
McDonald’s New Big Mac ATM Requires Zero Human Interaction - ghosh
http://www.eater.com/2017/1/26/14400334/big-mac-atm-mcdonalds
======
sctb
Some recent discussions:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13494426](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13494426)
and
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13514997](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13514997).

------
joezydeco
Bad headline. Right there in the article:

 _“The burgers are cooked on-site at [a nearby] McDonald’s and then
immediately loaded into the heated machine, which is refilled on an ongoing
basis to ensure fresh quality,”_

It's just spitting out preboxed items like any other vending machine. Humans
are still involved.

~~~
blacksmith_tb
I assume by "human interaction" they meant that customers don't hand money to
a human, not that no humans were involved at any stage in the process.

~~~
joezydeco
Yet we don't see daily headlines declaring "Coca-Cola machine sells cans of
soda to humans without interaction".

I'll stand by the premise that this is clickbait, centered around a marketing
event from McDonald's, loosely gathered on paranoia about replacing fast-food
workers with robots.

------
quineoa
For the "humans are still involved" comments, maybe the article is referring
to the fact that these machines allow you to purchase a big mac without having
to talk to a human.

In this situation, the experience of a fast-food purchase is being removed of
the small talk, the smiles, the "have a nice day!". And now there are people
behind a curtain that you don't see or interact with.

~~~
brandon272
> In this situation, the experience of a fast-food purchase is being removed
> of the small talk, the smiles, the "have a nice day!".

I think I'm visiting different fast food restaurants. My experience typically
involves a challenging conversation through a low quality speaker system and
then paying for the order with someone who can barely stand to look at me,
much less tell me to have a nice day!

~~~
LanceH
I'm always annoyed by the screen they have at the drive-thru that was supposed
to confirm your order, but now only shows ads.

~~~
r00fus
Not that case for a local (SV) Taco Bell, at least. Good ol' list of
items/prices and voice works well I guess, unless you love gimmicks.

