Sometime in between now and becoming Emperor of the Americas (something I will detail at a later date) I want to start a cafe. Not just any cafe, but a robotic cafe. Food prepared by a robotic assembly line. Yes, that would be just as awesome as it sounds.
The title of this post — Consistency vs. Customization — comes from a thought I had today. McDonalds, or any other fast food franchise, is an excellent example of consistency. No matter where you go, a happy meal is going to be a happy meal: 97% identical to any other (and yes, I pulled that statistic out of my ass). But say you want mayonnaise instead of ketchup, or pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar? Tough luck.
A local cafe that I love — Cafe 103 — is the perfect example of customization. They have a menu, but nothing is set in stone. If they have the ingredients, they will make it for you. My usual order is for a Strawberry smoothie spiked with grape zip-fizz, soy milk instead of regular (because I’m kinda lactose intolerant) lightly blended so its so thick I have to eat it with a spoon. And no whip cream. My cheese burger is pretty normal, with the exception of pepper jack cheese. That, my friends, is what you get when you live by the motto “The customer is always right.”
Of course, this customization has a downside: very little consistency. I don’t know how many ways there are to fry a burger or mix a smoothie, but I think I’ve nearly collected the entire set.
Enter, stage left: machine precision. You walk in; you go to a touchscreen. You select you basic meal, then customize it to your heart’s content. The interface would be very friendly and easy to use, while still offering fine grained control. It would also show you a live calorie count and other nutritional information. Then, after you’re done, you can could save your design so that the next time you came in your perfect meal would be just a few button presses away.
Once you submit your order, the robots would get to work: frying, slicing, dicing, shredding, blending, baking, pouring soda pop. This would all take place under clear glass, so you could watch your food move down the line.
I would make millions, I’m sure.
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