I’m not envious of Europe often, but I’m super jealous of this: McDonald’s in Europe is starting to roll out new touchscreen terminals that only accept credit/debit card transactions. This will replace cashiers and cash from the ordering process.
Maybe it’s a little anti-social but I’ve been dreaming about the day where I can mosey through the Golden Arches, not say a word to anyone, tap a few taps and moments later, enjoy the sweet, salty cheesiness of a Big Mac and fries. The new initiative will begin at 1200 McDonald’s outlets in the UK and will ideally speed up the transactions since you’re not relying on an employee to listen to your order, punch in your order, repeat your order and then collect money for your order. On the slight downside, if the touchscreen terminals do well, they’ll eliminate jobs.
A sorta biggish problem for clean freaks: who wants to touch the screen that other people have touched right before they eat? [Financial Times]