(via) This BBC clip from the tech program Click has the host sitting down at an automated restaurant in Tokyo where every table comes complete with a tablet for ordering, a newfangled conveyor belt, and a plate chute so you can bus your own mess. There are no front of house staffers at all. Why do we want to see this in Vancouver? So we can see with our own eyes how ridiculous the idea is, and to watch it fail with delight. Restaurants that are worth going to aren’t just about the food. For better or for worse, they’re also about the people who work there. When you take them and their personalities out of the equation, whether it be in a fine dining joint or a humble ramen house, the experience spoils. The same goes for robot bartenders and monkey waiters. They aren’t the future. They’re merely gimmicks; fodder for lazy news editors.