Proper BSOD!
this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024
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Public Blue Screens Of Death
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Public Blue Screens Of Death
Public displays and digital infrastructure software failing to do their job because of blue screens, crashes or other problems
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Pretty sure that's a monitor. I would assume there is a server in back with VMs hosting the displays.
That is a monitor, of course. However, I seriously doubt there is anything more than the bare minimum hardware required to drive one display. You may be under-estimating the level of shoddy work that happens for these kinds of displays.
A server to host one menu is a bit overkill, actually. While I could be wrong, I really think the only requirement for the franchise owner would be "a digital display with some kind of network connection".
Then again, the IT work could be top-notch... I doubt it, but it's possible.
I think that screen might be the "order ready for collection" one, so presumably it does have some sort of connection to the ordering system?
When I worked at Pizza Hut many years ago the terminals in the store were all simply dumb terminals that connected to the main server. It's more efficient and cost effective that way so I would assume McDonalds which is a major corporation to have the same level of sophistication. But I as you suggest may be vastly overestimating things.
Most fast food chains are franchises these days. There are guidelines and requirements for aesthetics, branding and even baseline IT stuff, for sure.
Corporate owned restaurants are likely to have standardized IT systems which saves a ton on bulk costs. It's just easier to have 5000 units of the same thing and train people once to fix it.
With franchises, it's not that easy. However, since things like specialized button panels have been replaced with touch screens, there isn't much need for custom equipment like there was in the past. (I am excluding all the custom cooking equipment, of course.) Unless a system is absolutely critical to the business, there is probably no reason for it to be standardized.
It just makes sense (using shareholder logic) for corporations to push as much of the operational cost back to the franchise owners. The corporation is basically a service provider and governing body for its franchises and that is about it. With that, probably comes premium pricing for pre-canned IT network systems. It wouldn't surprise me if restaurant "features" come with subscription fees too.
The quality and standardization of hardware boils down to how a chain is managed and owned, I suppose.
To your point, when I worked at McDonald's 30 years ago, it was all corporate-standard custom electronics and computer systems. It had to be. A network that used to be highly specialized and cost $100k now just costs just a few thousand and only really needs to support a browser of some kind.