Loose analogy that came to mind here as I read this article:
McDonald's + Taylor: 1990s Wintel alliance
Kytch: 1990s AMD (plucky underdog)
New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
111–120 of 151 posts
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't been following this super closely but I think you're missing an entire angle of this. The copying part is just a symptom, the real issue was that 1. McDonald's forced all franchise owners to use this machine that would break often, and could only be fixed by this other company McDonalds had close ties to. 2. McDonald's didn't allow franchise owners to allow this other tool that allowed franchise owners to k…
Well, 1. and 2. is about contracts between McDonalds and their franchisees, so if a franchise owner feels unfairly harmed by this restriction, then they can sue McDonalds , it's not something about which Kytch should be able to sue Taylor. And, once again, it's perfectly reasonable and very common for franchise agreements to mandate certain suppliers for some products, goods and services, and the close ties don't mak…
The copying invalidates the claim that the original device was harmful.
It was safe enough that they decided to literally copy it. Unless they can provide contemporaneous evidence that they felt there was a specific aspect of it that was harmful.
At this point it seems like the only reason they said it was harmful was to avoid franchisees from using it, which would quite clearly qualify as defamation.
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe because McDonald's and/or Taylor think the average McDonald's employee is less reliable than the industry average restaurant worker. Or maybe McDonald's simply tolerates less liability than the rest and requested the machines be configured in this way. As far as I'm aware, McDonald's hasn't sued Taylor over this, maybe because it was their idea in the first place?
It is the franchisee who pays for repairs. Of course it was McD's idea. They make a cut.
I doubt they make more from repairs than by selling ice cream made by functional machines.
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#114In my naivety I build a startup that fixed a problem for a fortune 500 company thinking they would be delighted. They weren't. These big companies are staffed by individuals who are focused on their career and will do absolutely anything to extinguish your company/idea and pretend it was their idea and champion the company's initiative. It's disgusting but it's reality and if you are a founder be ready for it.
Positive global gradient is insufficient; positive local gradient is necessary, at all links of the value chain.
As a non-native English speaker, I dont get this. Can someone explain it for me?
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#115The reason why McD tastes the same everywhere in the world is because of strict protocols like this. Ever wondered why Domino’s tastes very different depending on the country? I prefer predictability in quality and that is one thing that McD gets right
That's not even remotely true. McDonald's has completely different menu items in some countries, and the common ones frequently have ingredients of very different qualities.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the quality in the US is, shall we say, not at the top of the list.
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#116I don't see any basis why the complaint is interesting - there's assertion that the ice cream machine manufacturer is copying features of the competitor's device, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do and, in the absence of patent protection (the word "patent" is not mentioned in the article) absolutely permissible; and there's some assertion of "stealing trade secrets" without asserting any actual compromise o…
> I don't see any basis why the complaint is interesting Hard disagree. I'm finding this saga fascinating. You don't think Taylor lying to Wired journalists, and being called out for doing so, is interesting?
I have always found our putting up with Corporate PR lies so crazy. This wasn’t a stretch of the truth, or a belief what they were saying was true and missed a single internal email. Taylor’s statement was knowingly completely untrue.
Say what you want about the China social credit system but if there was a way the associated press could blackball Taylor/the spokesperson for Taylor from ever publishing another statement I think the world would be a better place.
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except the fries. In and Out fries are not very good (ironic since they make a point of making them fresh, which would make one think they should be better). Otherwise, better quality, prices, and service (and staff pay and treatment).
Yours does seem to be the more commonly expressed sentiment, but I love In-n-Out's fries, in particular, compared to McD's. McD's are too often "would you like some fries with that salt?", and IMO the In-n-Out ones just taste better. More "meat" to them. Don't seem to turn into cardboard like McD fries. But it's taste, I suppose.
Not a big fan of either of their fries to be honest. In and Outs are fresh, but not blanched and so soft and mushy. McDonalds, on the other hand, are crispy but lacks flavor and weirdly get cold extremely fast.
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
“I sometimes wonder what a better McDonalds would look like.” I think a better McDonalds looks a lot like In and Out. If the Founder is accurate, McDonalds was a lot like In and Out at one time and operated like it. Chick-fil-a operates similarly. One thing that is always fascinating to me when I go to either of those two fast food restaurants is the army of workers they have on staff at any time. Usually each doing…
"Better" for whom? McDonald's is massively successful with $200 billion market cap and its stock essentially only goes straight up. The franchisees have always had gripes with corporate, always want to save a few pennies, but these arguments are tiny in the grand scheme... most franchisees are also enormously successful and fantastically rich. Nobody is forcing you to go to McDonald's, stick with INO if it makes you…
No doubt. I am not saying that McDoanlds is unsuccessful, rather that by customer satisfaction surveys In and Out wins. They also have, perhaps, a less scalable model of business and so can never grow to McDonalds size while also maintaining that quality.
Interestingly, Chick-fil-a has learned to scale and maintain quality.
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
“I sometimes wonder what a better McDonalds would look like.” I think a better McDonalds looks a lot like In and Out. If the Founder is accurate, McDonalds was a lot like In and Out at one time and operated like it. Chick-fil-a operates similarly. One thing that is always fascinating to me when I go to either of those two fast food restaurants is the army of workers they have on staff at any time. Usually each doing…
"Better" for whom? McDonald's is massively successful with $200 billion market cap and its stock essentially only goes straight up. The franchisees have always had gripes with corporate, always want to save a few pennies, but these arguments are tiny in the grand scheme... most franchisees are also enormously successful and fantastically rich. Nobody is forcing you to go to McDonald's, stick with INO if it makes you…
> "Better" for whom? McDonald's is massively successful with $200 billion market cap and its stock essentially only goes straight up.
And this is exactly the source of the problem: the idea that the purpose of McDonald's (or any other company) is to provide Number Go Up thrills to its stockholders, rather than to produce a good product, with the profit being the reward for doing so well.
Re: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Better" for whom? McDonald's is massively successful with $200 billion market cap and its stock essentially only goes straight up. The franchisees have always had gripes with corporate, always want to save a few pennies, but these arguments are tiny in the grand scheme... most franchisees are also enormously successful and fantastically rich. Nobody is forcing you to go to McDonald's, stick with INO if it makes you…
> "Better" for whom? McDonald's is massively successful with $200 billion market cap and its stock essentially only goes straight up. And this is exactly the source of the problem: the idea that the purpose of McDonald's (or any other company) is to provide Number Go Up thrills to its stockholders, rather than to produce a good product , with the profit being the reward for doing so well.
What problem? McDonald's produces a terrific product that millions of people enjoy every day and that's why the stock does so well.
McDonald's goal isn't to produce the greatest burger in the world. It succeeds at the best combination of pretty tasty food, high menu variety, very convenient, generally quick, and low price. It is not #1 at any single attribute (maybe convenience) but the best overall combination.