Extend your POS system with iPhone and iPod Touch

I went to a Korean restaurant called “Jang Mo Jib” in Downtown Vancouver today; despite how much I like the food there, I was really amazed by the way they took my order.

When I was focusing on the menu and told the waitress what I wanted, I totally didn’t realize the device she was holding; I was just assuming she was writing on a piece of paper. However, when I couldn’t say the name of the dish right, and she came closer and double check, I suddenly realized she was holding an Apple iPod Touch.

And by just a glance, I saw a bunch of names on the screen. At that moment, I knew she was taking orders with an iPod Touch. Surprised and amazed!

I don’t want to think how they could do that; either they pay $100 US to Apple so that they are licensed to develop their own application or they just code the application and jailbreak the iPod to use. Yet none of these matters. I was really thinking how technologies are changing the world.I am sure people are not surprised when a waitress is holding a palm or windows mobile device to take your order as they exist for such a long time already; now it’s probably the time for iPod Touch/iPhone to make some changes.

iPod Touch/iPhone have some advantages:

• Device cost is relatively cheap;
• Application development is fast and easy to maintain;
• Signal coverage is very good since it’s wi-fi based, you will just need to set up some more access point according to your need if the store is very big;
• Device is small and easy to carry;
• iPod Touch/iPhone supports multi-touch, users don’t need stylus to operate.

As an extended input device to a POS (Point Of Sale) system in a store or restaurant, iPod Touch/ iPhone can definitely enhance the efficiency of the entire group. Now you don’t need to take all the orders on a piece of paper, walk to the counter, key into the POS system–that’s double of your work and you waste the time in traveling back and forth; with the new system developed, probably you can use the time in walking back and forth to the counter, you can take another order from the table and shorten the waiting time of your customers. Imagine in a busy restaurant, if you can shorten the waiting time, how many percent you can add into your restaurant’s earning with a device that probably 1 out of 10 people already owns?

I am sure the trend of iPhone application use in restaurant/retail stores will go up, and is it a good idea to start learning Cocoa?