You could totally make dinner.

There is food in the kitchen.

The restaurant you want is ten minutes away.

You could even call it in and pick it up yourself.

But then you’d have to…

get up.

So you open the app.

DELIVERY: 32–47 MINUTES.

Perfect :)

INTENT

DINNER, WITHOUT THE ANNOYING PART

Food delivery existed long before the apps.

But your options were limited.

Some places delivered.

Some didn’t.

You needed the menu.

You had to call.

You had to know what you wanted.

Then suddenly every restaurant was in one place.

Scroll.

Tap.

Track.

YOUR FOOD COMES TO YOU.

For busy people, people without cars, people working late, parents, hungover

people, anyone who simply does not feel like leaving the house…

Amazing!!!

A tiny problem disappeared.

And once it disappeared, we got used to life without it.

OUTCOME

THEN EVERYTHING ELSE STARTED FEELING LIKE A LOT OF EFFORT

Drive ten minutes to pick up dinner?

Absolutely not.

Call the restaurant?

Why would I do that?

Cook the food that’s already in my kitchen?

Let’s not get crazy.

Convenience has a funny way of doing this.

It doesn’t just make the easier option easier.

IT MAKES THE OLD OPTION FEEL HARDER.

Nothing about picking up dinner changed.

We did.

And the apps got very good at being the answer before we even decided what the

question was.

Open app.

Scroll until something looks good.

Add something else because you’re already ordering.

Watch a tiny car move across the map.

Dinner!!!

Then it arrives.

The food is a little cold.

Something spilled.

The fries have experienced things.

You paid more than you would’ve at the restaurant.

And tomorrow night?

You might do it again.

Because none of that changes the fact that you didn’t have to go anywhere.

AND THAT’S REALLY NICE.

That’s what makes this complicated.

REMAINS

HOW CONVENIENT DO WE NEED LIFE TO BE?

Look, I’m not deleting the apps.

Sometimes having dinner appear at your door is exactly what you need.

Sometimes paying extra to get an hour of your life back is completely worth it.

The original promise still works.

Food delivery was supposed to save us effort.

IT DID.

But once effort disappears from something, even a little bit of it coming back can

start to feel unreasonable.

Ten minutes there.

Ten minutes back.

Putting something in a pan.

Things we did without thinking suddenly have competition from doing absolutely

nothing.

And doing absolutely nothing is very hard to beat.

So no, delivery apps didn’t ruin dinner.

They did something much more ordinary.

They made dinner easier.

We got used to easier.

And now sometimes the hardest part of getting food is simply deciding:

HOW BADLY DO I NOT WANT TO LEAVE THE HOUSE?