Ignore all other signs and predictions regarding the future of Planet Earth. This is it. We have been given the official signal.

Spotted this weekend in Southern Virginia…

McDonald’s. No cashier. Just a computer.

I’d seen signs of this elsewhere. At Royal Farms or Sheetz or some Panera Breads (among others) one can order without talking. Yes, of course at many places there is online ordering from your computer or mobile device. Home delivery. Curbside delivery. It’s been done.

But walking into a McDonald’s–a McDonald’s!–and seeing the register turned around towards you?!

This is it. This is the future.

The robots have won fair and square.