

Meet Me at the Automat (2001) - smacktoward
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/meet-me-at-the-automat-47804151/?all&no-ist

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cpach
_”The last Automat closed in New York City in 1991”_

I had no idea they lasted that long. Thank you for sharing this article,
'smacktoward. I’m too tired at the moment so I’ll save it for later reading.
I’ve been fascinated by Automat ever since I saw Edward Hopper’s painting by
the same name[1].

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat_%28painting%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat_%28painting%29)

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timcederman
We have one of them again in the Bay Area, which just opened.
[http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-
living/ci_28753177/eatsa...](http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-
living/ci_28753177/eatsa-san-francisco-automat-restaurant-anti-social)

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jandrese
I wonder how much inflation hurt their business model? Obviously you don't
want people dropping in 100 nickles for a sandwich in 2015, and even quarters
are unwieldy.

I guess today it would just have magstripe readers on every door and you would
swipe your card? They could even collate all of the transactions in a day or
so and charge your card only once.

That said, labor is so cheap that it's hard to imagine how you could come out
ahead with a system like this. Maintenance costs are probably going to be
higher than just hiring a minimum wage disaffected teenager to do the job
instead.

~~~
theoh
Magstripe and even traditional chip-and-pin is being rapidly replaced by
contactless payment (in the UK, for example). It would be quite convenient to
use contactless for each item you were getting in the Automat, but there are
downsides, like the reams of small transactions on your statement, which are
less easy to check and control than the old situation where 5 or 10
transactions a day would be typical.

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strictnein
These still exist to a degree in the Netherlands:

[http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/10/17/the-era-of-
automati...](http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/10/17/the-era-of-automatic-
dining-lives-on-in-amsterdam/)

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lvspiff
In the customization friendly society we live in (remember Burger King makes
it your way) its hard to see how automats would succeed. I know going out with
friends there is rarely an instance where something is ordered exactly how it
is on the menu - substitute this, or take off that, or add on this sauce (I'm
likely in this boat). The Yelp reviews for when those few people didn't get
something their way or "wanted it done differently and they wouldn't
accommodate me" would get so overwhelming I don't blame someone for not
opening one up.

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elsurudo
Really? I don't think you can draw a broad conclusion on just your group of
friends. Also, the nice thing about the automat is that you _do_ customize
your meal by composing it from the individual pieces. I wish I could visit one
these in my lifetime, to be honest.

