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Pizza on Demand
PIZZA ON DEMAND....Via Hit & Run, my cat's pizza company, in partnership with TiVo, engages in some hyperbole:
"This is the first time in history that the 'on-demand' generation will be able to fully experience couch commerce by ordering pizza directly through their television set. You'll see a television ad for Domino's and you'll click 'I want it' through your remote. In about 30 minutes, your pizza will show up at your door."
Oh please. I worked for a video-on-demand company back in 2002, and even then "pizza on demand" was a cliche. It turns out that just about the first thing every shiny new broadband offering offers is....pizza delivery via your TV. I think the first time was 1994. It never went anywhere, though, because it turned out that ordering pizza by phone isn't really much of a hassle.
But hey — everything old is new again. Maybe this is finally PoD's time. After dozens of tries, it's bound to catch on sometime.
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I very much dislike talking to people on the phone. Ordering anything via web is a boon to me.
There's not a non-chain pizza place that delivers in my neighborhood, so I'm stuck with chains. (I'm disabled, so having food delivered is a big help.)
None of them are very good, but you can get something decent from them if you tweak the order (which I've noticed most of the order online chains allow) with things like extra cheese and similar.
Actually, I've always hated Domino's pizza; but they've lately started offering a "Brooklyn-style" pizza that?while certainly a long, long way from good, authentic NY-style pizza?is pretty good compared to their regular fare. However, I've found that it's hit-or-miss, depending upon both who prepares it (apparently) and what you get on it. Extra cheese is an absolute requirement; and in my opinion the only topping worth getting on this pizza is "extra large style pepperoni". Sometimes it's not cooked right and it comes out not unlike their regular pizza; but when it's right, it's a floppy, greasy, cheesy mess of a pizza quite a bit like a decent New York-style. But the extra cheese is crucial.
I tried Pizza Hut's new pasta, delivered, and it was pretty good, all things considered.
One of the things I wistfully imagine about what it would be like living in New York city would be getting almost any kind of food?and good food at that?delivered almost 24 hours a day. That would be wonderful.
Providing that I could order via the web and not have to talk to anyone on the phone.
I very much dislike talking to people on the phone. Ordering anything via web is a boon to me.
There's not a non-chain pizza place that delivers in my neighborhood, so I'm stuck with chains. (I'm disabled, so having food delivered is a big help.)
None of them are very good, but you can get something decent from them if you tweak the order (which I've noticed most of the order online chains allow) with things like extra cheese and similar.
Actually, I've always hated Domino's pizza; but they've lately started offering a "Brooklyn-style" pizza that?while certainly a long, long way from good, authentic NY-style pizza?is pretty good compared to their regular fare. However, I've found that it's hit-or-miss, depending upon both who prepares it (apparently) and what you get on it. Extra cheese is an absolute requirement; and in my opinion the only topping worth getting on this pizza is "extra large style pepperoni". Sometimes it's not cooked right and it comes out not unlike their regular pizza; but when it's right, it's a floppy, greasy, cheesy mess of a pizza quite a bit like a decent New York-style. But the extra cheese is crucial.
I tried Pizza Hut's new pasta, delivered, and it was pretty good, all things considered.
One of the things I wistfully imagine about what it would be like living in New York city would be getting almost any kind of food?and good food at that?delivered almost 24 hours a day. That would be wonderful.
Providing that I could order via the web and not have to talk to anyone on the phone.
Domino's founder is one of the biggest rightwingnuts out there. Building his own town ala Disney's Celebration, but only for "like minded" familes to start their uber Catholic uber white community. Buying a pizza from Domino's is tantamount to emailing Operation Rescue with maps to doctors who work with Planned Parenthood with their route home all mapped out for them.
Three words...
Kozmo dot com
That coupled with webtv (remember that?) would get you just about anything you could need to keep the munchies at bay AND get you your DVD rental delivered. From your TV no less.
I miss Kozmo! One of the truly sad failures of the dot com bust.
haha, i worked for respondtv when the internet bust hit in 2000. Interactive game shows...wooooooo!
slappy magoo: Buying a pizza from Domino's ...
or any other chain is all but unheard of here in the NY area. Sheesh, haven't you people heard about real pizza?
Disclaimer: my brother-in-law owns and runs an independent pizzeria in San Diego. And yes, it beats any of the chains hands down.
It won't be limited to Domino's, or pizza. Localized advertising and web-enabled ordering are already a reality in some markets, and it's going to expand exponentially. Seriously, you're going to be sick of it in the not-too-distant future.
Don't believe me? Go take a look at some of Microsoft's recent acquisitions.
It'll also make it pretty obvious just how weak existing privacy laws are, relative to the information that corporations are collecting about us.
Disclaimer: my brother-in-law owns and runs an independent pizzeria in San Diego. And yes, it beats any of the chains hands down.
Oh yeah? Well I make my own damn pizza and it beats your brother's pizza all to heck!!
I can't wait to see the photo features on what happens to QVC junkies who get their hands on this immediate-order technology.
Alex,
And the name of the place is? At least you could give your family a plug......
Just in time for the economic catastrophe -- more avenues for impulse buying.
I've got a new flat screen. Will the pizza come out long and skinny?
Marshall McLuahn predicted the end of the telephone, yet the telephone has become even more popular and ubiquitous because of cell phones. Although texting has become quite popular, McLuhan explained the attraction of the telephone experience as telepathic.
You don't need a TV for Domino's on demand, you need a color fax that prints on cardboard.
"it turned out that ordering pizza by phone isn't really much of a hassle."
Yeah, it kind of is. Hold for 5 minutes, have someone else pick up the phone and put you on hold again. Repeat your order 3 times. Repeat your address 3 times. Repeat your cc# 4 or 5 times.
The pizza comes out wrong anyway.
If they don't have an internet site to order from, I don't buy from them.
Quaker in a Basement: I make my own damn pizza and it beats your brother's pizza all to heck!!
I doubt it, unless you have a pizza oven.
Tigershark: And the name of the place is? At least you could give your family a plug...
Joe's Pizza. Note the excellent reviews at the link. And yes, it really is run by Joe.
The timing of this technology is very unfortunate and will probably be its undoing for now. People are getting peppered with the anti-impulse buying mantra, which I think is a good thing.
Regarding ordering pizza, I haven't done it in years, my neighborhood isn't well served by many of the smaller (non national chains) better pizza places, which is too bad. But I remember ordering from Pizza Hut and it was pretty quick and they had previous orders in their database which made it quicker and more accurate - I am not a number, just a piece of info in a thousands of databases!
KEVIN'S CAT'S PIZZA COMPANY: "Kevin! You can now order delicious pizza with your remote!"
KEVIN DRUM (In Eeyore voice): "The cheese will probably burn the roof of my mouth."
Just wait until the Mafia takes over pizza delivery! Uncle Enzo knows how to do it right, you betcha.
mcluhan recognized that media can obslesce media, but also retreieve older forms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrad_of_media_effects
What kind of fly by night pizza place do you order from? Either the hold queue is worth it... http://www.pizzachicago.com/ or it's not, but they have fast cars and computers (Domino's).
Sheesh.
But I'm going to take in my cable box this week and cancel their services. It's just too expensive (>$100/mo) for a handful of unreliable HD channels and on demand that's harder to use than the rental kiosk at the store.
Ted Stevens can order pizza through the intertubes from prison.
How do you tell the TV what toppings you want? or what size?
Alex -- it is hard to get the crust right w/o a pizza oven, but you can get close with a pizza stone left sitting at 500 degrees for an hour. Regardless, it is not terribly difficult to tasty pizza at home; far better certainly than any chain.
Kevin--
Your timing is excellent: http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2008/11/18/tomo/
My great grandfather used to telegraph for his pizza in Sicily. It was delivered by fast pony.
Kevin, I'm confused. Why do either of your cats have a pizza delivery?
My wife and I bought a take-out pizza once. We now bake our own.
The real problem with this business model is that true hard-core couch potatoes aren't going to change the channel away from their games/programs/console long enough to order the pizza that way.
We have a local chain that makes the tastiest wheat-crust pizza we've ever eaten, and has been unfailingly correct on orders and delivery. Why send my money anywhere else?
phoebes in santa fe: Why do either of your cats have a pizza delivery?
For the anchovy benefits, of course.
Crissa: pizzachicago.com
"Chicago pizza" is an oxymoron - take it from a New Yorker.
I very much dislike talking to people on the phone. Ordering anything via web is a boon to me.
There's not a non-chain pizza place that delivers in my neighborhood, so I'm stuck with chains. (I'm disabled, so having food delivered is a big help.)
None of them are very good, but you can get something decent from them if you tweak the order (which I've noticed most of the order online chains allow) with things like extra cheese and similar.
Actually, I've always hated Domino's pizza; but they've lately started offering a "Brooklyn-style" pizza thatwhile certainly a long, long way from good, authentic NY-style pizzais pretty good compared to their regular fare. However, I've found that it's hit-or-miss, depending upon both who prepares it (apparently) and what you get on it. Extra cheese is an absolute requirement; and in my opinion the only topping worth getting on this pizza is "extra large style pepperoni". Sometimes it's not cooked right and it comes out not unlike their regular pizza; but when it's right, it's a floppy, greasy, cheesy mess of a pizza quite a bit like a decent New York-style. But the extra cheese is crucial.
I tried Pizza Hut's new pasta, delivered, and it was pretty good, all things considered.
One of the things I wistfully imagine about what it would be like living in New York city would be getting almost any kind of foodand good food at thatdelivered almost 24 hours a day. That would be wonderful.
Providing that I could order via the web and not have to talk to anyone on the phone.
Ordering through your TV? How boring.
Sony Online Entertainment lets you type "/pizza" with a couple of their online game to launch a web browser and bring up order screen at pizzahut.com.
It should be pointed out the person who used to own Domino's, Tom Monaghan, the Pizza Pope, is using the money millions of liberals spent on pizzas to build an ulta-conservative, Catholic municipality. Take Domino's off speed dial.
Ditto tpx. Papa John's offers online delivery without the politics.
In defense of online vs. phone, I live in an apartment complex on a street with a virtually unpronounceable, unspellable name. Much better to use a website than to rely on a harried minimum wage slave to spell my details correctly.
I would drive to the local independent pizza shop, but I'm usually half drunk when the pizza craving hits around 9 pm.
Alex, don't look my way, I avoid chain pizza as much as possible. In a pinch, I'll get a McPizza, but I'd even prefer having to pick up a pizza from a momnpop indie owned place that doesn't deliver (or can't deliver because their lone driver is at night school) than have chain pizza delivered.
I can already order from Pizza Hut via text message.
I can already order from Pizza Hut via text message.
That's all very well, but what if your cell phone is across the room, while the remote is right there in your hand?
Why have not cell phone makers included a universal A/V remote in their phones?
New York-style pizza is highly overrated. All bread, too little of everything else. And I live in New York. That is all.
Seems that Pizza on Demand (PoD) is a slippery slope that will inevitably turn one of my old favorite Dilbert strips into reality. During the dotcom foolishness years, little bald Wally became an Internet entrepreneur (sporting the requisite ponytail) with the mission statement, "To be the pre-eminent tunafish sandwich provider on the Internet". I'm hoping that TFSoD will soon join our vernacular. Go Wally! A visionary for the ages!
You guys are missing the point. Here it is: through on-demand services (like pizza) advertisers will have a much better sense of the effectiveness of their marketing budget. Assuming the phone and the internet are comparable, in one instance, if the advertiser can tie the order directly to a marketing budget (through the net) or indirectly (through the phone) they'll prefer the net because of the information they'll learn about the customer. This is a system for marketers to better understand ROI on marketing budgets, not just to drive people to make impulse buys.