Planet Money
Did a pizza restaurant’s humble status page change how we wait forever?
When you order a Lyft or Uber, you get texts every few minutes about your car approaching and arriving. When you have a package coming, you get a notification when it’s shipped, when it’s en route, and when it’s out for delivery. Why do so many companies send these constant updates?
We have a theory: It’s because of Domino’s. In 2008, Domino’s launched the Pizza Tracker, a novel tool that delighted customers by allowing them to obsessively monitor their pizza’s progress from order to oven to delivery. The Pizza Tracker became a canonical model for other companies trying to improve their customers’ experiences of waiting for all kinds of products and services. And now? Pizza Trackers are everywhere.
On today’s show: how the Domino’s Pizza Tracker shaped the internet, and how trackers went from transparently sharing information with consumers to — in some cases — actively deceiving us.
Support:
— Planet Money+
Read:
— Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life
— Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter
— Our weekly Indicator round-up newsletter
Follow:
— Instagram
— TikTok
— YouTube
— Facebook
This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Alex Mayyasi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Liza Yeager, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
-
The Parable of Peanut the Memecoin
Memecoins are having a moment. Everyone from Hawk Tuah to President Donald Trump to animal influencers like Moo Deng the pygmy hippo have been turned into cryptocurrency. But what are the costs of all the…
-
The Memecoin Casino
What do Moo Deng the pygmy hippo, social media sensation Hawk Tuah, and the President of the United States all have in common? They’ve all inspired highly valuable, highly volatile memecoins. The humble memecoin began…
-
The controversy over Tyson Foods’ hiring of asylum seekers
Last year, Tyson Foods shuttered a meat processing plant in Perry, Iowa. The company said it made the decision because the plant was old and inefficient. But the closure was devastating for the residents of…
-
The rise and fall of Long Term Capital Management
There’s this cautionary tale, in the finance world, that nearly any trader can tell you. It’s about placing too much confidence in math and models. It’s the story of Long Term Capital Management. The story…
-
Can the president override Congress on spending?
So the president can’t spend more money than Congress has agreed and voted to spend. But can the president spend less money than Congress wants? It all comes down to something called “impoundment” and the…
-
The Big Government Money Pipe Freeze
There has been chaotic uncertainty around billions of dollars allocated by Congress. The Trump administration ordered a pause on — and review of — certain types of federal assistance. A judge blocked that freeze. But…
-
The ‘Crypto Wizard’ vs. Nigeria
The trip that changed Tigran Gambaryan’s life forever was supposed to be short — just a few days. When he flew to Nigeria in February of 2024, he didn’t even check a bag. Tigran is…
-
The fight for a legendary shipwreck’s treasure
The San Jose was a marvel of 17th century technology. The Spanish galleon weighed more than a thousand tons, was made of wood reinforced with iron, and featured three masts and 64 cannons. In its…
-
How the scratch off lottery changed America
Americans spend more on scratch lottery tickets per year than on pizza. More than all Coca-Cola products. Yet the scratch ticket as a consumer item has only existed for fifty years. Not so long ago,…
-
How DeepSeek changed the market’s mind
On Monday, the stock market went into a tizzy over a new AI model from Chinese company DeepSeek. It seemed to be just as powerful as many of its American competitors, but its makers claimed…