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"...a lot of people find adventure on the Internet. That's their idea of being interactive. My idea of being interactive is going on out and doing it on the street."
- Harlan Ellison
 |
| Electric Menu | ||
| Ordering of food is automated, without waiters. |
| I paused as we passed an automatic dinner service. With a nod she assented to my enquiring look and we passed inside. A courteous robot ushered us to our tables and placed the electric menu before us. We surveyed it, chose our requirements, and then pressed the corresponding buttons arranged at the side of the menu. Instantly the table top turned over and there was our meal upon metal plates. This “turnover” was effected by tremendous centrifugal force which naturally prevented the viands from hurtling off. I would mention here that the idea of tabloid food had never really attracted anybody, and the food of 2,000 was about the same as it had always been, save for the fact that there were many cultured, delicious dishes from future ages. |
| Technovelgy from Liners of Time,
by John Russell Fearn. Published by Amazing Stories in 1935 Additional resources -
|
I was going to do a Science Fiction in the News article on this Technovelgy item, but then I realized that it would be about ten years too late! I do know of one restaurant that still uses them, but they're just trying to get the last bit of value from the iPads they bought twelve years ago.
Anyway, here's how they work.
Today (2022), I think the latest incarnation of the "electric menu" is the digital menu, which you pull up on your phone using a QR code on the table.
Compare to the mirror menu from Caesar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century (1890) by Ignatius Donnelly.
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| A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food |
| Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype) |
| Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch? |
| Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month |
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
