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Since the first ViewTouch computer was shown to the public at ComDex Las Vegas in November of 1986 I have never been able to say that there has such a thing as a computer specifically built by any company with any specific intent that it would be used as a ViewTouch PoS (point of sale) computer. Until now a ViewTouch PoS computer has only been so in name because it was running ViewTouch PoS software. Today this all changes. I am finally able to say, at long last, after 42 years of my lifetime creating Point of Sale software, that I can offer for sale a ViewTouch PoS computer. In cooperation with the Chipsee company of China, this first-ever ViewTouch computer has several features which have been specifically integrated into their AIO-CM4-156 Raspberry Pi touchscreen computer by the Chipsee team.
The arrangements with ChipSee allow us to offer a customized version of their AIO-CM4-156 touchscreen computer featuring the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 lite. This first-ever ViewTouch PoS computer showcases a 15.6" touchscreen, wifi, 32 Gb storage and attaches to any 75mm VESA mounting hardware. Running ViewTouch the processor remains very cool - 95 to 98 Fahrenheit idling and 100 to 104 in use. The Broadcom Processor quad cores average only 1% to 3% load when in use ! ViewTouch loads in less than 3 seconds from launching. Only the single very thin cable which powers the ViewTouch PoS computer is visible and is easily concealable by a raceway on the base.
A second display can be attached so that prep personnel can see what upcoming orders look like as they are being entered into the PoS. When more than one ViewTouch PoS computer is in use only one of them actually runs the program and manages data in storage. Successive ViewTouch PoS computers receive a graphical touchscreen session transparently over the network from the computer running the ViewTouch program. There is no real-world limit to the number of ViewTouch PoS computers in a network.
The ViewTouch PoS computer is only available from ViewTouch; it's priced at approximately $400, plus $100 FedEx shipping from Bejing, a nominal local bank wire fee and a $30 international bank fee. Shipping time is via FedEx and is one week. ViewTouch software and 24/7 support is $49 monthly.
September, 2021 - ViewTouch can now be used by hospitality customers to enter their food and beverages !
A longstanding customer (i.e., a restaurant operator using ViewTouch and paying 9 each month for support) called me last month and asked me if I could configure ViewTouch so that his customers could enter their own orders. He was losing a waitress and was facing having to replace her in this era of 5/hour wages and 32% government taxes on wages. He also noted that it has been very difficult for all restaurants to find people who want to work ! I traveled to the customer's location and worked on meeting this challenge and am happy to announce that with the changes I made in the interface he has been able to continue operations without hiring a replacement staff. The overwhelming majority of his customers have accepted and welcomed this new approach to how ViewTouch can be used. His restaurant is operating with a significantly increased profit margin because of his decision to switch the process of allowing customers to enter their food and beverage orders with ViewTouch.
My original vision for ViewTouch in the 1980's was that the 'Order Entry Touchscreen' I had designed and built was, in fact, designed for use by restaurant customers, and not for use by restaurant employees. In the years since the introduction of graphical touchscreen point of sale in 1986 the individuals and companies copying the ideas in ViewTouch never understood this important aspect of its original intended use. I am truly delighted that there are ViewTouch customers boldly returning to my original vision of customers entering their own food and beverages rather than relying on the restaurant's wait staff. The reduction of revenue spent on labor results in a very significant increase in a restaurant's profitability. We now live in a world where people have no longer have any aversions to using touchscreens and quite literally expect that they should be able to use touchscreens in restaurants to enter their own choices and preferences from the menu.
I look forward to offering this special new version of ViewTouch to all of our customers !
July 25, '21: The latest ViewTouch image file is available. A second new image file is also available - an auxiliary support image file meant to reside on a USB Flashdrive. This turns a USB FlashDrive into a device which can transfer a user's data files and data history to another Raspberry Pi computer. Download Page
June 6, '21: Since the arrival of the Raspberry Pi (RPi) computers a new era has unfolded for ViewTouch point of sale users. The 'hardware' has become universally affordable and available; what was once merely a dream and a hope is now a very satisfactory reality. ViewTouch Point of Sale, the hardware and the software ViewTouch runs on is 100% either focused on or based upon Linux and GNU-licensed Free Software. A relatively recent development benefiting ViewTouch users is the ViewTouch Desktop ! The ViewTouch Desktop is part of the ViewTouch bootable image file which is downloadable from the ViewTouch Web site. A score ( 20 ! ) of icons on the ViewTouch Desktop make it a very easy matter to refresh (i.e. reboot), update all of the software, access extensive documentation, safely preserve and restore one's data when upgrading a computer, configure network connections and printers, and to do much more.
**May 16, '21: ViewTouch builds on G++ 8, 9, 10 C++17, on Clang 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 C++17, on G++ 10 C++20, on Clang 10 C++20,
** NeroBurner has once again outdone himself by completing significant refactoring and performance improvements in the ViewTouch code base. In resolving some longstanding omissions in the ViewTouch bootstrap sequence NeroBurner refactored the bootstrap sequence for ViewTouch by rebasing the bootstrap code with the standardized curl component, libcurl and its C++ wrapper. libcurl is a portable, powerful and often used network transfer library.
There are restaurants as far away from the USA as Australia which are using ViewTouch and there are restaurants which have been using ViewTouch for twenty years !! Restaurants which are enrolled in ViewTouch support at $49/month typically receive a new Raspberry Pi computer from ViewTouch at no cost every few years. These restaurants also get help perfecting their menu interface and tweaking their point of sale settings as well as wholesale prices on point of sale peripherals: touchscreens, printers, tablets and cash drawers. There is nothing more important about a point of sale solution than reliability, low cost, versatility and a menu interface which is intuitive and as close to perfect as possible. There is no point of sale solution which can match ViewTouch on these terms.
C++ programmers, whether novice, intermediate or expert, are invited to freely examine, study, copy and to even refactor or improve the ViewTouch C++ code base by replacing existing functionality with standardized components ! You not only help yourself but also help others around the world who rely on ViewTouch point of sale to run their restaurants more efficiently, professionally, and easily. A point of sale system is absolutely necessary for restaurant operators who want to make the most of technology, enabling the hospitality staff to work together as a technology-enabled workgroup. To think that this can be done using Raspberry Pi computers and Android tablets is quite literally a dream come true, the dream that I had as a restaurant owner/operator in the 1970's !!
The latest image features all of the refactored code which NeoBurner has contributed since June, 2018. The details of his vast contributions are too comprehensive to even begin to mention here. Select '...' > 'Insights' > 'Network' to see them!
Best tablet recommendation for February, 2021 Samsung Tab tablets !
Android Tablets make great ViewTouch terminals. The ViewTouch POS image for the Raspberry Pi includes an enhanced ViewTouch desktop with a QR code which tablets can read to automatically install the ViewTouch X Server software on the tablet.
99% of the refactoring has been accomplished through the efforts of NeroBurner. I traveled to Vienna to meet and work with him. There are not enough talented, hard working free software developers like NeroBurner in this world. His contribution to free software is unique because he understands the need for comprehensive solutions in specific use cases for vertical markets such as Hospitality Point of Sale, the world's largest such market. NeroBurner's approach to the ViewTouch code base shows the way forward. It is characterized by a mastery of modern day development tools: C++, Qt Creator, SourceTrail, and Git debugging itself.
My gratitude to NeroBurner on behalf of the ViewTouch community, resulting in the integration of Howard Hinnant's tz.h library as a replacement for the custom time/date handling code which ViewTouch relied upon until now. This is a major step forward. The tz.h library is a date and time library based on the C++11/14/17 header. This enhancement heralds the arrival of a very much modernized and standardized version of a key foundational component of the ViewTouch source code. The tz.h library is a complete parser of the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) Time Zone Database.
August 1, 2018: This refinement is the result of recent contributions of the CMake based configuring system by NeroBurner. CMake provides and manages the ViewTouch software compilation process using simple platform and compiler independent configuration files. It generates native makefiles and workspaces that can be used in the development environment of one's choice.
September 4, 2017: The 1080p resolution of the ViewTouch graphical interface have made it possible to enhance the source code based explanatory text in several pages of ViewTouch which will help new users with the initial configuration and setup which customizes it for their specific needs. The vt_data file found in /usr/viewtouch/bin complements the source code and routinely is refined with new enhancements in the user interface.
There is a method of building hospitality menus which makes it easy to establish uniform 'Tabs' on Index and Item pages. Tabs are essential in a hospitality interface because they make it possible to navigate to any Menu Item page with one touch. Tabs must be positioned consistently across all Index and Item pages. This method automatically builds all the Tabs for these pages and positions them consistently across all Index and Item pages, significantly reducing the time it takes to build an interface while substantially improving it! Send me an email and I'll explain how to do activate this feature in your menu.
The TOP utility reports that ViewTouch uses one percent of the RAM on a Raspberry Pi Model 4B ! ViewTouch has no difficulty running on the Model 3 A+'s 512 Mb RAM. A reminder that the default resolution for ViewTouch is 1920 x 1080, also known as 1080p. The recommended 22" touchscreen is the Acer UT241Y.