Recently, an odd set of coincidences made me wonder if, as a society, we’ve gone over the line in technology dependence.

Item 1) A Quiznos sandwich store was getting ready to set up shop in the lobby of the OpenLogic building. Signs announcing its arrival met every entrant. A huge, heavily bolted Quiznos kiosk was stashed in the corner trying to look unobtrusive. Then, it just went away. Signs explained it was moved to another building in the office park. The reason (not explained on the sign)? They couldn’t get a comm line for their credit card machine.

Item 2) I took my son to Red Robin a few weeks back. When we finished and asked for the check, we waited and waited. Eventually, our server came by to apologetically explain that their “system went down.” We waited for at least 20 minutes after our meal was done. Back at the server’s station, I could see a Windows logo coming up, then disappearing like a drowning sailor - no doubt it was bobbing repeatedly with a Ctl-Alt-Del dunking. Finally she came back with a hand-written ticket and credit-card charge slip. Their system never came up. By the time my charge showed up on my account it was for several dollars more than I had signed for. Just enough to not make it worth the bother to contest it, but just enough to feel like they stuck it to me.

Item 3) OpenLogic engineers often go to Heidi’s Deli, but on more than one occasion, we’ve been turned away right at the start of the lunch rush because they couldn’t take cards. They blew an entire 2 hr lunch window.

In all 3 cases, the business ground to an halt due to lack of basic, working technology and no support. In 2 cases, the businesses decided they couldn’t even make a sandwich without a network connection. In all cases, there was no alternative process in place to conduct business.

Have we become so dependent upon business technology that the average street vendor in Bombay, armed with a cell phone and enough inventory to fit on a rickshaw, could out-hustle a successful national sandwich franchise?