The last couple of times I went to the bakery around the corner I noticed a Blackberry behind the counter. Being more intrigued every time I passed by I finally asked what the device is used for.
So I was told that the bakery is introducing an electronic ordering solution and Blackberries in their outlets are used to quickly update and change daily orders via a program running on the Blackberry which communicates with the central ordering system over the cellular network. Quite a step forward in flexibility from manually filling out an order sheet once a week for a full week in advance.
Also, compared to a more traditional setup with a PC and potential dial up or DSL access, this costs much less and takes no additional space. Maybe over time, the outlets can even cancel their fixed line phone as the Blackberry can easily substitute that as well.
And best of all, despite the introduction only being in an early beta and the software not quite stable, the non-technical user of the system I spoke to actually liked it and said she much preferred it over the old system as she can react immediately to special orders. What more do you want…
Here in Helsinki there is a Thai place I often go to for lunch and they have an Asus EEE netbook with a dongle hanging off the side. There is a USB enabled credit card machine hooked up to the latpop, and it also runs Spotify to stream the music that customers listen to. Quite ingenious.
(Without knowing the exact set up and how the application runs), it could be even cheaper if they already have Internet in the store and have a Wi-Fi router. 🙂
Very intriguing indeed. In a similar vein I order dinner using a Blackberry application: Messenger. Worth every cent I spent on my wife’s 8300! 🙂