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Published On: May 10, 2004 06:50 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: May 10, 2004 06:50 PM
MacRonald's of the Future
I had an odd experience the
other day. In a MacRonald's restaurant, of all places ... usually a bastion of
normalcy.
I had an odd experience the other day. In a
MacRonald's restaurant, of all places ... usually a bastion of
normalcy.
I hadn't been to a MacRonald's in, oh, months and months ... I think the last few times I'd gone I'd just had breakfast, an Egg MacMuffin and a hashbrown. I had a sudden craving for their golden French Fries, so I decided to head out to a local franchise and grab a quick dinner.
I'd never been to this particular MacRonald's, and when I walked in I found I was faced with three or four electronic kiosks blocking the way between myself and the cash register. You know, those hi-tech-looking touch-screen terminals you'd expect to see at Epcot or in an international airport. Only each of these touch-screens had a button for 'Eat Here' and a button for 'To Go,' and touching either brought you to a display of MacRonald's most popular food items. Touching any of them added that item to your order, or you could select other menus to find more obscure foods or make specialty orders. When your order was done, you could select payment by cash or credit card, then it printed a ticket you carried to the counter (and paid your cash, if that was your option) and waited for your food to be served.
I dunno, this just struck me as odd on a couple levels. First of all, this MacRonald's is practically out in the middle of nowhere. I know the company often chooses remote areas to test-market some of its more eclectic new menu items, but this display seemed more like something you'd find in an elite MacRonald's in New York City or Las Vegas or near a technology park in the Bay Area. It was interesting seeing some of the local yokels alternately marveling over this breakthrough of technology, and being confounded by it.
And second, it seemed like a bit of technological excess. I mean, they still need to hire a bunch of near-minimum-wage counter clerks to collect people's money and bring their orders out to them. When you consider the cost of the kiosks, the development of the software, general upkeep and maintenance, and problems like the risk of vandalism or of confused customers wandering over to the more traditional Windy's next door ... I guess it surprises me the money and effort that sometimes goes into these things for what seems like modest returns. I mean, it's not like they're MicroSoft and they're demoing their new system at a major electronics convention.
Well, I don't know. It's their money, not mine; they probably know better than I do.
The sad thing is, after so many months, their golden French Fries ... just didn't taste as good as I remembered. When I was a kid, there was no treat in the world better than a MacRonald's burger and fries, and perhaps a Shamrock Shake to go with it. I felt like part of my childhood was gone, somehow.
Oh well. Last night I had dinner at Windy's instead. ;-)
I hadn't been to a MacRonald's in, oh, months and months ... I think the last few times I'd gone I'd just had breakfast, an Egg MacMuffin and a hashbrown. I had a sudden craving for their golden French Fries, so I decided to head out to a local franchise and grab a quick dinner.
I'd never been to this particular MacRonald's, and when I walked in I found I was faced with three or four electronic kiosks blocking the way between myself and the cash register. You know, those hi-tech-looking touch-screen terminals you'd expect to see at Epcot or in an international airport. Only each of these touch-screens had a button for 'Eat Here' and a button for 'To Go,' and touching either brought you to a display of MacRonald's most popular food items. Touching any of them added that item to your order, or you could select other menus to find more obscure foods or make specialty orders. When your order was done, you could select payment by cash or credit card, then it printed a ticket you carried to the counter (and paid your cash, if that was your option) and waited for your food to be served.
I dunno, this just struck me as odd on a couple levels. First of all, this MacRonald's is practically out in the middle of nowhere. I know the company often chooses remote areas to test-market some of its more eclectic new menu items, but this display seemed more like something you'd find in an elite MacRonald's in New York City or Las Vegas or near a technology park in the Bay Area. It was interesting seeing some of the local yokels alternately marveling over this breakthrough of technology, and being confounded by it.
And second, it seemed like a bit of technological excess. I mean, they still need to hire a bunch of near-minimum-wage counter clerks to collect people's money and bring their orders out to them. When you consider the cost of the kiosks, the development of the software, general upkeep and maintenance, and problems like the risk of vandalism or of confused customers wandering over to the more traditional Windy's next door ... I guess it surprises me the money and effort that sometimes goes into these things for what seems like modest returns. I mean, it's not like they're MicroSoft and they're demoing their new system at a major electronics convention.
Well, I don't know. It's their money, not mine; they probably know better than I do.
The sad thing is, after so many months, their golden French Fries ... just didn't taste as good as I remembered. When I was a kid, there was no treat in the world better than a MacRonald's burger and fries, and perhaps a Shamrock Shake to go with it. I felt like part of my childhood was gone, somehow.
Oh well. Last night I had dinner at Windy's instead. ;-)
Posted: Wed - October 17, 2001 at 08:27 PM