Technology is becoming more and more a part of our lives, and this kind of change which has been increasing in recent years can often make people a little worried about whether this effect is negative, especially when it comes to major social events like eating in restaurants. Here’s a look at whether technology in restaurants has a pro-social or antisocial effect on culture, overall.
Socializing with Others
While it might be true that individual smartphones and tablets can reduce the amount of quality socializing that’s happening in restaurants, these distractions have nearly always been there in one form or another. It’s not like people had no options for avoiding talking to others at restaurants, in trains, or anywhere else, really, should they be determined enough. They could read newspapers, books, or whatever else.
Just like then, the key is to just have rules that if you’re going to socialize at a restaurant that you don’t let technology become a distraction. It just needs to be something that everyone agrees to, in general. But, the truth is that technology in restaurants can also be a great boon for socializing as well.
For example, tech that makes it easier to pay your bill quicker will give you back ten minutes or more of the socializing experience. It can also make the situation less tense. Additionally, when it comes to other types of tech, like tablets and other mobile devices, it can also sometimes be the case that these devices actually help with being social. After all, you can download photos instantly and share them with the entire group or with your family. The same is true of any news that you read from others.
In the end, it’s all about how the tech is used. And, of course, a tech-friendly restaurant is also going to be positive for owners, managers, wait-staff and everyone else involved if it brings more people in that have a more social and thus more positive experience. In other words, when tech is used the right way in a restaurant, everyone wins.
Customization
Another important thing to note about technology and restaurants is that the right kind of technology can help you customize your experience more than you would be able to otherwise. You can choose how to pay, for example, in a way that would be more difficult without it. You can choose to use a kiosk to pay with all of the extra options that this entails. It’s also often possible to order food from such a kiosk directly so that you don’t have to wait on the staff.
Again, this helps to alleviate stress throughout the entire establishment and it’s also something that makes life easier for the people going to the restaurant at all. It can be a way to make socializing easier in the establishment too since there will be less arguing over who has to flag down a waiter, and who wants to order what, since everything can just be done directly through the kiosk.
It’s likely going to be the case that this technology only improves over time, and you’ll be able to customize the experience in all sorts of ways that are impossible now. In general, it’s harder to get an experience that’s better suited to interacting with friends, family, coworkers, and others, than one that you can completely control every aspect of yourself.
Speed and Convenience
It can definitely be said that the part of the meal where everyone pays is the most socially awkward and time-consuming. It often requires a lot of logistical unpleasantness too, as everyone haggles over how to split things, and then everyone had to wait for the staff to come over.
All of this can be much better streamlined if some kind of tech is employed to help. This can be either with a device put on the table, or with an app on your phone. With the technology that is used by most people’s phones these days, apps such as these are becoming more and more popular.
Everything can be done seamlessly this way, including naturally splitting thins, suggesting tips, and every other conceivable part of the process. This way, arguments are kept to a minimum and everything can be done more logically and with less contention using this type of technological process.
You’d be surprised how quickly this can improve the social experience since worrying about the bill can be such an unpleasant piece of what happens at restaurants. This approach cuts it all off before it even has a chance to ruin an evening. It can even help throughout for those who always have this at the back of their head since it will be clear that it’s taken care of ahead of time.
It’s even possible for some apps to just make it so that everything is charged automatically as soon as you sit down to the table, often simply by informing someone at the restaurant of your name and making sure all the credit card data is connected into the automatic system properly.
The Bottom Line
Technology is more of an amplifier of what people do anyway than it is absolutely good or bad in any given situation. There’s no need for it to get out of hand at all, and it can make it way easier to talk to people just as easily as it can do the opposite and let people put up walls. It’s all about what they want to do.
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