The HUB has recently undergone changes, but it seems that not all updates have been well-received. Recently, kiosks students use to order food at most restaurants have received a software update.

While these changes might be more beneficial to the workers at the HUB, it has definitely made it more annoying to order at your favorite HUB location.

Personally, I can’t help but be aggravated when I go to Jamba Juice and have to click through nine different screens just to order my Dream Machine smoothie. The update now makes students select through every ingredient instead of just ordering a smoothie normally.

The same goes for McAllister’s, which has a half-dozen parameters to check before finalizing your order. In situations like these, sometimes digitizing this process isn’t the best option. We all have a go-to order at some of these places. Why do we have to jump through hoops to get what we want and delay the process for everyone in line?

The newfound problems don’t stop there. In the area where you’ll find places like Grate Chee, Blue Burrito, and Slim Chickens, there are two soda fountain machines. Before, the dispensers were old-school and efficient, but now they’ve been digitized.

It might not seem like much, and this is probably more convenient for the staff, but the inconvenience has been passed on to the patrons. A medium, 22 oz cup takes over a minute to fill because of all the fizz. Compare that to a 20 oz cup with an older dispenser at the Panera in the Kern Building, which takes just 11 seconds.

How does a modernized system take six times longer? The taste isn’t considerably better, and even if it was, it’s not a good trade-off for a device designed for efficiency.

The odd thing is that the considerable delay is only a huge issue. To further test this theory, a soda fountain with the same system as the new ones in the HUB is located in the Redifer Commons and takes 26 seconds to fill a 16 oz cup.

Obviously, all cups aren’t the same size, but the soda fountain at Redifer takes 1.62 seconds per ounce, while the HUB’s takes 2.9 seconds per ounce.

There’s no reason for that. If one machine is taking almost twice as long as another, it needs to be seriously evaluated.

This isn’t just complaining into the void. Not only is it an annoyance to students, but it causes unnecessary delays in line, especially during the lunch rush. Nothing is more annoying than hanging around in a line for much longer than you need to.

Technological advancements come with time, and we recognize that. We just hope that, with some input from the people affected, work is done in the near future to expedite these processes in the most popular area on campus for people to gather and, for many, eat.