It’s happened to us all; we come home late at night, we’re hungry, and even making ramen is probably beyond our capabilities, whether due to exhaustion or mass quantities of alcohol. So you order a pizza. Already a simple process, but this being America, there’s nothing we can’t make simpler, in this case with a button called the PiePal.
The concept is pretty simple: Connect button to Internet, turn dial for pizza, press button. But if you need a more elaborate demonstration, here’s a video:
As you may have guessed, the tongue is ever-so-slightly in the cheek with this particular pitch, but this is a real thing that actually exists. In fact, this is what the developer, iStrategy Labs, does to make money; they build “social machines”, devices that exist to help you buy stuff using hashtags. And it’s pretty technically complex for a silly joke; it uses an Arduino board and a Raspberry Pi to handle the tasks, the enclosure was 3D printed, and the whole thing runs a custom JavaScript setup to tie into Dominos’ online ordering system to place your order and pay for it.
In other words, the PiePal had enough thought put into it to make the concept actually work. In fact, it’s so effective they’re actually working on way to keep people from accidentally tapping the button or to keep a toddler from playing a drum solo on the thing. So far, they’ve come up with an acrylic box with two different locks.
Ugh, I have to turn a key? I might as well use an app.