McDonald's turns to technology to tempt patrons

• Burning CDs, downloading mobile-phone ring tones and printing digital-quality photos soon could be the newest things on McDonald's menu.
• In a bid to draw the young and tech-savvy into its restaurants, McDonald's Corp. has begun pilot testing a new ATM-style device called the Blaze Net that allows customers to buy music and ring tones, print photos and surf the Web at the restaurant.
• Open since May 16, the new flagship restaurant near the Oakbrook Center shopping mall combines several high-tech gadgets yet to be seen in more conventional McDonald's eateries.
• The gadgets complement such unusual food offerings as lattes in the McCafe section of the store that is more reminiscent of a Starbucks than a burger joint.
• What is compelling, said Whitman, is the fact that the new restaurant "gives our customers the ability to do things at McDonald's they can't do at other places.
• The pilot test employs four remote computer screens at sit-down stations linked to two Blaze Net media production centers that spit out CDs and pictures.
• "The first step in the U.S. is Oak Brook," said First.
• The pilot test of the technology follows the initial introduction of similar equipment in Munich in November.
• Ideal for laptop, iPod and PDA users and even customers with little or no Web experience, the new Oak Brook flagship restaurant promises to be a live testing ground not only for technological ideas but also new menu items, said Whitman.
• The restaurant, with Wi-Fi internet access, multiple flat-screen TVs and video monitors upstairs and down, is dedicated to Charlie Bell, the former McDonald's chief executive who died of cancer in January, just eight months after becoming the youngest ever to get the job.