Wall Street Cheers Replacement of Cashiers with Digital Kiosks

I don't consider myself a germophobe, but the last thing I want to do before eating my meal is smearing my fingers all over a giant touch screen that 2000 other people just touched. Some ATMs look so nasty it's hard to use them, but at least I'm not eating fries right after that.
 
I've never been a fan of the damn kiosks anywhere they install them. I like to interact with people not keypads. I figured this was going to happen though with the whole push for a $15 living wage making its way through the service industry.

I am sorry, but I would rather deal with the machines. Too many places that I go to you have the person being slow, forgetting to mark different things into he order... If I could order everything on my own, I could order so much faster than dealing with the average idiots that I come across at restaurants. Just last week, stopped at Arby's after completing some midnight work to get some breakfast on my way back to the office. Their breakfast menu is something like a #1 biscuit w/ ham and cheese, #2 was biscuit w/ sausage, #3 was biscuit with egg, bacon and cheese. I ordered a "number 3, the combo not just the sandwich". I was asked if I wanted to make that the combo. Confirmed that yes I wanted the combo. Then she asked me if I wanted just the biscuit or if I wanted anything on it, ham and cheese, sausage... I stopped her right there. and pointed at the menu. "A number 3 is the biscuit with bacon, egg and cheese. I want it with all of those things on it. not the 1 or 2, but #3." Now I could see if they had a #1 as a biscuit with your choice of meat and other things. but when each item is a separate number there is no need to ask me what version of the biscuit I want as me telling you the number tells you that. She then fumbled in the menu for about 2 minutes while she tried to figure how to put my order in. I could have put the order in myself in far less time. I find this true at most places I go to, the people working the front counter always seem to be confused as if it is the first time they have ever looked at the machine, are always very slow. Remembers me of the sloth in Zootopia working at the DMV. I welcome a time where I can order my own food, request refills at a table instead of waiting on some slow ass person that will ignore me half the time and be able to pay when I am ready to leave again instead of waiting for that slow person at every place I go to.


I refuse to use those self checkouts for two reasons:
1 I don't want to contribute to some unfortunate individual losing their job
2 Those things are actually slower than the cashier. They're either asking you to re-scan, or not registering when you've placed the item in the 'bagging area', or you've bought something that can't realistically be scanned by the machine. Waiting in line for those is waiting for some schmuck to battle through the process, holding up everyone else, until it's then your turn to be the schmuck who's holding everyone up. No thanks.
Thankfully the local grocery stores all pulled those out years ago, but if I'm at Home Depot and there's only self-checkout, I go straight to Customer Service to pay.

McDonald's may not fire anyone, but they'll sure cut everyone's hours so that everyone has a turn in the kitchen. Knowing how things operated when I worked BK in high school, half of the cashiers will think food prep is beneath them and quit rather than man the frier.

I don't have that issue with #2. What I have seen around here is that they are able to replace a few registers with twice the number of sell checkouts so now you have more lanes to check out so that makes it faster to get out. Do have the "place item in bagging area" thing every now and then but not enough to be a problem. Your stores pulled them out were as here they are doubling down on them at many places and going to about 1/4 - 1/2 self checkout lanes. I always go to those if I can as I can get through those lines much faster. However it is going to be different everywhere.
 
I don't consider myself a germophobe, but the last thing I want to do before eating my meal is smearing my fingers all over a giant touch screen that 2000 other people just touched. Some ATMs look so nasty it's hard to use them, but at least I'm not eating fries right after that.

It does sound bad, but then again, you already put your hands on the door to get inside.
 
More people should go into constructing and service jobs. I do not see robots replacing things like hvac, electrician or plumbers for service calls for sometime
 
I don't write checks so I'm pretty certain I'll never that person no matter how old I get. If it just happens that I do, that's what home delivery is for.

yeah, by the time that most of us getting to be of that age that we can barely get around and do stuff like that on our own delivery will have replaced most things.

I don't consider myself a germophobe, but the last thing I want to do before eating my meal is smearing my fingers all over a giant touch screen that 2000 other people just touched. Some ATMs look so nasty it's hard to use them, but at least I'm not eating fries right after that.

If only there was a place there with running water that you could wash your hands. maybe that will be the next thing they add. That said that is no different than the touch screen to get your fountain drinks at many places, or touching the door to get in. Although you could also just use the tip of one finger to touch the screen instead of taking your entire hand and rubbing it. Don't know how you use touch screens though so to each their own.
 
If only there was a place there with running water that you could wash your hands. maybe that will be the next thing they add. That said that is no different than the touch screen to get your fountain drinks at many places, or touching the door to get in. Although you could also just use the tip of one finger to touch the screen instead of taking your entire hand and rubbing it. Don't know how you use touch screens though so to each their own.

Yeah, I understand there are restrooms that might actually have soap or towels. And most doors aren't quite the same as smearing fingers all over a board, especially if you can just push them open. I know I've used ATMs that are so black from finger grease they make the selection text look dingy. Good luck with it. If I go into a store and see a giant touch screen I'm heading right back out. Now, if they had an app where I can use my own phone, no problem. Donatos has an app you can choose your meal and pick it up in minutes. Theoretically you could do it right from in the store in a booth.
 
In general, there's only one person working the cash register in the front and another for drive through.
Some of the real slow ones are like that around here. But the busy ones? They got a lot of people working there, and McDonald's is frequently busy.

Even for a place like you're talking about though adding a kiosk will let them get rid of the 1 cashier in the store at a minimum. They'll just have one of the cooks or whatever work the register as needed which won't be often in such a slow store.
 
Yeah, I understand there are restrooms that might actually have soap or towels. And most doors aren't quite the same as smearing fingers all over a board, especially if you can just push them open. I know I've used ATMs that are so black from finger grease they make the selection text look dingy. Good luck with it. If I go into a store and see a giant touch screen I'm heading right back out. Now, if they had an app where I can use my own phone, no problem. Donatos has an app you can choose your meal and pick it up in minutes. Theoretically you could do it right from in the store in a booth.

Keep in mind that most ATMs don't have a person who is being paid to wash them. At a place like this somebody should be going around and wiping off tables, the counter and as part of that the ordering display.
 
We need to deragulate human cashier positions and fast track proper funding to keep these job around.

Just like coal, all these sort of jobs are going the way of the Dodo bird. Better to be employed to fix these stupid boxes than to be a stupid cashier.
 
I do not see robots replacing things like hvac, electrician or plumbers for service calls for sometime
You haven't seen some of the new home construction methods then. They're starting to build the homes like legos with much of the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC ductwork already installed into the "lego pieces" which are then assembled on site with a crane and a few guys in a day or 2 after the foundation sets.

They'll even do the interior work on some of these "lego pieces" and they'll just leave the detail stuff and painting to be done on site. Manufactured homes have existed for a long time mind you but construction quality was generally not all that good. These new homes aren't like that and are built to normal spec. CBH is starting to do this with some of the subdivisions around me. The speed with which they're filling up multi acre subdivisions with homes has to be seen to be believed.

And all the construction crews that work for them are contracted out and are temporary workers. There is no job security anymore and pay is fairly crappy now from what these people say too...but they can't hardly get work elsewhere so what can they do?
 
We need to deragulate human cashier positions and fast track proper funding to keep these job around.

Just like coal, all these sort of jobs are going the way of the Dodo bird. Better to be employed to fix these stupid boxes than to be a stupid cashier.
I hope this post is satire or hyperbole but I can't really tell anymore.
 
Honestly this what these people get for crying for minimal wage to be raised to $15. I am sorry if your are unskilled/uneducated then that is your problem. Live with in your means or get a 2nd job. Still there should be at least 1 person run registers. I seen many people get frustrated over using any kind of technology especially old people. There are a great deal of people still stuck in the past and refuse to get with the time.
 
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I have kids - so we end up going to places like McD's, Chik-Filet, etc. McD's in my part of the world always messes up orders! It doesn't help that I have one kids who doesn't like mustard or pickles and needs a special version. Even without her, the orders are often screwed up. If the food prep folks get it right, I welcome he kiosks at the Golden Arches. Not trying to be mean, but can these people even tie their own shoes?
Now, contrast against Chik-Filet. They have good customer service and usually get our orders right. Hell, they even walk around and get you refills! I think McD's needs to learn from Chik-Filet. I don't see a kiosk in CF's future anytime soon. (Same part of the city/country, so assuming they are hiring from the same labor pool. What does CF do that is different?)
 
Honestly this what these people get for crying for minimal wage to be raised to $15.
They were already installing these kiosks in places before a handful of cities pushed for $15/hr min. wage. They're already cheaper than a worker paid $7.25/hr and will only get cheaper from there.

Also as has been pointed out earlier in thread many other countries pay their workers a higher min. wage without issue along with better benefits and have for years. Yes they have higher taxes to pay for all that but they're still effectively having a higher quality of life too.

Live with in your means or get a 2nd job.
Its pretty much impossible to live within your means at $7.25/hr as a single adult and have a OK quality of life. Previous generations in the US in the post WWII period didn't have to put up with that crap so why should this one? Just to make a few rich people slightly richer? That is insanity.
 
Honestly this what these people get for crying for minimal wage to be raised to $15. I am sorry if your are unskilled/uneducated then that is you problem. Live with in your means or get a 2nd job. Still there should be at least 1 person run registers. I seen many people get frustrated over using any kind of technology especially old people. There are a great deal of people still stuck in the past and refuse to get with the time.

What a bullshit, arrogant point of view based around one hell of a colossal blanket assumption! Personally I think attitudes like this are the problem with modern society, right wing beliefs fueled by media propaganda and a distinct lack of empathy.

I cringe at a society where tips are necessary in order to make a decent living, what a joke!
 
They were already installing these kiosks in places before a handful of cities pushed for $15/hr min. wage. They're already cheaper than a worker paid $7.25/hr and will only get cheaper from there.

Also as has been pointed out earlier in thread many other countries pay their workers a higher min. wage without issue along with better benefits and have for years. Yes they have higher taxes to pay for all that but they're still effectively having a higher quality of life too.


Its pretty much impossible to live within your means at $7.25/hr as a single adult and have a OK quality of life. Previous generations in the US in the post WWII period didn't have to put up with that crap so why should this one? Just to make a few rich people slightly richer? That is insanity.
No one is entitled to live a quality life. People need to stop worrying about the fucking rich and take care of themselves. I worked 2 jobs for years to get to a point where I can live my life comfortably. I came from a poor immigrant family and didn't get to go to the best school. I made due with what I have instead of complaining and blaming others for my short comings. They can do the same if they get off their ass instead of relying on the government to still successful people money to pay for them. It is ass backwards that the government rewards irresponsible people and make the ones that made or the right choices pay for them.
 
You haven't seen some of the new home construction methods then. They're starting to build the homes like legos with much of the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC ductwork already installed into the "lego pieces" which are then assembled on site with a crane and a few guys in a day or 2 after the foundation sets.

They'll even do the interior work on some of these "lego pieces" and they'll just leave the detail stuff and painting to be done on site. Manufactured homes have existed for a long time mind you but construction quality was generally not all that good. These new homes aren't like that and are built to normal spec. CBH is starting to do this with some of the subdivisions around me. The speed with which they're filling up multi acre subdivisions with homes has to be seen to be believed.

And all the construction crews that work for them are contracted out and are temporary workers. There is no job security anymore and pay is fairly crappy now from what these people say too...but they can't hardly get work elsewhere so what can they do?
Im talking about old Construction and repairing things when they break. To replace people you need 1 a self driving van 2 it has to be able to climb in attics/under houses 3 have human like dexterity. One day it will happen but i think it will happen later then desk jobs
 
No one is entitled to live a quality life.

They pay taxes, they're entitled to something. My God, right wing rubbish at it's finest.

You don't pay taxes just so the government can squander it and give tax cuts to the top 1%. If you can't afford, as a business owner, to pay a bullshit $15.00/hr to the people that make up your business, then it's time to become an employee again as you fail as a business owner - The age of slavery is over.

Someone's acting entitled in this scenario and it's not the damn employee!

There's plenty of people that have it harder than you did/worked harder than you did and they will never get out of the position they're in. The belief that hard work = better living conditions is rubbish in a society where wage theft is so prevalent.
 
No one is entitled to live a quality life.
The whole point of automation and modern tech is to improve everyone's quality of life. Or do you really believe it should solely exist to make a few rich people richer? edit: Or to improve only the life of the rich? Do you also think the rest of society should exist for that purpose too? edit: Where is your empathy?

And no vague platitudes that amount to "BOOTSTRAPS" aren't a substitute for empathy or a functional society and govt.
People need to stop worrying about the fucking rich and take care of themselves.
Impossible to do when the rich not only have a considerable majority of the wealth they also get over 90% of all economic growth too and have for years.
I worked 2 jobs for years....
No one with any sense cares about your just so personal life story when talking about general economic solutions for everyone in a near future where quite a lot of jobs are automated away.

Im talking about old Construction and repairing things when they break.
Oh I'd agree with you on repairs then. That won't be automated away for decades if ever....but that is a real niche thing even now to do and there is already a plethora of "handyman" who do that sort of thing for not much money on residential work. Commerical work is a different story but also more specialized and even more niche.
 
They pay taxes, they're entitled to something. My God, right wing rubbish at it's finest.

You don't pay taxes just so the government can squander it and give tax cuts to the top 1%. If you can't afford, as a business owner, to pay a bullshit $15.00/hr to the people that make up your business, then it's time to become an employee again as you fail as a business owner - The age of slavery is over.
That what the government is best at. Squandering our tax money. Those my views I don't care for the right or left they both can go fuck themselves.
 
That what the government is best at. Squandering our tax money. Those my views I don't care for the right or left they both can go fuck themselves.

I can assure you that your comment above is all right wing, there's nothing impartial about that comment. It shows arrogance and a complete lack of any empathy at all.
 
Those my views I don't care for the right or left they both can go fuck themselves.
You're posting extreme Right and/or Randian stuff though in that post.

And if you're not going to change your views no matter what why even post ever at all? Its a disscussion forum on the internet so you know good and well people are going to disagree with you almost no matter what on anything you post.
 
I hope you are that pleased when they apply that to your job.

So are we supposed to never use Tech because it cuts someone's job? My job deals with digital Xrays, Most doctors love it, it is overall cleaner and cheaper than chemical based film Xrays, but it cut out a number of file room jobs, so should we scrap better healthcare and add more chemical pollutants to the environment so they can have their jobs back? Should we get rid of our ATM cards and things like paypal, so we can bring back the banking teller jobs? Also the Postal Service reported demand dropped when everyone started paying bills with online banking, we lost a local post office (that I never used). Let's cut that out so we can have more postal carriers back on the street?

Technology is going to continue to cut out jobs, so we either decide to go caveman, or we embrace it and plan accordingly. Maybe Bill Gate's robot tax will have to be implemented after all.
 
So are we supposed to never use Tech because it cuts someone's job? My job deals with digital Xrays, Most doctors love it, it is overall cleaner and cheaper than chemical based film Xrays, but it cut out a number of file room jobs, so should we scrap better healthcare and add more chemical pollutants to the environment so they can have their jobs back? Should we get rid of our ATM cards and things like paypal, so we can bring back the banking teller jobs? Also the Postal Service reported demand dropped when everyone started paying bills with online banking, we lost a local post office (that I never used). Let's cut that out so we can have more postal carriers back on the street?

Technology is going to continue to cut out jobs, so we either decide to go caveman, or we embrace it and plan accordingly. Maybe Bill Gate's robot tax will have to be implemented after all.

So when do the MPAA start embracing technology and abolish their age old business model, drop geo-blocking and stop lobbying the government's of the world to sustain their greed?

It's so amusing how it's always the employee/consumer that's the focus of entitlement, when considering the reality of the situation, it couldn't be further from the truth.
 
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Carl's Jr had this type of gizmo years ago. It worked fine as long as you were ordering a straight menu item. The moment you wanted to alter the item from spec, the process became convoluted and hard to verify that the order it had was the way you wanted the item. It was much faster and more reliable to bypass the kiosk and place your order with the human behind the counter. Apparently I wasn't the only one that had issues with them. They disappeared after several months.

Unless McDonald's has improved the UI menu for the order menu, these will likely suffer the same fate.
 
Unless McDonald's has improved the UI menu for the order menu, these will likely suffer the same fate.
The McDonal's kiosks work just fine for this sort of thing, you can see for yourself if you like:

You can quibble about how it'd possibly be done better a different way but nothing gets broken or particularly convoluted if you change your order up. UI design is pretty much a solved problem these days.
 
Having a $15/hour minimum wage doesn't help all the people who end up losing their jobs. Doesn't even help the people who still have jobs, since it raises prices on much of what they buy.

Losing battle though. Your job is safe only as long as you're cheaper than a machine once it can do the job.
 
I refuse to use those self checkouts for two reasons:
1 I don't want to contribute to some unfortunate individual losing their job
I fully agree.
That's why i still drive around my horse and buggy, just to make sure those stable hands and buggy makers can still make a living.

Honestly they should have been doing this years ago. They should also allow ordering and delivery straight to the table that you're at from your smart phone through their captive portal wifi system.

Not that i've eaten at a mcdonalds for 30 years, but if i did i would find it more convenient that way.
 
I don't like kiosks much either, but I'd love to see them in two places. The DMV/Registry and car dealerships.

"Would you like to haggle? (Y/N)"
"N"
 
Jerry and Nancy would be proud of some of the posts in this thread. California cancer.

McD's is late to the kiosk party. It's about time.

Any job where the human is not adding value of some sort is a likely target for process automation once the technology is available, does a better job and/or is cheaper. Lots of jobs answering phones these days. Lots of full service gas station attendants everywhere (at least where they are required by law). Get used to it.

Teach people to add value in the jobs they do and they'll have a soft skill they can take anywhere. Too bad that's not part of common core.

News flash, private business is not welfare. No one is entitled to shit, except the fucking tax man. And once he completely destroys the business he doesn't get shit either - and he knows it.
 
I don't like kiosks much either, but I'd love to see them in two places. The DMV/Registry and car dealerships.

"Would you like to haggle? (Y/N)"
"N"

Most DMVs have online systems. Licenses and registration unless you have a problem should be all online now.
 
I don't like kiosks much either, but I'd love to see them in two places. The DMV/Registry ..."

Commifornia would burn itself to the ground if this were to happen....so many people out of work....what's next? Cut school funding? Ruination.
 
News flash, private business is not welfare. No one is entitled to shit, except the fucking tax man. And once he completely destroys the business he doesn't get shit either - and he knows it.

The thing is though that only lesser well off ever seem to have to deal with the consequences of this philosophy. For instance, recently much was made in the news section of this forum of Marissa Mayer's big payday over what was a failure. A poor person fails and can't eat, a rich person fails and eats for a thousand lifetimes.
 
Commifornia would burn itself to the ground if this were to happen....so many people out of work....what's next? Cut school funding? Ruination.

CA like just about every other state has online options to do licensing and registration.
 
I've lived near a McDonalds kiosk testbed location for about 25 years.
They were "pretty good" in '95.

They're faster than waiting in a cashier line. Indeed. unless it's a lunch rush, they have only one person loitering around a register to handle technophobes. Everyone else is either going full-bore on prep or handling the drive-thru.

And the CURRENT interface standard is all-but-idiot proof. For 99.99% of the menu you can have your food selected, customized and ordered in about a minute, maybe two if you have an extremely precise set of options in your order.
About the only place where it falls down are "deep menu" special order items. And for that you're really better off going to the "meatsack kiosk" anyhow.

The kiosks can run almost 24x7 (small maintenance windows), don't take breaks, don't claim employee meals, don't get sick, don't get pregnant, don't go on vacation, etc.

If it's a choice between adding a kiosk, or adding an employee (full or part time) at $15/hour, the kiosk is simply more economical.

And don't think they're not working on food prep and distribution robots too.

Unskilled labor is only of value when it's cheap. If it isn't cheap, automation beats it hollow every time.
 
2 Those things are actually slower than the cashier. They're either asking you to re-scan, or not registering when you've placed the item in the 'bagging area', or you've bought something that can't realistically be scanned by the machine. Waiting in line for those is waiting for some schmuck to battle through the process, holding up everyone else, until it's then your turn to be the schmuck who's holding everyone up. No thanks.

Here, here. Can't stand going into walmart for a few things (anywhere from 2100-0900), see employees standing around everywhere (some working) and only those god forsaken, temperamental security bumbling machines that have to have you checking out and placing each item exactly how they require or be cursed with constant messages and delays about what is or is not in the bagging area. Also, since so many items (like paint) need to be "approved" for sale to an age limit, you just end up waiting on that one person to come around and punch in the clearance code anyway, something a regular cashier would do as they scan it.
Corporate and government will always tell you the changes are in your best interest, giving you whatever BS excuse they can, but that never turns out to be the actual case. WM has become much, much more inefficient and an unpleasant shopping experience, and I haven't seen the cheaper prices after a decade of it now.

Amazon will be delivering fast-food within the next two years. Mark my words.

The ride sharing companies already do.

Once again, Idiocracy accurately predicted the future...

Incredibly sad that something called "Idiocacy" is coming true.

At $15/hr, a restaurant operating 12hrs would have labor cost of $180 per day per cashier position. Add in employer matching FICA/Medicare tax/workerscomp/overhead, and you're looking at labor cost of $225 per position per day. That's an astounding $82,000 yearly. Guarantee those kiosks cost a small fraction of that.

To guarantee implies you know the facts, I'm doubting that to be the case. We'll see what is cheaper as this hacking world rolls on strong, can't wait for those kiosk articles.

I prefer self checkout to the random how shitty will the teenager or old person be today lottery. I'm faster and can ensure things go into appropriate bags.

What happens when those shitty teenagers and slow old people are at the self checkouts in front of you, when that is the only choice, they will be.
 
Any job where the human is not adding value of some sort is a likely target for process automation once the technology is available,
The current workers add value though. McD's and other employers are currently making money just fine. Even with $15/hr min. wage they can make money if they raise prices a bit.

The root of the issue is that automation is so much cheaper that much of human labor cannot, or eventually will not be able to, compete at all against it.
 
They already started doing this except the "kiosk" is called an "app."

"Our CEO, Steve Easterbrook, has said on many occasions that self-order kiosks in McDonald's restaurants are not a labor replacement. They provide an opportunity to transition back-of-the-house positions to more customer service roles such as concierges and table service where they are able to truly engage with guests and enhance the dining experience."

That is just as delusional as trickle-down economics. People will lose jobs and the CEO will make more money . Why do they bother bullshitting about it? They speak as though somehow greed has been eliminated.

Politics aside...

Who the hell wants to "engage" with teenagers that have social skills attained from social media anyway? I'd rather engage with a robot. Then again, by the time robots that can have conversations are commonplace, they'll be programmed to be sarcastic assholes too (so the customers can relate to them). Luckily I'll be too old to be able to physically handle fast food by then.
 
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