The NYTimes had an
article on how restaurants are tracking their customers, recording their preferences:
Even a single visit can prompt the creation of a computer file that
includes diners’ allergies, favorite foods and whether they are “wine
whales,” likely to spend hundreds of dollars on a bottle. That’s
valuable information, considering that upward of 30 percent of a
restaurant’s revenue comes from alcohol. Some places even log data on
potential customers so that the restaurant is prepared if the newcomer
shows up.
That a waiter you have never met knows your tendency to dawdle or your
love of crushed ice may strike some diners as creepy or intrusive. But
restaurant managers say their main goal is to pamper the customer, to
recreate the comfort of a local corner spot where everybody knows your
name.
Is this an invasion of privacy or the way technology enables the free market best to satisfy customer desires?
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