It's already happening... Several restaurant chains have already released fully automated restaurants in Asia ("where it's more socially acceptable"), but apparently it's coming here too. Wendy's is said to be rolling out self-service kiosks that're supposed to help offset costs.
Basically... it appears that humans are going to be too expensive to hire very soon. That's just self-service kiosks, but imagine if you were able to get your food for half-price (aka the same price before the $15/hr wage hike)? Which restaurant would you go to, really?
Do you think Wendy's is going to pass the savings along to consumers? That aside, I think the answer is still going to be, "I'd go to somewhere that isn't Wendy's or McDonald's, or some other fast food franchise."
The whole "robots cooking" thing is a lot easier to manage when "cooking" is essentially rote assembly of identical, pre-made products. That's also why the food is disgusting.
You think? That assumes that consumers of fast food only look at the lowest price point, which conflicts with why Wendy's exists in the first place. It is however why every one of that type of chain has a "dollar menu".
Their usual MO though isn't to pass savings alone, and they've never lacked for competition.
>That assumes that consumers of fast food only look at the lowest price point
No, it assumes that price is one of the things consumers look at. It's always in the seller's interest to try to move the focus to something else, but... If Wendy's has a dollar menu on their burger vending machine, and McDonald has a dime menu, Wendy's will lose the more price conscious customers.
They already have lost the more price conscious consumer, and that's fine for them. You're not seeing the spread of more expensive places like Five Guys, In 'N Out, etc because price is king anymore. McDonald's can try an (realistically) $.89 menu I guess, but people seem willing to shell out a few more cents for the marketed illusion of quality.
Back in 2002, Star Trek Nemesis was released in New Zealand. It had already been out in the rest of the world, the "see it again" campaign had been run, and DVD releases had hit the shelves everywhere else.
But not in New Zealand. My friend there told me that he had been waiting to see it for months, then waited two weeks after its release ("to avoid the crowds") before going in to see it. His words:
"I went in there on the second Thursday after opening day, clutching my twenty dollar note, and stopped to look at the billboard to find out what time it was next going to run. It wasn't. It had been whisked off the screens before two weeks were up."
This particular film was apparently the catalyst of a massive lobbying campaign for their government to ban commercial imports of international DVDs within six months of the release date of a film, because that (and piracy) were the reasons people hadn't flocked to the cinema to see it and other films.
> Do you think Wendy's is going to pass the savings along to consumers?
I picked up a watermelon from my local farmer's market this weekend. It was about the size of a bowling ball and was $6. I went to Kroger and found watermelons 3x the size, shipped from across the planet, for $5. "Normal" operations are quickly becoming luxuries. Seriously, there's no reason for me to ever buy from a local farmer except to make myself feel wealthy.
Likewise...
It's going to be more like a survival mechanism or a "staying relevant" rather than a "hey suddenly I can sell you a burger for $0.82."
I can't wait. Fast food restaurants with the order terminal flipped around so I can put my order in correctly, the first time around, without waiting for ten minutes for somebody else to get around to serving me, sounds like nirvana.
I'm in these places to get some food and get out in a hurry. Streamlining that process is all good.
Basically... it appears that humans are going to be too expensive to hire very soon. That's just self-service kiosks, but imagine if you were able to get your food for half-price (aka the same price before the $15/hr wage hike)? Which restaurant would you go to, really?
http://www.businessinsider.com/wendys-workers-will-lose-jobs...