> There was a time before food delivery apps, and it was better.

This is such weird revisionist history. Was it really better to always have to walk to the restaurant, place an order, wait 15-30 minutes, and then walk home with cold food? Were people magically unexploited in 2010 because apps didnt exist yet?

It used to be uncontroversial to expect people to look up the phone number of a restaurant and call it, then leave their house for a short time. That people won't take the initiative to complete a task more complicated than clicking on an app anymore isn't great. That people don't want to leave their houses and are starting to resemble the Wall-E society isn't great.

I still do this. Lately though I've noticed more and more places I call have an automated prompt directing me to order online. While I can still pick it up, this flow invariably means I can't use cash, have to decide on the tip upfront, before I receive service, and removes all of my privacy and anonymity. In practice, the sphere of resturaunts I can get takeout from is steadily shrinking.

Yeah I'm a little worried about a future where I can't show up at a place unannounced and just order and eat there or take it home.

You could order a proper loaf of groceries and pop something in the microwave or toaster. Doordash isn't serving lifesaving food emergencies.

That sounds disgusting and unhealthy

Conflating multiple issues here.

Apps to order food efficiently are fine. Everyone wins. It's easier for the restaurant, it's easier for you.

Having food delivered to your door, however, is incredibly expensive. A lot of the cost has been masked: for a while paid-in-part by VC-style below-cost funding hoping to for winner-take-all success, and by giving drivers no benefits & terrible pay.

> “A lot of the cost has been masked: for a while paid-in-part by VC-style below-cost funding hoping to for winner-take-all success…”

Thank you for reminding me about the browser wars 25 years ago. People were scratching their heads at the time about how internet companies like Yahoo and Google were making money, despite not having clear income streams. In the end, what? Advertising and our data.

I’ve been working in the food service industry for the past 15 years. Back in the day I was scratching my head at the rise of delivery apps, mostly wondering how a business can be making money with 20-25% of the sale price as cost to participate. Now, we see it’s volume and low income delivery.