I went to a new restaurant in town this week and saw, for the first time in the wild, that every table had ordering kiosks made out of gussied up ipads. I had heard about these from a Planet Money piece and they were being touted as the future of the service sector, the first in a series of machines that would replace wait staff.

That would be great if it weren't for one thing - they didn't replace the wait staff, I did. At first it was neat, a new toy to play with and make conversation over while we waited for our food. But as we started to enter our orders it became apparent that this new technology wasn't new at all. It was the same POS system wait staff has been using for years. Now, instead of telling a waiter what I want I have to order it in piece by piece.

I wanted a burger with no pickles and a fried egg. It took a minute, but eventually I was able to navigate the menus to take off the pickles, more of a UI issue than anything. The egg, however, was another story. It normally comes on a different burger, and where a human could understand that shift, the unforgiving machine was unable to adapt. I tried to flag down someone from the restaurant, but the floor staff was primarily food runners, none of whom had the time or inclination to take an order.

After my unfulfilling burger we went to a new bar that, through sheer luck, was also trying their hand at automation. The bar had a beer wall, 10 taps each controlled by a RFID bracelet you could rent at the bar. Your rental opens a tab and you're charged per fluid ounce, down to the 10th, of what you pour.

Once again, the concept is neat, but the practice left me feeling like I was just an unpaid bartender. For one, no one was coming to my table anytime soon, which is great for uninterrupted conversation - until you get thirsty. At that point, everyone at the table has to migrate to the wall and choose their beers.

These are minor gripes and I'm sure that future technologies will make the process more seamless, but I'm not sure I want it to. Part of the appeal of eating out is being taken care of, is being served. In both these locations, I was my own server, which would be fine if I was on a budget and trying to save some cash but when the checks came not only was I not saving money, I was paying a premium for the privilege of using such tools.

I guess this means I'm an old man now.