Coffee break – when did the machines win?
Since I enjoyed my recent mobile blogging experience at the Borders in Montgomeryville, PA, I decided to give it another go this morning. No free Apple Pie samples yet but one can always dream, right? I walked in the door and followed my standard routine: keep the backpack on, use the facilities so I don’t have to leave Samantha unattended later, and order coffee. From there, I settle down at my mobile workspace until either the coffee or the UMPC batteries are gone; it’s usually pretty even since I’m a sipper, not a guzzler.
Unfortunately, my routine was broken today thanks to the machines. Clearly, they’ve won and The Matrix is a not too distant future. Step three, the coffee ordering, went as planned, but sub-step 3A, pay for the order, became a nightmare. A total disruption to the routine. My coffee cost me $4.14 after tax so I handed a five-spot to the young lady behind the counter. I gathered she was relatively new since she had to look up the ‘code’ for my coffee. Apparently the machines have decided that English is no longer acceptable. I can live with that, but not with what happened next. Instead of $0.86 change, I received $0.86 in change and three single dollar bills. HUH?!?
Being the kind of person I am, I kindly pointed out the mistake and that’s when it all began. For five minutes, we debated how much change I was supposed to get and why? Because the register said I should get back $3.86 for no good reason. Oh, we agreed the register was wrong, but that’s about all we agreed on. "If that’s what the register says, than that’s what I have to do." Hey, whatever; I tried. Now I have a much cheaper coffee that was overpriced to begin with, not to mention a new respect for our new masters. My advice: take the blue pill because it’s just what Cypher said: "ignorance is bliss."
Free coffee is better, and computers cannot by definition make a mistake.
> Apparently the machines have decided that English is no longer acceptable.
I don’t think I have ever seen a register where the clerk would type in the article’s name in English. Are you imagining an Amazon-style product search?
Many POS registers have buttons for each available item, each button labeled in regular language. This is especially true when the number of items is limited, such as a coffee stop. Looking at the menu here, I count about 30 possible items. That’s what I was referring to.
The 8 key is one off from the 5 key on just about any POS keypad. I’d wager that she fat-fingered the input, and just didn’t catch it.
> any POS registers have buttons for each available item, each button labeled in regular language.
Doh!
Seems I shouldn’t be commenting on your coffee break posts before I have had my own coffee break
Yeah, I go through this all the time. What’s so friggin’ hard about ringing up a solo half-whip, double-blended, venti soy mocha frap with extra caramel? It’s not rocket science.