I’ll Never Underestimate New Jersey Again.

Came across something today at the Newark Airport that Im kind of in awe of.

In the middle of the airport, rows and rows of tables with self order tablets and credit card readers… it’s something that both surprised me in terms of it’s mass application and the fact I’ve never seen this before.

I’ve been to over 20 airports in the past year or so and haven’t seen anything like this, at least not on this scale. There has to be at least 100 tablets and card readers.

It’s a logical next step in making service more efficient and cost effective, so I can’t say I’m really surprised. And I thought self order kiosks at McDonald’s were cool, this is a whole new level of automation. Love it!

And you can order food from a dozen locations, drinks from the bar and a book from the bookstore all delivered to your table. Plus it’s got usb charging stations.

Not much of the tech here is new, but the level of customer convenience is amazing. Today everyone just accepts it as the new normal, but if you could bring yourself from 5 years ago here your mind would be blown by this.

And I can’t help but think how much data I just gave the airport, the tablet owners, United and MasterCard about how to craft better offers to me. They know what ordered, how long I stayed and what type of card I used. Imagine what you could do with all that unique data? Mind boggling possibilities.

On one had I hate how easily we give up so much info about ourselves and how we don’t see a dime of how all these companies are gonna use my data to mage money, but on the other I just marvel at the ease of use.

In the end we all generally choose convenience over privacy so easily. That’s the thing I’m in awe of most.

And in Newark of all places. You’ve got my newfound respect Garden State.