since you are not inconveniencing the waiter and impacting his tips from the next customer. The restaurant will end up seating fewer customers and make much less money. Plus, can you flirt with the robotic wait staff? Pass.

This is one area where automation is self-defeating.

people will be obsolete.

but who repairs those robots that repair the robots? More robots?

will no longer be possible.

I bet WalMart is busily trying to figure out how to use robots or machinery to stock their shelves. Do they have self-checkout lanes as do so many grocery stores? I never shop there, so I need to ask. Anyway, if they don't, it's just a matter of time.

but one that's about an hour or so away does

honestly, I prefer the self-check out at Wally world because some of the cashiers at my local one are horrible but you get what you pay for and we all know Wally world doesn't pay much

I now live in Santa Fe, and one of the chains here, Albertson's, has done away with the self-checkout lines. I'm noticing that it takes less time to check out now that it's all real humans doing the job. But it's still far from perfect.

When I lived in Overland Park, KS, the local HyVee had an excellent policy of calling more cashiers to the front any time there were more than two people in line. I loved it. The only down side was that I never got to read the wonderfully trashy check-out tabloids while waiting in line. But the up side was fantastic. I got so I really hated going to any other chain, because invariably it would take much longer to check out.

And yes, you do get what you pay for.

The photo of the hamburger at the link looked like the bun was burnt black. Yuk. Who controls the overcooking feature?

The more they try to take people out of food prep the worse the food tastes. For example, which tastes better a homemade loaf of bread or one made by industrial machines boughten at the grocery store?

Someone not only has to load the food into the machine but it has to be taken apart and cleaned regularly to keep the particles of food left behind from turning rancid and being added to the next hamburger. And what about pest control and clogged equipment?

They may save in cooks and handlers but have to pay more in loading food into the machine, cleaning/disinfecting and equipment maintenance. And that lettuce in the tube ready to be shoot out onto the burnt bun was already chopped up. Who did that?

McD's or Burger King. Not the same one that is presented in previous pics. Different bun (last one has sesame seeds, the others aren't, looks like poppy seeds). The last one looks realistic, the others look plastic. If you stack a bun like that it WILL fall over, unless there is something there to hold it up (glue?)Nope, wouldn't eat it!

This machine probably costs a million dollars. A 72" flat grill is under $10,000. The tradeoff isn't there.

they're called "Luby's."