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Re:McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks by Jaruzel on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @06:21AM (#17599645)
All the comments so far seem to be just re-hashing personal anecdotes about using the kiosks, and not the key message that's in the article.

Replacing cashiers in stores with kiosks, and ultimately replacing the fries-making and burger-flipping jobs with automation, removes a massive slice[1] of job roles for young teens from the market. As the article writer asserts, this will prevent lots of first time workers from learning the basic work-skills that are needed as they progress to more senior roles elsewhere. Things like time-keeping, quality-control, ability to focus, and social skills... the list goes on.

With young people the world over now only able to interact with society via the medium of toxic social media, resulting in poor face-to-face social skills, the next time you bump into an intolerant sulky mono-syllabic belligerent teen, remember that it was these sort of technical 'innovations' that resulted in their abandonment, and directly contributed to them becoming the anti-social outcasts that mainstream media has always painted them as.

As elders, we need to support the up-coming generation, not cast them aside in pursuit of our own greatness.

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[1] pun totally intended.

Re:McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks by imgabe on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @06:29AM (#17599686)
And yet, 5 days ago we were lamenting that teenagers no longer want these jobs and they are going unfilled: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17557298

Sounds like the market is coming up with a solution. There are many ways for teens to learn the lessons you mentioned besides working in fast food.

Re:McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks by krapp on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @06:44AM (#17599753)
McDonald's would have automated those jobs away regardless of labor supply, and whatever alternatives there might be are going to be automated as well. Entry-level work is categorically being done away with, and yet the expectation of social and business skills being provided by entry-level work is not.
Re:McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks by dnadler on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @08:56AM (#17600546)
I suppose that this is correct, but mostly because of the cost-benefit analysis. If labor is more expensive than automation, then the company will turn to automation. Automation is getting less expensive and labor is getting more expensive, so here we are.
Re:McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks by melling on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @09:06AM (#17600624)
How did kids learn before McDonalds?
Re:McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks by falcolas on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @10:26AM (#17601286)
As children on farms and ranches, or in the mail rooms of large companies, or as journeymen for physical trades, or a thousand other low level opportunities that no longer exist, require degrees, or that they're now having to compete against aging baby boomers for.
Re:McDonald's Says Goodbye Cashiers, Hello Kiosks by CodeTheInternet on Tuesday July 24, 2018 @04:18PM (#17604565)
I never worked in food service. I worked in retail (sales and stocking), delivery services, freight (un)load, construction trades and the military. Every one of those still exists, is not going away any time soon and qualifies as entry-level.