George Rizter views modern society as being fast-paced and highly mobile. We are living in a society in which we are constantly calculating time. We need to know how much time it takes from one place to the next because time has grown to be very valuable to us.
The McDonald's system provides efficiency in this society obsessed with time saving, to assist us in our fast-paced need-to-get-where-I'm-going lifestyle. Rizter says it "offers us the optimum method for getting from one point to another."" He also states that the fast-food model offers us an efficient method for satisfying many of our needs.
This system also allows for us to rely on the importance of quantity becoming the equivalent of quality. We as a society now believe that the more we are getting for our money means the more quality we are receiving. .
This system also allows for us to find great comfort by being so predictable. Since our society is so fast-paced, we have not time for surprises that will slow us down. We rely on knowing that whatever we find in one McDonalds we will find the same exact product in the other.
Another aspect of the McDonalds system that allows for its efficiency is the division of labor incorporated into it, be it human or nonhuman. Every worker is specialized in his or her own task. Managers watch over this in order for the system to .
remain in control. Rizter states that the consumer is controlled as well. He is offered few choices and an uncomfortable environment in which he is persuaded to purchase and leave as quickly as possible "once again, everything is FAST-PACED.
I've experienced this "McDonaldization- through out my own life. I've seen it incorporated into other peoples' lives as well. Virtually everyone I know is just trying to get from one place to another with no time to slow down in between.
One way I've experienced this system is through the use of One Hour Photo labs.