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Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

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Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#101

Post by bandergirl »

gruez wrote: post #76
Caligatio wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's your strategy for dealing with jquery not getting loaded? Host it on your own infrastructure so that it's the same reliability as your site itself?

That might be doable if the library is jquery or whatever, but how are you going to replace google maps? Hosting an OSM tiles server is non-trivial, and I highly doubt that you'll be able to host it with better reliability than google.

jQuery isn't Google Maps. Different tools have different solutions.

You can save your site by self-hosting jQuery, but if your business depends on Google Maps you should at least handle failure more gracefully than a blank screen.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#102

Post by gabereiser »

kazinator wrote: post #99
gabereiser wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When using a browser, that’s the location api that was available at the time. Was there a better option in 2013?

- Ask the user to select a location. I may want to know the nutritional facts about an item somewhere else. Say I'm traveling there. - Have websites in different countries: like if I go to macdonalds.co.jp, I get the nutritional facts in Japanese about the Japanese Big Mac. Geolocation is rude, lame and broken.

>Ask the user to select a location. I may want to know the nutritional facts about an item somewhere else. Say I'm traveling there.

At the time, it was only National in the USA. You could lookup different stores to get menus after the app determined your closest store.

>Have websites in different countries: like if I go to macdonalds.co.jp, I get the nutritional facts in Japanese about the Japanese Big Mac.

I believe they do this now.

At the time it was implemented, there wasn’t a bias like there is today against location API’s. They hadn’t been used (yet) for tracking purposes outside of maps and what we were doing. No ad based geo fencing and location sharing.

The big issue is QSR’s are fast food. Fast food must be fast. Under 10 minutes. Any select, drop down, input box to enter in your address, added extra complexity to the checkout ordering process during our focus groups. Having an image of the item, add to order, checkout to nearest store, results in a 10x reduction in ordering time. It makes the user experience of the ordering process streamlined and smooth and operational from your vehicle with one hand.

I would build the same system today.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#103

Post by cosmotic »

reactordev wrote: post #51

The sourced ingredients are indeed regional. The menu is regional as well. The website is built on top of their mobile ordering platform. The mobile ordering platform requires your location to be able to route your order to the “correct” McDonald’s. This is done via requesting your location from Google or via location services within the mobile app. This platform is used by a lot of different QSRs. Or Quick Service R…

I find mcdonalds won't let me submit my order until I'm on the same block, and it adds an extra step during ordering, and it makes the app janky. I then have to wait while they prepare. This is not an improvement over the non geotracked version.

I specifically order starbucks long before I get there because I prefer their hot food to cool down before I eat. Mcdonalds takes that agency away.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#104

Post by gabereiser »

cosmotic wrote: post #103
reactordev wrote: post #51

The sourced ingredients are indeed regional. The menu is regional as well. The website is built on top of their mobile ordering platform. The mobile ordering platform requires your location to be able to route your order to the “correct” McDonald’s. This is done via requesting your location from Google or via location services within the mobile app. This platform is used by a lot of different QSRs. Or Quick Service R…

I find mcdonalds won't let me submit my order until I'm on the same block, and it adds an extra step during ordering, and it makes the app janky. I then have to wait while they prepare. This is not an improvement over the non geotracked version. I specifically order starbucks long before I get there because I prefer their hot food to cool down before I eat. Mcdonalds takes that agency away.

I do not take responsibility for the current state, only the tech that enabled us to be there. I personally do not eat at McDonald’s.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#105

Post by wlonkly »

gabereiser wrote: post #79
Kwpolska wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d rather not be picked up by Uber at the middle of whichever area shares my postal code, and I’d rather not get my food delivered there. On the other hand, postal codes can sometimes apply to a handful of buildings, and sometimes can apply to entire cities, depending on the country and local area, so they can either be very unhelpful or almost as invasive as sharing your precise location.

There are entire counties here in the US with the same zip code. Varying by miles. So yeah, it’s not a reliable source of location for delivery purposes without a complete address.

It fails in the other direction in Canada, where a specific postal code works like a 9+4 zip code, in that it might identify one side of one block of a street, so it doesn't give you much additional privacy through precision loss anyway.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#106

Post by gabereiser »

wlonkly wrote: post #105
gabereiser wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are entire counties here in the US with the same zip code. Varying by miles. So yeah, it’s not a reliable source of location for delivery purposes without a complete address.

It fails in the other direction in Canada, where a specific postal code works like a 9+4 zip code, in that it might identify one side of one block of a street, so it doesn't give you much additional privacy through precision loss anyway.

The US does that too in most places. 5+4 zip codes. It's still not enough and suffers the same precision issues and we (the USA) are woefully ill-prepared for the housing build out boom that will happen in the next decade. We need a better system. We will exhaust our zip codes like we have our IPv4 addresses.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#107

Post by wlonkly »

gabereiser wrote: post #106
wlonkly wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It fails in the other direction in Canada, where a specific postal code works like a 9+4 zip code, in that it might identify one side of one block of a street, so it doesn't give you much additional privacy through precision loss anyway.

The US does that too in most places. 5+4 zip codes. It's still not enough and suffers the same precision issues and we (the USA) are woefully ill-prepared for the housing build out boom that will happen in the next decade. We need a better system. We will exhaust our zip codes like we have our IPv4 addresses.

Oops, right, 5+4, not 9+4. Counting is hard.

But yeah, what I meant to express was that Canada doesn't have a lower-precision version in regular use.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#108

Post by TheCleric »

bandergirl wrote: post #100
TheCleric wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have done that in the past, but there is an upside to not doing it that way. If you use a CDN, and the user has already loaded it from the CDN via another site, that's only less thing to download. So it can make your site seem faster for a subset of users.

> the user has already loaded it from the CDN via another site That hasn't been true for years due to timing attacks. See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24745748

Did not know this had changed. Thanks for the information.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#109

Post by Clent »

ben_w wrote: post #87
Clent wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are websites that look for ad-blockers and demand you turn them off. The website has every right to server you the content as they seem fit. You are not entitled to an experience other than the one they are willing to provide.

> You are not entitled to an experience other than the one they are willing to provide. And they aren't entitled to have me as a user or customer. As ad blocking is a matter of basic digital sanitation, this is roughly analogous to me refusing to do business with a doctor whose office has a sign outside saying "no facemasks may be worn" — they might be allowed by law to make a bad demand, but it's still bad and they…

Using an ad block analogy, you aren't refusing to do business with the doctor.

A better analogy is you go into a doctors office, there have pamphlets for other services offered that you are no interested in, so rip the pamphlet displays off the wall and complain you're the victim for not being allowed to see the doctor.

Re: Google Maps is a critical dependency for nutrition facts on mcdonalds.com

#110

Post by bombcar »

gabereiser wrote: post #106
wlonkly wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It fails in the other direction in Canada, where a specific postal code works like a 9+4 zip code, in that it might identify one side of one block of a street, so it doesn't give you much additional privacy through precision loss anyway.

The US does that too in most places. 5+4 zip codes. It's still not enough and suffers the same precision issues and we (the USA) are woefully ill-prepared for the housing build out boom that will happen in the next decade. We need a better system. We will exhaust our zip codes like we have our IPv4 addresses.

Zip codes don't need to identify buildings, they need to identify post offices (and with +4, mail carrier routes).

That's a much smaller number.

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