember if there's a better word, so 'bandwidth' it is). Four self service machines can fit in the same space two tills can. Assuming that the length of one self-service transaction isn't twice the time of a till, then you are servicing more customers in the same period of time.

I bet it takes your average Joe more than twice as long to find the burgers his family wants in the interface than it takes the assistant who uses that interface for hours every day, so you probably lose.

Tunicate posted:

Out Our Way, April 20, 1929


:420:

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

roffels posted:

I can imagine if you had a McDonalds or whatever other fast-food app for regulars that they could use on their phone to order, they would. It could be a potential labor savor and it would get around inefficiencies like bottlenecks in the line such as indecisive people in front of you not knowing what they want to order yet.

You know as well as I do that it would lead to hell of people ordering via the telephone application and then wanting to change their order in person. Just like with drive-in nowadays.

3D Megadoodoo has a new favorite as of 08:24 on May 23, 2016

KozmoNaut
Apr 23, 2008

Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle


Buttcoin purse posted:

Don't forget a C64 with:

code:
10 PRINT "IM GAY"
20 GOTO 20

I love the new word filters :allears:

Exit Strategy
Dec 10, 2010

by sebmojo

KozmoNaut posted:

I love the new word filters :allears:

What the gently caress got filtered into that?

ishikabibble
Jan 21, 2012

Exit Strategy posted:

What the gently caress got filtered into that?

"I m gay" but without the space. It's a GBS meme.

Croccers
Jun 15, 2012

ishikabibble posted:

"I m gay" but without the space. It's a GBS meme.
Someone already summed up GBS 5 years ago http://tindeck.com/listen/goui

Computer viking
May 30, 2011
Now with less breakage.

Exit Strategy posted:

What the gently caress got filtered into that?
At a guess, an admission of homosexuality.

As for the ordering kiosks, they ... seemed to work fine last time I saw them in use? I don't know if our idiots are slightly more competent than yours or if I've just been lucky, though.

Krispy Wafer
Jul 26, 2002

I shouted out "Free the exposed 67"
But they stood on my hair and told me I was fat

Grimey Drawer
Automated kiosks don't have to eliminate all the jobs. If the addition of a kiosk speeds things up for some people, it might be worthwhile - especially if labor prices increase. I use the automated checkouts all the time at Wal-Mart and Publix. That's how I learned you can't buy rubber cement without cashier approval. :catdrugs:

Fast food restaurants are always looking for some kind of trick to speed ordering. The Chick-Fil-A near us now lets soccer moms in minivans full of kids give their orders in the drive-thru, park, come inside, and they'll deliver your food to your table. I'm still not sure what that's supposed to speed up.

Goober Peas posted:

Touchlamps. I was going through some tapes from the early 80s and forgot how big of a thing this was for a while. I remember loving when we would go to Sears - the window air conditioners blowing streamers, the dishwasher with the see-through front, the washing machine with the see-through lid, the wall of televisions, the Ataris on display, and the touchlamps.

Speaking of obsolete lamps, easy to find switches are pretty obsolete. Almost every lamp in my house has the knob right near the bulb, meaning it's always a game of Operation! to reach in there and turn off the lamp. I miss the old pull chains.

I was so excited my new task lamp from IKEA had an on/off button on the base.

sirbeefalot
Aug 24, 2004
Fast Learner.
Fun Shoe

Krispy Kareem posted:

Fast food restaurants are always looking for some kind of trick to speed ordering. The Chick-Fil-A near us now lets soccer moms in minivans full of kids give their orders in the drive-thru, park, come inside, and they'll deliver your food to your table. I'm still not sure what that's supposed to speed up.

Pure speculation, but its probably a bit easier/faster for the parent to get the order placed when all the kids are (presumably) still strapped into their seats and not milling around the restaurant. Plus, food's ready by the time everybody gets inside.

Collateral Damage
Jun 13, 2009

The advantage of kiosks as others have said is that you don't have to be stuck in line behind some idiot who's hemming and hawing over what to order while the cashier is getting visibly closer to murdering him with a McFlurry spoon.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry

Jerry Cotton posted:

They've been trying to push automated stores for years now all over the planet completely regardless of minimum wage. Too bad no-one uses the self-checkout lanes :shrug:

At my local CVS everybody uses the three self checkouts because they never have anybody manning the single register. They do have one employee standing by the self-service lanes though.

ColHannibal
Sep 17, 2007
Down in San Diego jack in the box did a test where they redid a few stores as "JBX"' the insides are nicer and they use touch screen ordering kiosks, the thing nobody is talking about with them is that they really do increase sales. I'm not really susceptible to advertisements as I am boring and get the same thing, but getting the messages for upgrades you did not even know existed really do upswell so effectively I think everyone walks away with some kind of upgrade they did not know about when they walked in.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



ColHannibal posted:

Down in San Diego jack in the box did a test where they redid a few stores as "JBX"' the insides are nicer and they use touch screen ordering kiosks, the thing nobody is talking about with them is that they really do increase sales. I'm not really susceptible to advertisements as I am boring and get the same thing, but getting the messages for upgrades you did not even know existed really do upswell so effectively I think everyone walks away with some kind of upgrade they did not know about when they walked in.

They put a kiosk in the downtown Livermore Jack in the Box, I found it convenient when I'd been drinking at the bar next door (Polomoni's, decor straight outta the 60s, smoking at the bar) and wanted a sandwich but some other drunk dude was taking his sweet time at the register. I could punch up a spicy chicken sandwich and pay before he figured out how many orders of mini churros he wanted.

ColHannibal
Sep 17, 2007

Pham Nuwen posted:

They put a kiosk in the downtown Livermore Jack in the Box, I found it convenient when I'd been drinking at the bar next door (Polomoni's, decor straight outta the 60s, smoking at the bar) and wanted a sandwich but some other drunk dude was taking his sweet time at the register. I could punch up a spicy chicken sandwich and pay before he figured out how many orders of mini churros he wanted.

Yes but would you like cheese or bacon for .75 cents more? Or a shake instead of a soda for a dollar more?

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Collateral Damage posted:

The advantage of kiosks as others have said is that you don't have to be stuck in line behind some idiot who's hemming and hawing over what to order while the cashier is getting visibly closer to murdering him with a McFlurry spoon.

That still happens with kiosks. You can fit more kiosks into the same space, but someone who doesn't know what to order is still going to take ages because he's got the exact same options presented to him.

Arivia
Mar 17, 2011

ColHannibal posted:

Yes but would you like cheese or bacon for .75 cents more? Or a shake instead of a soda for a dollar more?

Yeah, this is a thing with the McDonalds kiosks up here. People spend a couple dollars more per order or something.

BOOTY-ADE
Aug 30, 2006

BIG KOOL TELLIN' Y'ALL TO KEEP IT TIGHT

Lowen SoDium posted:

Carl's Jr. (gently caress you, I'm Eating!) has announced that they working towards automated restaurants, and I believe that Wendy's said that they were going to installed self-service kiosk in many of their locations to get around a $15 minimum wage. In the next few years, teenagers and burnouts working in fast food will be obsolete. In a few year after that, most unskilled labor will be gone too. I would go as far as to guess that with in 15 years, retail stores will be almost completely automated except for the one token human to is there to override the computer and address customer complaints. In malls, it will probably even be a mall staff position or something where 1 person is the token human for 3 or 4 stores.

I have a feeling these guys are going to shoot themselves in the foot - now instead of $15/hour full or part time "wage slaves", they've got to pay several thousand more to install the kiosks, probably have to work out a contract with the kiosk vendor, have them tested, get routine maintenance done, possibly worry about infrastructure upgrades depending on how the kiosks work, etc.

So yep, get rid of one wage slave, then turn around and spend a shitload more to install/configure/maintain the hardware anyways. And whoops, what happens if the kiosks break down? Back to wage slaves serving you food again until they're working! That is, if wage slaves decide not to say "gently caress you" for being replaced with computers so their employer can avoid paying a living wage :v:

Plinkey
Aug 4, 2004

by Fluffdaddy
It's been working fine for places around the north east / PA, MD for years. Sheetz, Wawa and Royal Farms all use kiosks, it super easy and let's you spell out exactly how and what you want on your sandwich or whatever. I'd take a kiosk over trying to explain some of the monstrosities I've ordered at sheetz to someone at the counter.

lord funk
Feb 16, 2004

BOOTY-ADE posted:

I have a feeling these guys are going to shoot themselves in the foot.

Yeah this happened at our university. We replaced our old system of cutting keys with nuclear test facility hand scanners. Although more secure, I guess they were costing us $30,000/yr to maintain. So they're starting to take them out of non-essential locations like elevators.

Lurking Haro
Oct 27, 2009

BOOTY-ADE posted:

I have a feeling these guys are going to shoot themselves in the foot - now instead of $15/hour full or part time "wage slaves", they've got to pay several thousand more to install the kiosks, probably have to work out a contract with the kiosk vendor, have them tested, get routine maintenance done, possibly worry about infrastructure upgrades depending on how the kiosks work, etc.

So yep, get rid of one wage slave, then turn around and spend a shitload more to install/configure/maintain the hardware anyways. And whoops, what happens if the kiosks break down? Back to wage slaves serving you food again until they're working!

Guess how everything comes to a crawl when the regular register system crashes. Which also cost a few thousands per unit. Same difference.
You can also provide an interface over the store WLAN for people who don't pay in cash.

quote:

That is, if wage slaves decide not to say "gently caress you" for being replaced with computers so their employer can avoid paying a living wage :v:

In food services? :lol:

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Lurking Haro posted:

Guess how everything comes to a crawl when the regular register system crashes. Which also cost a few thousands per unit. Same difference.
You can also provide an interface over the store WLAN for people who don't pay in cash

Having personally witnessed a network crash in a gas station, the answer is that business slows to a crawl while cashiers use calculators or mental math to figure out change and only accepting cash.

Now imagine that scenario, but you replaced all your cashiers with 6 touchscreen kiosks and you even removed the cash registers because you decided you don't need humans anymore.

Lurking Haro
Oct 27, 2009

chitoryu12 posted:

Having personally witnessed a network crash in a gas station, the answer is that business slows to a crawl while cashiers use calculators or mental math to figure out change and only accepting cash.

Now imagine that scenario, but you replaced all your cashiers with 6 touchscreen kiosks and you even removed the cash registers because you decided you don't need humans anymore.

A fast food restaurant has a lot more people going through than a gas station. You also have to get the orders to the kitchen, which as mentioned before, normally receives them on a monitor.
And there's also the drive-through on priority.

Did I mention I wanted mayo instead of ketchup for my fries? And hold the pickles. *has already paid*
:suicide:

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Lurking Haro posted:

A fast food restaurant has a lot more people going through than a gas station. You also have to get the orders to the kitchen, which as mentioned before, normally receives them on a monitor.
And there's also the drive-through on priority.

Did I mention I wanted mayo instead of ketchup for my fries? And hold the pickles. *has already paid*
:suicide:

Also, who do you bring your order to in a totally cashier-less restaurant if they make a mistake?

Lurking Haro
Oct 27, 2009

chitoryu12 posted:

Also, who do you bring your order to in a totally cashier-less restaurant if they make a mistake?

The shift manager who checks that you don't make poo poo up or have already eaten half the burger and queues up a replacement.

Croccers
Jun 15, 2012

Lurking Haro posted:

The shift manager who checks that you don't make poo poo up or have already eaten half the burger and queues up a replacement.
NONONO YOU SEE SELF-SERVE KIOSKS ARE JUST THE START TO COMPLETELY REPLACE EVERY HUMAN BEHIND THE COUNTER. THE SHIFT MANAGER JOB DOESN'T EXSIST ANY MORE THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR ASKING FOR A PROPER WAGE.

Also on the McD kiosks you can edit the order so your burger has extra sauce or no tomatoes or whatever.

champagne posting
Apr 5, 2006

YOU ARE A BRAIN
IN A BUNKER

chitoryu12 posted:

Also, who do you bring your order to in a totally cashier-less restaurant if they make a mistake?

A burger robot would probably make as many mistakes as we've seen robot cars make. That is essentially none.

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twistedmentat
Nov 21, 2003

Its my party
and I'll die if
I want to
One of the grocery stores I used to shop at had self checkouts, but then removed them because barely anyone used them. They didn't replace the regular checkouts with it, just dump bins of lovely dvds.

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