On-Line Pizza Idea Is Clever but Only Half-Baked (1994)
Make sure you read the article not just the headline - this person actually NAILED it (not ironically):<p>&gt; Instead of simply letting people order a pizza, why not let them design it as well? Instead of showing an ordinary menu with a list of toppings, show a picture of a pizza with the toppings clustered on the side. Let teen-agers and college students build their own pizzas on-screen. Present a palette of toppings and let people place their mushrooms and green peppers and pepperoni anywhere on the pizza they want. The real pizza is customized accordingly. In other words, computer-aided pizza engineering.<p>&gt; This is precisely the sort of interactivity that computers and networks are good at.<p>&gt; [...]<p>&gt; Of course, this network designability concept easily extends to bouquets of flowers, boxes of chocolates, fruit baskets and the $6.85-billion annual market in mail-order clothes shopping. It would be perfect for all kinds of gift giving.