Jetblue Airlines Terminal, and the future of ordering?

My wife and I were recently at the new Jetblue Airlines Terminal at JFK Airport in Queens, NY.  We were taking a flight to California, but had some time to eat dinner before boarding...and decided that eating at the airport would be the best option considering our timing.

While the new Jetblue terminal is quite impressive, I was most impressive by a small Boar's Head sandwich shop with the larger JetBlue Food Court.  The shop seemed to be operating in an efficient fashion without a human taking the order!  My initial reaction was to look for some other area where you order, but what I found was pleasantly surprising.

Instead of a human being, there was a touch-screen interface, which customers were using to place a quite elaborate sandwich order.   Everything from picking the bread, to the sandwich "insides" (meat, cheese, etc), to the toppings (and amounts) was chosen in a step-by-step visual interface.  Even the price was instantly updated, and items were easily added and undone.

Once entered, the order was instantly sent to one of 5 workers who were preparing sandwiches behind a deli counter to the left of the touchscreen.  There were two touchscreens, and customers waited in two lines to use each one.  Once a worker called out the appropriate number, the customer took their sandwich and went to pay at the cashier nearby in the Jetblue Food Court.

Now, while the cashier area for this Food Court serviced all of the shops (to allow customers to pick and choose from various eateries and snacks before paying), the fact that the sandwich shop was working well by eliminating a front-register human being spoke volumes about a possible future for fast food, and food ordering in general.  Just the fact that:

a) the orders were being put in by customers themselves and transmitted to those who were actually making the sandwiches

b) the customers seemed to have no problem with the interface, or the fact that they were entering orders in on a touchscreen

really speaks to how far we've come, and have adapted to the use of visual interfaces and computers to enter, interpret, and transmit our needs to the actual people doing the service.  I could not see this possible years ago without the ubiquitous takeover of the internet, and the visual interfaces and cues that come with it.  And I expect to see more of it soon...