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Comments 21

skreidle January 4 2007, 03:30:29 UTC
Machines may be the wave of the future, but I still want a cozy atmosphere and a friendly familiar face behind the counter to bring me back to a particular coffee shop. :)

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apparently "99.999% of people who order no foam are assholes" harriet_m_welsh January 6 2007, 13:38:27 UTC
Yeah, but at Starbucks the button pushers go home and bitch about you and bitch about their coworkers in a LiveJournal Community, all while serving you coffee that is six+ months old.

People order no foam because they are tired of drinking over stretched, scalded, meringuey lattes. But you can't explain that to someone at Starbucks, 'cause they are more interested in "policy" and Starbucks jargon than they are in coffee.

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rudeboy_punker January 4 2007, 03:55:02 UTC
While I want to try the machine espresso I also want to take a bat to it like in Office Space. But only for job security.

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paper_machete January 4 2007, 04:05:13 UTC
Yeah seriously!!

(I think she's hinting.)

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cordelia_sue January 4 2007, 04:44:42 UTC
Could we get robot baristas? That'd be pretty cool, actually.

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lazycloud January 4 2007, 06:04:46 UTC
Do you suppose that a barista using one of those machines would qualify as a cyborg?

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cordelia_sue January 4 2007, 10:15:02 UTC
Only if there were some kind of neural link... which would also be kind of cool.

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cerealkillah January 4 2007, 05:08:27 UTC
do you know what machine he is referring to?

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cerealkillah January 6 2007, 20:44:03 UTC
ballz!

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kehrli January 4 2007, 06:49:18 UTC
Sure, the piano guys in theatres don't have jobs, and we have really awesome stereos - but as far as I know, there's still an organist at Safeco Field.

So... basically just because a machine can do it doesn't mean that everybody is going to want or have one.

The guy is saying that he is right because there's this one profession that he knows about that stopped existing because there was better technology. There are also craptons of technological advances that never caught on because nobody cared.

CAN HIS MILK STEAMING MACHINE MAKE LEAVES ON TOP OF THE MOCHA? OR DRAW A MONKEY IN A TREE? >:|

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hastapeanut January 4 2007, 08:48:50 UTC
Well, not to argue the point of my own expendability, but what he's saying is that with a machine such as this, the milk would be steamed perfectly so that a person with a little training could, in fact, be taught to pour latte art or draw your monkey.

The article is interesting (IMHO) because it really shows a consumer driven trend, and coffee is a unique business in that it is almost entirely dependant upon consumer desire. Staffing, inventory, ordering, all of these things for a cafe are set by the flow of business and volume.

I am not afraid of being replaced though. A machine cannot make you make barnyard noises to get the bathroom key or sing you a song made up about your name.

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kehrli January 4 2007, 11:57:36 UTC
Well, they already have people with almost no training making espresso even without that steamer thing. It's called Starbucks at WWU. :( WORST COFFEE. EVER. (I am still scarred for life ( ... )

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