Reminds me of how some people mocked me for having O'Reilly and such massive reference books when I started learning Python and Ruby. "But everything's online!" they claimed. Sure, but nothing's faster than browsing the index for what you're looking for and then skimming the section you're interested in, as opposed to going back and forth StackOverflow threads and random blogs. Currently renovating my house and I again bought 400+ pages reference books of plumbing and electricity, largely sparring me the need to endure endless YouTube videos littered with skits, sponsorships etc. Just straight to the point, factual information.

Online documentation is good if you already know what you're looking for. It is shit if you want to discover what is available. I am specifically thinking of the python docs and the time I, as a not-python programmer, wanted to see the various "grouping" types (lists, arrays, sets, dicts, tuples, whatever).

The Python core docs are uniquely terrible, though.

At least the screen is only touced by you. My peril are the touch screen ordering places (practically all fast food places nowadays) where based on their outlook hygienically challanged persons swipe their fingers up and down for long before you have a chance following them. There is an icecream place opened nearby I had no chance trying because they only have touchscreen order. Guys at the till only serve icecream and all orders must go through the touch screen. They put the icecream into a cone - if you dared to ordered so - and put into the fingers of the customer who just swiped the same finger over a screen swiped by dozens of unknow people before. Oi!

Do you get a freshly-printed paper menu every time? From the hygiene standpoint, remote-ordering from your phone is the best, screens are worse (but at least you can wipe them before use) and paper menus are the worst, since it may be harder to disinfect them.

Which is why restaurant menus are often laminated.

No, they are laminated to protect from spills that damage the menus and require a replacement. The places with laminated menus are not concerned about your health when making the lamination decisions. Otherwise, do you assume by their being laminated that the staff dutifully washes/disinfects them after being collected from each table every time? I can assure you they are not. They are only wiped off when they are spilled upon, and not even that well.

The people before you have also touched the seat and table, the door handle, breathed the air your breathing, etc.

It was beyond the phone screen based matters you see (which is a great dirt magnet beyond toilet seats actually, like keyboards, coming from the need of constant touch in all and every life situations). I believe you hold paper menu without the need of smearing the matter on your skin all over it you know (or just leave alone on the table if it is one page), unlike touch screens where it is a must ... Also the fast food places stear people towards glass surfaces smearing the cover of their skin all over normally had no menus, just look up and say what you want. Now, you must touch all over like the handle of the public toilet, only more! Different scenario.

[1] https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/your-cell-phone-10-times-dirtier...

I use my knuckle for that, because I'm much less likely to touch my food or face with it later. Same goes for e.g. elevator buttons.

I don't mean to be too forceful about this, but how is a common touchscreen ordering system any better or worse than the door handle you used to walk in?

I wouldn't use the entrance door as example due to automatic doors in most places, but lets assume the toilet door handle, that is even more disgusting.

I would say that there is no difference! : )

Except not everyone is using the toilet door handle, and not for prolonged time, holding and swiping for long seconds or minutes, no, unlike with a touch screen ordering system, which they swipe around for looong, each of them ordering, making sure all the content of their skin is thorougly applied on the surface, practically everyone does that - except me in case I have the option going to the till and order by speaking (before someone niggle: I stand back and not spraying saliva :) ).

I find it absolutely annoying that our phones with amazing pixel density limit the max zoom out for some reason. If I want 5x8 font on my 1080p phone screen why not let me?

Plus, many restaurants have clickable pictures of each menu item. Even if the font isn't readable, you can still get an idea of what looks good.

Scrolling back and forth on a small screen is tedious