Quit supporting this monster.

I worked in the Retail Grocery Sector for over 4 decades and saw automation of one sort or another chip away at the workforce. Bar codes replaced marking each item, spray misters in Produce replaced icing and watering the green rack, ordering machines that could be carried in one's hand replaced paper and pencil order books, pre-made pallet size displays replaced building the same displays out of product in cases, computers and downloaded invoices replaced paper ones and numerous back office accounting jobs. U-Scan checkouts replaced numerous individual check stands each with an operator and bagger.

Self driving trucks will soon bring deliveries to the stores, those deliveries will likely be modular displays which will be moved into place on the sales floor and when empty returned to the distribution center for refilling.

Technology and automation are good, but often job killers and there is no stopping this.

local mall. It's name is Dennis.

and use a fake phone / amazon account for the billing.

etc), I don't want their pre-fab sandwiches or salads. I'll continue to get my lunch at Panera, Subway, local delis, etc.

were and are doing their best to create a world where you can't wipe your ass without buying their product.

Give me humans, not kiosks.

For those old enough to remember the Horn and Hardart Automats. There were tables, a wall of glass and brass boxes where you browsed the selections, put the required amount of money in a slot, opened the door and got your food.

There were actual people in the back, doing the work. And a cashier to ring them up.

Just like everything else, this is going to limit choice. I don't WANT to buy from a cashierless location. I want to see my sandwich being made. I want to talk to people.

And another thing - yes, there are lines at lunch. So fricking what? Does everything have to be instant gratification? So you go out at noon, it's busy, you wait a little longer. If that's a problem, go a little earlier or later.

This drive to eliminate all human interaction is awful. People wonder why we live in silos, the fact that people act as if waiting in a line at lunch and (gasp!) having contact with a human cashier is something to be avoided is not really going to drive us to be a more unified country.

but my memory is that you put your money in a slot to open the door. Of course I was just a kid and that was probably 60 years ago, so my memory might be incorrect.

and then you opened the door and got your food. My experience is a bit more recent than yours, probably 50 years ago or so when I was kid visiting NYC with my parents. We rode the passenger train up - another oldie but goodie experience.

Anyway, I thought the Automat was the coolest thing ever and still do.

But yeah, it’s a valid point.

I know that people made the food in the back, though!!

Coin operated.

They didn't ring up your purchase.

You needed nickels for the machines;
they cashed your bigger coins or dollars for the nickels.

Point is, they had people working there, and the Amazon stores won't. It sounds so dystopian.

There were a couple downtown here in Philly -



I used to go to middle & junior high downtown and would walk by one to get to a Septa bus stop from the train station. By then they were pretty much beginning to go extinct though (early '70s).

I lived in Hartford, CT and took the train to NYC for long weekends.

Had a book "NYC On $45 A Day".
Stayed at the Abbey Victoria for $17 a night.

but the whole concept was starting to go the way of the drive-ups like the Hot Shoppes -



There used to be one just outside of Philly that I remember as a kid and that eventually closed... Although before Micky D's really made any inroads here, we were at Ginos!

Here are two links from your link:

Meet Me at the Automat
Horn & Hardart gave big city Americans a taste of good fast food in its chrome-and-glass restaurants
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/meet-me-at-the-automat-47804151/#DQkK9O4Gh4SsdJU0.99

The Automat May Be Long Gone, But Its Recipes Are in Demand
https://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/the-automat-may-be-long-gone-but-its-recipes-are-in-demand/

they can steamroll the competition. They are in manufacturing, wholesale and retail side of business and should be broken up.

In the manufacturing setting I work in, automation has eliminated most tasks that result in repetitive motion injuries like loading product in shipping boxes stacking boxes on pallets.

Yes, those jobs were eliminated, but we have an entirely new department whose job it is to do maintenance and programming of the robots.

On the Amazon store. I have used it when in Seattle. There are plenty of people employed prepping food and stocking shelves. What you dont have is the cashier and checkout line.

had a cafeteria that was modeled after the Automat. Although the food was prepared by live humans behind the wall, it was purchased from coin-op machines. Also some prepared items like candy bars, soft drinks, etc.


I have no idea if it was cheaper to operate a cafeteria that way, but it was not very convenient for the kids. I involved standing in multiple lines to purchase several items. And everything was wrapped in saran wrap and kept heated and was usually very messy to unwrap and eat. I brought my own food to school and avoided it as much as possible.

Replace job with slaves
Replace job with machines
Replace job with automated machiens

The ever growing effort to replace labor because of labor's costs, not for the benefits of mankind. The hungry wont long stand for this.

Universal Basic Income for everyone.

There's no reason to deny progress, we'll just have to adapt to find new ways of providing for the people.

More automation means less work for the rest of us to have to do. That will leave us more time for leisure.

A win-win for everyone.

...I heard its way cool