[Tech Chef]

Maybe I should add the target audience for such a concept is between the ages of 18 and 34. Marketing surveys and focus groups have shaped the development of the concept thus far and we believe we have answered most of their wants, needs and desires in designing this concept for that age group.
Here is an interesting note: In surveys and focus groups, they liked the control over their own meals, but loved the "interactive options" using the Internet and text messaging even more than the menu. What the restaurant does is takes your small group of four people and adds as many people as you want to using chat rooms and text messaging. Or you can dine in isolation if you like.
But let's talk about customer service. Customer Service Agents (CSA's) at this concept will outperform any wait staff anywhere, bar none. How? A guest with a password protected menu gets a personalized menu. When that menu is activated, the CSA gets data vital to providing the best customer service possible, so they will know that particular customer likes a glass of water with their beverage, without asking. They will know Mr. Simmons and his wife like to share cheesecake for dessert after dinner. They will know Ms. Edwards does not like to be disturbed during her lunch and that she will be using the printer, so watch out for her documents. When the Klein family comes in, our CSA will know that the baby likes pasta, mom like lots of soft, warm dinner rolls and dad prefers his steak without steak sauce, but fresh ground pepper for his salad. And they will know all of this without being told. And to top it all off, they will still spend the same amount if they went to Applebee's, but without the excellent customer service from a staff that does it almost exclusively. The more the customer returns, the more we learn about their profile, even if they never personalize their own experience. We will be watching, learning and taking notes for the next time.

Finally I'll address kuan. We can only keep slightly less than honest people honest. Criminals will always find a way to steal, even if it means dropping the notebook over the ledge of the 3-story building to someone waiting below. However, if they are over 21, we will have a copy of their picture ID, neatly scanned into the database to ensure alcohol serving law compliance. If not, then we have insurance to cover such things. But theives and criminals have been around since the beginning and have never stopped progress. The simple fact is if you build a better mouse trap, the mice simple get smarter. So we have no desire to perform an airline security check on each guest coming into and leaving the restaurant. We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law and we have taken steps to recover our missing equipment. And just like having hidden cameras, you never know who is watching or what other neat little security features might be waiting in the wings or sleeping quietly in the software, only to awaken when out of wi-fi contact with the network. How much is a paperweight stolen from a restaurant worth? Unless you purchase a hard-drive for the stolen notebook, that is exactly what you will have. (Micro-drives only store the components needed to access the menu server and Internet server, but only within the network and only when allowed to from a wired connection... and even that isn't the best security surprise we have...).

I would be remiss if I did not mention the countless number of hours spend refining this concept over the last four years, or the number of dedicated employees from JSE Technologies, IBM, Microsoft, and dozens of restaurant employees, managers and customers who participated in our surveys and focus groups over the years. Everyone from Seattle to Miami and nearly all points in between who have helped re-define this concept since 2000 all deserve to be mentioned, but I can say this confidently: This isn't the dream of one person or one group of people. It isn't a dream at all. When we launch this concept is 3 states across the country at one moment for a cross-country connected grand opening party, all those people will smile from ear to ear knowing they had a part in it.

Having said that, what else is wrong with the concept?