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Apple Patents 'Buy Stuff Wirelessly, Skip Lines' Tech
An anonymous reader writes "Apple is looking to patent a process that will save customers the hassle of waiting to order a cup of coffee at a local Starbucks. Even better: The technology would let you jump the line of those ordering in person. 'Customers might tap a button to order their favorite drink, say a double-shot mocha, as they stroll up to the nearest coffee shop. When the drink is ready go to, the device--such as an iPhone--would chime or blink to let the thirsty one know it's time to scoop up the order at the counter. The patent puts Apple's partnership with Starbucks in a new light. The technology promises to morph Apple from the business of simply selling gadgets and music and movies that can be played on those devices into an intermediary in all kinds of exchanges.'"
I think this is an obvious patent. Wish I would have decided to be a lawyer instead of a technical person. My retirement would be much better.
I haven't read the whole patent, and I don't intend to do so. I'm sure there is some very specific crap in there to somehow make this 'different' and 'patentable'. But the truth of the matter is that patenting the process is asinine. I buy pizza this way all the time and have been doing so for a while. I order it and pay online. I walk in, give my name and get my order. I don't wait in line.
I may have to stop reading any story dealing with patents because the whole thing has just gone completely beyond insane. The only upside I can see is that I could start going to starbucks with a pda in hand, wait to see some tasty drink put out for pickup and snag it before the rightful owner. Free drinks.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I mean honestly, how different is this to dialing ahead with your order from a cell phone? That uses wireless technology to skip queues & waiting too.
Well done Apple - patent innovation the Microsoft/Amazon way!
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
You can already buy video from the iTunes store so why not an over priced cup of coffee?
Now if Apple can just get a GPS into the next iPhone it will be complete.
You tap the starbucks icon and it finds the nearest Starbucks. You then get a menu select what you want and then you are good to go.
You then get a text message when it is done.
Could work for just about any restaurant. My cell phone already searches for gas by price and then can give me turn by turn directions to the station.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
This idea has been explored in Science fiction a lot, I remember one outer limits where the people considered others of their social group "retarded" for not being able to order ahead electronically.
Also, don't the Japanese already do this with their cell phone technology? Does Japanese prior art count?
If you don't vote, you don't matter, so don't waste your time telling me your opinion
Hmmm I go to their website, buy a ticket. Then when I get to the movie theater I go to the "Fandango Only" line, bypassing the other people, get my tickets and go in.
I love Apple and their products (I have 2 Macs and an iPod), but this is ridiculous. I can't believe the patent system allows this. Who are these people in charge of granting patents who get suckered into thinking this is a unique, tangible product? Patents are for recuperating costs (among other uses), where are Apple's costs in developing this idea?
-> Sometimes, you just gotta break free from the shackles of proprietary code.
There is a local 24 hour diner that I sometimes eat at late at night. Generally from 2:00 AM onwards, there is a huge drunk crowd. I place my order over the phone so that when I get there I don't have to wait in line to order. Sometimes, if there is a long line and I didn't expect one, I call from my table to place my order. When my order is ready, the wait staff yells out my name, wirelessly no less, to notify me that my order is ready.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
As a minimalist, I make my own coffee. So, I would like my coffee maker to send a text message to my cell phone.
YCIR, lolz!@11!
FAQs are evil.
There's one problem though. If customers did it that way then they wouldn't get to act like a douche at the counter about the staff getting their 10 word drink correct nor would they get to feel all special ordering a 10 word drink out loud. One of my college teachers used to work at a Starbucks and trust me he said, "People really are like that. Every one of them." They don't want convenience and speed, they wanna walk in and act like the most self important dick in the world and pretend they're rich by spending like $8 on a coffee. If you take that away, they'll stop coming!
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
In the given example if I was in line at this Starbucks of the future and some trendy yob talking on a phone walks in the door gets his mocha and leaves while I am standing there waiting for someone to take my order I would probably fight off the urge to pop someone in the nose and just walk out the door to a smaller mom an pop type place where I can still get some personal service.
Bear in mind that I am techie and that is how I would react, imagine what your dad would do.
I can see this for ordering a pizza, but you know you can already do that with most of the major vendors. What exactly IS new about this?
(/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
yes, and then you can be signed up for an automatic $10/month charge for an "advantage" program you'd never know about unless you carefully cheacked your statements, and for which they won't return the money without legal threats/involvement.
all I have to do now is wait for the phone to tell me that the coffee is ready, as long it's all high tech stuff I'm happy to wait. God forbid I have to talk to or socialize with the people in line, Starbucks employees, or friends.
This isn't anything ground breaking. Many resturants that I go to with long lines will give customers a small device (similar to a pager) that notifies them when they are first in line (or a table is ready for them). This patent seems to take that idea one step further by allowing you to order and then notifying you when it is ready to pick up. It's similar to what somebody else pointed out: that they have been ordering pizzas online for a long time and stroll in to pick them up whenever they want.
"During My Service In The United States Congress, I Took The Initiative In Creating The Internet." -Al Gore
This is obvious, let me count the ways.
In the 1980s, I could walk up to an ATM machine, tap a few buttons, and order airline tickets. This put me ahead of the people standing in line at the ticket counter.
Today, I can walk up to a kiosk and order movie tickets, which puts me ahead of those waiting in line.
Decades ago, I could call a restaurant and reserve a table, putting me ahead of those who were in line to tell the waiter that they needed a table.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Jumping Beans?
THIS patent gives the BEAN COUNTERS something to do with their COUNTER TOPS. AND, to boot, they get to SELL cookies while COUNTING and tracking cookies.
Gives a new meaning to "mad dash" for the coffee.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
This is only one of possibly dozens of pre-existing patents. How about the Shell Gas Station rfid? That's been around for a least three to five million years! Just One Patent.
Your patent application has been denied due to prior art on the part of your mom.
I've seen the waiters at TK Noodle doing this for years now. Remote keypad system for taking and making orders.
Unless they're patenting the "skipping ahead of line" part...
Winged Power Photography
This seems to contrast with McDonald's, where the bottleneck is taking the orders (too many people don't start trying to decide what they want until they step up to the counter). As a result, here in Vancouver, Canada, lots of McDonalds have staff with wireless PDAs, wandering down the queues taking orders. When you get to the till all you have to do is pay and pick up your oder. They also wander down the queue at the drive through doing the same thing.
So on your mobile phone you could have the following scenario.
...
1. Please select if you want tea/coffee?
2. Do you want that in regular / half-caf / decaf?
3. You you want milk/extra cream with that?
4. Do you want more than one of the same drink?
5. Do you want to add other drinks to the order...
6.
We're sorry, your phone experienced a buffer overflow with the order number, get to a web browser on iamlazy.pointlessuseoftechnology.com and type the unique order number 659876543649746549876531 and it will be ready for you in store. Have a nice day.
Take Nobody's Word For It.
Although it's not *exactly* as Apple described, WaWa (world's most amazing convenience store/deli chain on the east coast) has had something similar for taking deli orders for a few years. You can't pay with it (although the capability has reportedly been there for some time), but it does take care of the rest of the ordering process.
WaWa's system isn't particularly novel, but then again, neither is Apple's (which also doesn't deal particularly well with theft).
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Lysdexia??
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
I can't speak for the rest of the human race.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I can't wait to see a fight break out because someone has been waiting in line for 15 minutes and Mr. iphone walks in and gets served.
That being said, how about they get this to work for fastpass and other services at Disneyland.
How many minutes before someone registered pointlessuseoftechnology.com and redirects iamlazy.pointlessuseoftechnology.com to the local coffee-house?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
My local PC shop has been doing a similar thing for a couple of years. Sorry Apple: Your Patent Troll fails, but I'm sure Cleetus at the USPTO has already issued your patent.
But... I love flirting with the staff at Starbucks. I certainly don't go for the coffee D:
1995 called...and wanted to remind Apple what happened the last time they got away from their core business of making computers and operating system software.
It's a common downfall. Corporation X makes money doing something well, but either gets greedy, or starts to saturate the market...and looks elsewhere for revenue. Corporation X starts to spread to thin, outside its 'comfort zone', and abuses the trust consumers placed in the brand name. The brand name devalues. Company X finds itself competing against an upstart that is focused, and because its brand name has devalued, its high-margin items aren't selling.
If you want to see a great example of this, look at Nintendo: despite the might of Microsoft, the Xbox 360 isn't what people are desperate to get their hands on, and the Wii isn't having problems with its online service. Nintendo is making money hand over fist on the Wii, and Microsoft just lost almost TWO BILLION DOLLARS on the Xbox division. Meanwhile, Vista is an absolute disaster, and the world is gunning for Office.
I look at Apple and see warning signs too. Leopard's release *stunk*. There were the simplest bugs; they still haven't fixed an issue that causes the hard drive controller to lock up, and it took weeks for the fix to the "everything gets deleted if a file move to another volume fails" bug. The finder navigation related to file server volumes absolutely SUCKS, and frankly- the rest of the hundred-plus features are nothing but glitz, or grossly overdue (like workgroup calendaring.) About the only thing that was improved was Spotlight...
Please help metamoderate.
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
If the Apple stores (real ones, like on the street) are any reference point, this point of sale system will be a piece of shit (thus finally unifying the POS acronym). I have never gotten through the register line in less than 10 minutes, even when there's only one person ahead of me. Then just try paying cash in an Apple store, and watch what happens--only one worker among them can do a cash transaction, and she's tied up on someone else's transactino.
Remain calm! All is well!
I can buy an overpriced cup of coffee with my overpriced phone. What a deal!
Note: I've played with an iPhone, it's cool, too bad it costs so much.
Zonk, for the love of Pete Townsend, please stop using hyphens in lieu of commas or parentheses! It is - without a doubt - highly annoying!
(And I realize that the summaries are usually written by the submitters, but this makes two in a row with the same mind-crushing usage)
good thing the tagging system only allows screened, registered users to post.
we stopped all that hot grits nonsense, but i guess calling people a homophobic slur is ok.
You're scooping their products and services up at ever growing rates. Ranting about anything Apple does is like ranting about the Government; if you just bitch and aren't willing to follow through with action(i.e. stop using their products) then it's just a bunch of hot air.
Their stock just hit $200/share for the first time...the do not CARE what any of you think about their practices.
Shit
Yes.. Everyone is saying practically the same thing here, but I've ordered items from the browser on my cell phone at Best Buy and Circuit City while standing at the Customer Service counter because the idiot managers refused to order their online prices... Minutes later my order was pulled and I got, imagine this, notification on my phone via email that my order was ready. Highly innovative there Apple.
where they do it from an iPhone. So they still get to act like a rich self important dick.
This is the difference in how Apple thinks vs how Microsoft thinks.
Microsoft's solution to this problem - Microsoft Surface - is to say here's a huge, $10,000 table that customers can order from; replace all your diner's tables with Microsoft tables.
Apple says, hey, wait a second, you don't need some huge, stupid table that has the very best interior design aesthetic Microsoft can offer, no, since everyone already carries a cell phone, why don't we just let you order and pay from your cell phone too?
Now which company do you think is the wiser long term investment?
I think Microsoft's surface PC already does this.. although in a slightly different way.. but the idea is same... just give the order without waiting in line and while sitting at your table.
http://waitinginlinesucks.com/
But hey, we Westerners are so much above all that. So, instead of wasting something that anyone can grow, we can use an obsolete-when-you-buy-it consumer electronic doodad to buy a cup of coffee (often lousy). Wow!
If you want to read the actual 64 claims, check out the Patent.
I'm all for patent outrage, but this one isn't a good example, unless you're against all IP protection, everywhere.
Apple is already doing this in at least some of the bricks & mortar apple stores.
There are people walking around the store with some kind of portable scanner. They scan your purchase, swipe your credit card, and e-mail you a receipt. You only have to wait in line if you are paying cash.
I call PRIOR ARt... check out how they do it in Finnland (via SMS)... text the number of the (coke machine | coffee bar | bus route) and get your (soda | receipt for hot beverage | bus pass)...
http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=42626
- Ubique, Tom Termini www.bluedog.net - WebObjects / J2EE SOA / iPhone solutions for knowledge workers
Fandango is also terribly expensive for what it is. I guess life is pretty easy when your only competition is Ticketmaster.
About the only difference between this and existing schemes that I can see is that it's using a point to point connection between the Starbucks kit and the iPhone, instead of going off to some webserver off in the Internet.
jumps in front of me when I'm queueing, their iPod will be docked where the sun don't shine!
I can see it now. Two twits in the Silicon Valley at a Starbucks, both named Steve. One of them claims that the venti, half skim, half soy, extra hot latte with a shot is his because the girl at the counter announced it is for Steve. The other guy claims it his because his iPhone buzzed. Much hillarity ensues and in the end, the guy with his Treo running Windows Mobile OS gets his tall drip coffee first because well, he did it the old fashioned way because Windows Mobile wasn't Starbucks compatible.
Last time Apple "got away from their core business of making computers and operating system software" they invented the friggin' iPhone - maybe you've heard of it? Or did you miss the announcement because your iPod was too loud? (iPod being the time before last that they "got away from their blah blah blah".
Seriously - AAPL is at $200, and Apple marketshare is growing, precisely because of this kind of lifestyle stuff.
The first guy with an iPhone who jumps ahead of me at Starbucks might just get some coffee spilled on his shirt. Orders should be taken first come, first served, period. If someone gives iPhone users an advantage, I'll go elsewhere.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
This sounds a lot like those electronic wireless coasters that restaurants have been using for years. You're re-purposing a general-purpose device (a phone) to do what the special-purpose device (the coaster) already does.
Usually the coasters are used to buzz you at the bar or wherever, to let you know your table is ready. I've also seen them used after you've paid to let you know your food has been prepared. All they're doing is replacing the register with a web site, and programming the coaster functionality into a phone.
I'm inclined to file this with "one-click".
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
The difference between the U.S. patent system and most patent systems of other countries is that the U.S. patent system is based around the idea of "First to invent" rather than "First to patent." Its like awarding the first post to the first person who thinks about posting rather than the first person who actually submits a post. The advantage of this system is that it prevents the "Lobachevsky"(1) issue by providing a way to get rid of bogus patents by proving prior art. Thus, all I would have to do to get awarded first post is prove that I was the first to think up/to [a] post. 1: From a Tom Lehrer song; Google "I have a friend in Minsk"
But before Starbucks brought the masses to coffee. Working there you get accustomed to specialized drinks and I actually became too embarrassed to ask for the drink I would drink. When cappuccinos hit Hollywood is when I finally just gave up and started drinking coffee or tea. It's embarrassing when the drink you want contains 5 or more words in the name. But it's ridiculous when you see people ordering them from chain that would be lucky to make a simple pot of coffee.
Quack, quack.
apple's trying to take over the world....
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I have a better idea. When I first stared reading the summary, this is what came to mind and now I'm sorely disappointed in TFA : /
:P
So, you're on the bus/plane/sub or elsewhere with your iPhone or iPod Touch and you pick up another i* device nearby with some sweet tunes that you'd like to have. Why not let you listen to it, like iTunes and other computers in your subnet, but then allow you to purchase the track and download it via wifi to your iPhone/Touch?
Oh, and Apple, this is patent pending
And it is nearly as ominous as another recent Apple patent application. "Trusted Computing" is back? You'd better believe it.
when clicking on the link to read the story i was redirected to an ad page. no problem. at least no problem until i seen how forbes worded it: click here to skip our welcome screen.
yip, that's the image of the future that i'm talking about. in order to pay the heating bill for mcdonalds you're going to have to pause at the door to see an advert screened on it before you can go in.
it's going to be great!
needless to say, i didn't bother going further into forbes.com. i won't be going back.
This is simply insurance and has little to do with patenting something new. The patent office occasionally grants marginal and outright flaky patents, and will continue to do so even if the current process is improved somewhat. For a big company (read: deep pockets lawsuit target) it's cheaper to file a patent on something ambiguously new or obvious, and have it rejected, than to be the subject of a suit from a troll who got lucky with a nearly identical filing under some hidden submarine title. If granted, even if by sheer luck, it might still add to their cross-licensing/defense portfolio.
Are you serious? You think Microsoft Surface is just to order a coffee without standing in line?
You have to be the poster-child for Apple fan-boys. Wow.
now only if Apple would set up the same service with Mustang Ranch and we can get serviced by using iPhone.
The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity....Calvin
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
To be fair, the one promo video I've seen of the surface table focused solely on the ability to order food from the menu at a restaurant using the surface table technology.
International Business Machines.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
I have starbucks anxiety.. I get nervous and awkwardly shout the first thing on the menu I see.. If the person taking the order is a pretty girl, the problem is even worse.
I live in a small town. I can walk in to the local shop and grab a cup of coffee from the machine. I walk out. Periodically, I drop a few bucks at the counter. I wirelessly wave to the cashier.
meh
Witness, the birth of the real-world Joymaker.
And it works on any phone. Order online, via WAP, or via SMS and your phone is linked to your credit card. http://www.gomobo.com/
...and all I got was a punch in the face from a caffeine addict with a Nokia! Seriously, I don't mind using mobile phones for convenience, but the day someone jumps the queue because he owns an iPhone is the day I punch a member of the mac community in the face.
... why would one order coffee?
... and then they built the supercollider.
This has already been done by Nintendo at Safeco Field in Seattle. They introduced a paid service where you can use your DS to order food and have it brought up to you while watching the game. Apple's doing exactly what Sony does, copy a good idea and call it your own.
Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge.---Scott Adams
I think Apple is really just preparing everyone for their inevitable iMatrix, where you just plug yourself in and never leave your house.
I mean, look at how they have cultivated the little zone of personal space people get in with their little white earbuds. Doing this just removes the personal contact one can get when going into a coffee shop: chatting with the employees, developing a personal relationship, as minor as it is, with another human being.
I actually tried to patent this years ago. I thought that with bluetooth and cell phones, coffee shops could display their menu on your cell phone and you could order from there. I thought you could even bill through it securely. I hired a patent attorney and realized it was patented about 4 years before me...
Starting Score: 1 point
Moderation +4
70% Informative
20% Interesting
10% Redundant
Total Score: 5
Its just good service.
As I walked in the door of my local MacDonalds for breakfast one of the counter staff would call out "No cheese!". By the time I had walked past the queue to reach the counter my order would be on it and my penny change in the charity box. I was definitely wireless as the used optical technology (human eyeball). It was just good service as they knew I had the sausage and egg MacMuffin meal with orange juice and no cheeses. Whenever anyone queried why I did not queue they said I had ordered ahead by telepathy
Good find.
Just like ordering from the BestBuy/Whoever website and picking up in the store.
I'm getting the impression that "....on a mobile phone" is the next patent secret phrase. Just like "....online" and "....on a computer" were before it.
Walking to a pizza place, it's busy. So I call in an order. Often when I get to the front of the line my order is ready.
Busy store? ask them to hold something for you. The jst go to customer service and pick it. Many time I can pay for it at the same time.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Notwithstanding everyone else's prior art that they found which all seems valid; the first way I thought of invalidating this is the Exxon/Mobil Speedpass system that's been around since 1997 according to the article. Long before I remember seeing the first Mp3 player from Apple.
...in bed
In spite of all patent trolls from google and apple we are going to launch soon and we are going for the fight because clearly this is another monopolization effort and a shame for the world. We might be contacting the FSF soon for help in case the try to use what is clearly no innovation at all against us.
http://aircash.sourceforge.net/
Now is not enough that the neutrality on the devices is near zero banning third parties from publishing putting on top the companies that manufacture devices clearly in violation of the sherman act raping both the righs of software developers and device owners. Companies own the device they sold to you. How much mankind is going to fall permiting such violations of the rights of consumers? On top of that now we got software patents we certainly can't cover if they even let us use it. Fortunately we registered the project earlier than any of those patents granted by likely corrupt judges and has been public ever since therefore we can proove anything on any court. And also there are a lot of links on the internet that can proove previous art from other companies. Shame on you Steve Jobs. Be a honorable man and not the Rat you are becoming side by side with Larry. You learn fast to be a rat. You definitely do. But again... There is going to be war. We are going to launch IN SPITE OF THIS PROVOCATIONS.
Even Apple Wireless technology has its own icon but OpenBSD doesn't?
Why not just save the bother of being in the store, and send it by txt first?
Subway do this in NZ, it works well.
- Kaos games and encryption systems developer
and now my iPhone will be wanting a grande non-fat latte and will be able to order it itself.
Say what you will about their business ethics regarding things like patents
Don't hate the player, hate the game. The way the U.S. patent system is set up, your company patents everything in sight, even though most of it is bullshit. This is so that if another company tries to sue you from infringing on their bullshit patent, you try and find a way to counter-sue. Apple would be unethical if they acted as a patent troll, but I haven't seen any evidence that they've done that.