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.'"

Comments

Obvious patents

[WillRobinson]

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.

Re:Obvious patents

[Anonymous Coward]

You are, every time you place an order via a web-based client from a mobile device. I did so a few weeks ago from my local Papa John's. Hell, calling in a take-out order from the restaurant of your choice would probably qualify as prior art.

Replacing a human component with a piece of software shouldn't be considered novel enough to patent.

Re:Obvious patents

[vimh42]

Forget about the patent being obvious. If I'm standing in line, and some idiot comes into the store and gets their drink first because they ordered it with their iPhone, do you think I'm going to have anything nice to say when I have a little chat with the manager about customer service? Don't you think that type of problem is a little obvious?

Re:Obvious patents

[Anonymous Coward]

Plus Zaxby's already passes out little pagers after you order-- then you go get your drink, pick a table, wait for the lights to flash and go pick up your order. If you had ordered in advance by phone or internet, you would have this already at Zaxby's.

Re:Obvious patents

[LWATCDR]

What is the problem?
I do this all the time. My local grocery store deli takes phone orders. I often call them when I am in the store and place my order. They have a line for phone orders. I often see a huge line and I just call in my order, finish the rest of my shopping and pick up my sub.
I also have a few restaurants in my cell phone that I go to often. They allow you to call ahead to reserve your place in line. I call when I leave my house and often I have no wait for a table.
I thought using technology was a good thing.

Re:Obvious patents

[rucs_hack]

I think the main reason for registering such a patent is most likely defensive. Apple have had lots of experience being hammered in stupid patent suites, as have many tech companies, so if they have a patent, however vague, they can use it to prevent expensive lawsuits.

Not that this justifies silly patents, but it does provide a reason for their registration.

Re:Obvious patents

[Mistlefoot]

This is normal were I live, eat, dine and drink. http://www.squirrelsystems.com/ have been doing this for at least the 12 years I have lived in BC. Just about EVERY mainstream bar or restaurant uses this or similar systems.

Basically, waiters and waitresses use mobile stations to order your food. The wait staff then head to the bar to pick up and deliver your order. To add wireless to this does nothing. I suppose I could take any 10 year old technology patent, add wireless to it and call it a new creation. Whether the wait staff commit the order or the patron him/herself should have no bearing on anything.

I am sure there must be more to the patent then the parent implies but if not I'm guessing this patent won't last long....

Re:Obvious patents

[tacocat]

I'm glad you got there before me. I was thinking that this jerkwad with the slick iPhone was going to get his latte via suppository rather than a regular cup. This might sound appealing but there's going to be hell to pay in the lines.

But then you had to go and mention customer service as if anyone gives a damn about that anymore.

We need a patent to punch the guy in the mouth when he strolls up with his iPhone asking for his double latte foo-foo coffee drink for $15.75 before we can get our morning grog.

Re:Obvious patents

[Sparks23]

It's not quite the same thing. The example given by another poster of Japanese cellular phones (which can function as something akin to credit cards, train passes, and generally do the sorts of things our wireless providers are not yet dreaming of) is more accurate.

What I find sad is less specifically that Apple's patenting this and more that we've come to a situation where companies HAVE to try and patent anything they do in litigational self-defense, lest they end up like RIM with the endless stream of "Your Blackberry infringes on our never-used patent, you pay us money now!" lawsuits they suffer. Half of the meaningless patents we see these days are for protecting some process, specifically so that someone ELSE doesn't patent it and try to sue you. (And probably the other half are specifically being patented in hopes that eventually someone will have actionable infringement and can be sued.)

This totally misses the point of what the patent system was intended for, and absolutely nobody wins. But the fact that the patent system is fundamentally broken at this point is not exactly news...

Unbelievable

[stoolpigeon]

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.

Re:Unbelievable

[ajs]

Repeat after me: any patent which is summarized by a reporter relates in no way to the actual patent. Unless you've read the entire patent or at least ALL of the claims, you have no idea what the patent is about. Typically I can find at least 3 ways to summarize even really good and innovative patents that would make people pick up their pitchforks and torches. It's just too easy to do, and it turns out that it gets Slashdot some extra readership. :-/

Re:Unbelievable

[UncleTogie]

Maybe the part about notification when it's ready is important here. Otherwise, everything else has already been done.

The notifications... have been done before, too...

Re:Unbelievable

[arivanov]

I have seen the ordering system in a Spanish restaurant in the middle of nowhere (Los Gigantes - a small resort on the west coast of Tenerife) do that in 2005. So there is plenty of prior art.

IIRC, all orders were taken on small wireless palmtops (probably some variety of ruggedized palm with custom software). The order was transmitted to the kitchen straight away and the waiter could service the next table and so on instead of running like mad between the table rows and the kitchen (as customary). When an order was ready for collection the palmtop rang. As a result 3 waiters managed to deal with a restaurant which had at least 45 tables, probably more.

Dunno who did the software for them, but a few years back it would have been an impressive feat of engineering. With all the limitations of PalmOS and such doing this would have required a lot of effort.

Doing the same as a web based app for something like the iPhone is a piece of cake. Depending on the complexity of the interface into the ordering system it can take from a couple of hours to at most a couple of weeks.

What is more interesting is where does this put T-Mobile partnership with Starbucks. It could have done that using any of their handhelds like the sidekick ages ago and it has suitable GSM/GPRS interface as well. Bet they are slapping themselves on the forehead at the moment.

Re:Unbelievable

[SpaceLifeForm]

The fact that you "can find at least 3 ways to summarize even really good and innovative patents" should tell you that the patent in question is neither good nor innovative.

Re:Unbelievable

[Four_One_Nine]

Point taken. I will no longer cut in line at any Starbucks located in Pakistan.

Re:Unbelievable

[Zordak]

I'm sure there is some very specific crap in there to somehow make this 'different' and 'patentable'. If so, then that "very specific crap" will limit the claims to make them allowable. A patent does not give you the right to prohibit anybody from doing anything that looks like the abstract. It's limited by the claims, which have to be patentable over prior art. Until you've read and carefully examined the claims, you have not idea what the "patent" is.

Obvious?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

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!

Re:Obvious?

[xRelisH]

mean honestly, how different is this to dialing ahead with your order from a cell phone?

Umm, I have a few:
1. I'd rather order through a readable UI with touch screen than having to repeat myself several times over the phone due to poor signal or noise where I am. I always order pizza from my computer, ordering through similar means on something mobile would be more convenient.
2. The store would need to hire someone on the phone to take the order. Having a person actually there helps when ordering in person for ambiance, but when you're ordering over the phone, it's annoying... and don't get me started with those voice activated systems. I'd rather be able to select what I want through a digital menu.
3. If this system is tied into a billing system like how .Mac is, then this saves me another hassle of having to say my credit card information over the phone or have to whip it out and slide at the counter.

Re:Obvious?

[DragonWriter]

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.

Its not much different in outline, its different only in the mechanics of implementation. Of course, patents don't cover outlines, they cover mechanics of implementation, so noticing that this is similar but in the mechanics of implementation is not really a good argument against patentability. The broad outline is fairly obvious, but without reading the actual patent (rather than a popular media report that provides no useful information) I don't have much opinion on whether the specific claims and method patented is obvious.

I would guess that its either so obvious that it should be unpatentable or, if its non-obvious, there are so many ways to implement the same user experience as to make the patent mostly useless except for defensive purposes. But which one of those, I can't guess.

iTunes==Apple Checkout?

[LWATCDR]

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.

Re:iTunes==Apple Checkout?

[value_added]

I still don't understand why people pay $6 for a cup of coffee. Coffee is supposed to be $0.50 and unlimited refills.

Ahh, the great old days when coffee was indeed pennies per cup and unlimited refills were cheerfully served by a blue-haired waitress with a name like Marge or Betty sewn on her uniform. What I wouldn't pay to go back to those days, when the coffee I was served was made from stale low-grade beans and boiled to within an inch of its life in large percolators where it typically sat for hours before the watery, tasteless but occasionally aromatic brew was poured into my waiting cup.

Come to think of it, I do. About 50 cents, and not a penny more.

I've not done the arithmetic, but I would guess that's the cost of a typical cup of coffee in my house. Not factoring in the cost of an espresso machine and a burr grinder (with maintenance contracts on both), and the time required to grind, heat (the machine, utensils, milk, cups, and just about everything else), then brew, prepare, serve, and clean up afterwards, it's a real steal! Even better, I don't have to tip anyone. Mind you, if I wanted to have a chocolate desert blended into my coffee instead of eaten on a plate with a fork like I normally do, it might very well be close to $6 per cup.

The moral to this story, if there is one, is that you get what you pay for. The way I see it is that it took America about 50 years to discover and then catch onto the idea of quality, fresh, personally-prepared coffee that folks in other countries took for granted, so it might take another few years for everyone here to get used the idea that it should cost more. For everyone else, there's those vending machines at your local Quickie Mart, and a restaurant here or there with waitresses named Marge or Betty ready to pour you that 50 cent cup.

Fandango...

[HockeyPuck]

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.

Yuck

[jimmy_dean]

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?

Re:Yuck

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Patents are for recuperating costs (among other uses), where are Apple's costs in developing this idea?

Patents allow you to recoup costs. Patents do not require that have costs.

Causation is one reason for correlation. Correlation is not one reason for causation.

Or, more generally,( A --> B ) -/-> ( B --> A ). Yay symbolic logic.

Prior art?

[sokoban]

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.

Re:Prior art?

[zullnero]

There's more prior art than that. A whole freaking lot more. I've personally interviewed and worked with several companies that have practically patented almost the exact same concept. Using a mobile device to buy stuff wirelessly is a concept that has been around for many years. There are patents all over the place in regards to this idea, and the biggest problem is actually implementing something without tripping one of them off. You need to do such and such for security scheme x, but that's already patented by so and so...etc.

It's a bloody mess, so Mac fans...don't get your hopes up. I know a lot of you are suddenly all pumped about this smartphone revolution that has been around a lot longer than your iPhone...but this particular market is a minefield. Wonder why you haven't seen much out of Palm lately? Everywhere you turn, there's another freaking patent in your face and another guy or corporation who is sitting on it looking to make his quick fortune. That is why REAL innovation is slowing down so much in the mobile market. Either you innovate and risk the lawsuits, or you try and work around the patents, and you never get anything done.

And if you don't like it, then get up and do something about the US patent system.

dumb idea

[ILuvRamen]

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!

Re:dumb idea

[Sciros]

I call BS! I buy coffee, more specifically a White Chocolate Mocha With Soy Milk And Caramel On Top at Starbucks ALL THE TIME (because I'm rich) and half the time there's a customer there who is not at all what you describe. He's just there for some tea (me, I don't even say "tea" anymore I just say "Tazo" because that probably means 'tea' in Mexican or something anyway) or something and stares at the menu for like a whole minute like a clueless moron and then has trouble figuring out that a Grande is medium not large what a dolt.

It's just a freakin' reservation system

[davidwr]

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.

Re:It's just a freakin' reservation system

[Leftist Troll]

No, no, this is completely different from any of those things. Now you'll be using Apple products and services, so it will all be inherently much better in a magical way that can't be described using pathetic human words.

Re:It's just a freakin' reservation system

[gentlemen_loser]

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.

That's pretty cool. Here in the 2007s, we get to wait 2 hours, strip nekkid, walk through a metal detector, and have a bomb sniffing dog rammed up our asses whenever we go to the airports. Its a shame I never got to experience the mystical place you are describing.

Re:It's just a freakin' reservation system

[tieTYT]

I thought of an even better idea. You call in your order to starbucks and they BRING the coffee TO YOU. Kinda like a pizz...uh, I mean kinda like something nobody has ever done or thought of before.

Re:It's just a freakin' reservation system

[MorpheousMarty]

Allow me to explain this in the only medium capable of convening the magic, interpretative dance! (the goggles will do nothing).

Re:Overly specialized and mostly useless

[Russ Nelson]

My dad wouldn't do that, because he's dead. Anyway, being dead, he wouldn't be caught dead in a Starbucks.

Re:That's all well and good but..

[Applekid]

Then you'll need to read up on RFC 2324.

Re:niggerdicks making their way up your rectum

[Anonymous Coward]

Your patent application has been denied due to prior art on the part of your mom.

Jumped the Shark

[SuperBanana]

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...

This is new?

[cgreentx]

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.

Re:Queue geek fight

[dave562]

I forgot to mention how this is going to breed pretentious attitudes from guys who don't bother to talk to anybody in Starbucks and then scoff at the employees for not automatically knowing that they are there for their coffee because, "Duh, I iOrdered it with my iPhone iHead of time." The next thing they are going to want is an iRedCarpet rolled out for them when their Apple software alerts Starbucks that they are nearing the store... but that functionality would take a GPS, and the iPhone doesn't have one. Oops.

Are you high?

[marcmac]

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.

Re:Are you high?

[phalse phace]

Nope. The last time Apple "got away from their core business of making computers and operating system software" they invented (overpriced) iPod socks. Yes, you read that correctly.... socks.

Prior art found in March 2, 2000, New York Times

[vrmlguy]

I thought that this sounded familiar, so I Googled some keywords and immediately found this: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E5DF1139F931A35750C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

The introduction of the cell phone into the process can change things greatly, said David Sacks, vice president for strategy at PayPal.com. He conjured a scene from the wireless future: ''Walk down the street, a few blocks away from your favorite Starbucks, pull out your Web-connected cell phone, you get a Starbucks menu, click espresso, and it's sent. And you've not only ordered it, but you've paid and you can go pick it up.''

Insurance

[logicpaw]

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.

Re:This is great,

[user no. 590291]

now only if Apple would set up the same service with Mustang Ranch and we can get serviced by using iPhone.

If you paid $500 for a phone and are locked into a $60/month contract with the NSA^W^W AT&T, I'd say you're already being "serviced" without the need of the Mustang Ranch.

Already been done

[andrewm_za]

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/

Already Been Done

[Seahawker101]

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.