I'm sorry man, but I completely disagree. I can't believe how dependent people have become on Wi-Fi/3G/EDGE capable devices. They have essentially become a replacement for or a distraction from face-to-face interactions. Restaurants are (usually) supposed to be social environments and if you take yourself out of the present company to "check your e-mail" or "go on facebook", you're sending a bad message to your company: "You're not as interesting as this-guy-who-I've-never-met-before-in-person's status update."
It's very frustrating when people place more importance on incoming text messages and phone calls than the people around them. I don't know how it is now in the US (since I've been living in Europe for the past two years), but it's pretty bad here.
One time I went with a friend to meet up with this group of chicks we knew at a bar and when we showed up, there were 5 girls at the table and 5 cell phones on the table. I was about to tell them "If you're so bored with each other, why not just go home?"
I just want an efficient way of putting my name on a list in a crowded restaurant. Such an App could estimate my wait time, know if I bail and allow me to impatiently check the wait status. With regard to being tracked by an establishment, get accustom to it, that already happens. The information isn't intended to invade privacy. Annoying, but it's used to better serve a customer such as when you buy an item in the market and then receive a recall notice for that item (after you consumed it, of course).
this is "just taking a number" but electronically. Thus paperless and part of that 'better for the environment' talk. Plus it comes with a paging system.
Geez, you're missing the entire point. No, it's NOT the same as taking a number. Taking a paper number out of a dispenser does not in any way relate your visit to you as an individual and track your physical location, repeated visits to a particular store(s), etc.
Just remember, there is virtually no legislation in place to prevent abuse of this kind of data. What constitutes abuse isn't even defined. Eventually, over many years I expect those things will slowly become defined, but until then it's worth considering what the worst-case scenarios look like, because those are what will arise.
I have an appointment at my local Apple Store Genius Bar today, and I just updated the Apple Store app on my iPhone 4. I'll see how this works in a few hours, maybe.
(Need new rubber feet for my 1st-gen unibody MB Pro, but am not too hopeful about getting replacements at the Apple Store...)
Good that the Concierge app has been updated to streamline operations at the Apple Stores (it gets pretty hectic in there).
Expanding it so restaurants can use it to track wait times is cool, but really, aren't you going for dinner for some R&R and to detach? Shut the phone off and have a good dinner.
PS. Any reason why the Apple Store app isn't available on the Canadian app store?
Comments
I'm sorry man, but I completely disagree. I can't believe how dependent people have become on Wi-Fi/3G/EDGE capable devices. They have essentially become a replacement for or a distraction from face-to-face interactions. Restaurants are (usually) supposed to be social environments and if you take yourself out of the present company to "check your e-mail" or "go on facebook", you're sending a bad message to your company: "You're not as interesting as this-guy-who-I've-never-met-before-in-person's status update."
It's very frustrating when people place more importance on incoming text messages and phone calls than the people around them. I don't know how it is now in the US (since I've been living in Europe for the past two years), but it's pretty bad here.
One time I went with a friend to meet up with this group of chicks we knew at a bar and when we showed up, there were 5 girls at the table and 5 cell phones on the table. I was about to tell them "If you're so bored with each other, why not just go home?"
I just want an efficient way of putting my name on a list in a crowded restaurant. Such an App could estimate my wait time, know if I bail and allow me to impatiently check the wait status. With regard to being tracked by an establishment, get accustom to it, that already happens. The information isn't intended to invade privacy. Annoying, but it's used to better serve a customer such as when you buy an item in the market and then receive a recall notice for that item (after you consumed it, of course).
What's wrong with just taking a number?
this is "just taking a number" but electronically. Thus paperless and part of that 'better for the environment' talk. Plus it comes with a paging system.
Geez, you're missing the entire point. No, it's NOT the same as taking a number. Taking a paper number out of a dispenser does not in any way relate your visit to you as an individual and track your physical location, repeated visits to a particular store(s), etc.
Just remember, there is virtually no legislation in place to prevent abuse of this kind of data. What constitutes abuse isn't even defined. Eventually, over many years I expect those things will slowly become defined, but until then it's worth considering what the worst-case scenarios look like, because those are what will arise.
(Need new rubber feet for my 1st-gen unibody MB Pro, but am not too hopeful about getting replacements at the Apple Store...)
Expanding it so restaurants can use it to track wait times is cool, but really, aren't you going for dinner for some R&R and to detach? Shut the phone off and have a good dinner.
PS. Any reason why the Apple Store app isn't available on the Canadian app store?
Apple has been using Concierge since 2007. This is not new.
It was fine as a web page. Why does it have to be one more thing to download?