QR Codes in Restaurants

Most restaurants these days have a QR code at the table. You can scan it to see the menu; most then take you to a website that allows you to order and pay. Jordan McGillis isn’t a fan of this trend.

 

First, he says, it robs us of the value that some waiters provide:

“(The waiter) interprets the menu, offers personal insight, captures the diners’ attention, and brings the experience to life.”

 

Two, he points out, it leads to the continuation of a trend that was a necessity in the COVID period:

“Already battered by two years of masking, the practice of manners and of ordinary social interaction has been degraded further. For the shy child, the chance to interact maturely with an unknown adult is lost. For the laptop-class adult, a chance to interact with someone from outside of that bubble disappears.”

 

Thirdly, it increases the power of the smartphone even more:

“Ordering each course requires the diner to redirect his attention to the mobile device. The QR service system all but guarantees that the phone will remain at a patron’s fingertips throughout the meal.”

 

All of which is why he laments:

“By accepting the QR system as a new normal, we subject ourselves to the transformative effects of our technologies; we sacrifice intimacy and make ourselves and our companions lonelier.”