You guys think there will be a backlash to this? Some sort of modern luddite movement? Whenever I shop I refuse to use the self-checkout, you think that sort of thing might spread?
The whole thing where it checks if something is in bagging area seems to be pretty buggy in most of the stores where I've used them.
I visited a Walmart last week and notice they had converted 1/3 of the normal checkout aisles to self-checkout stations. They left the conveyor belts in and I noticed how people still used the conveyor belts the same way whether there was a line or not, unloading each item onto it before scanning them all.
How do you pick between buying wheat and taking it to the miller (preserving his job) and buying flour from the grocer?
Do you seek out gas stations that still pump gas for you?
Do you worry that buying a fuel efficient vehicle or insulated building can have a negative impact on people working for energy producers?
What requires me to go all the way down the rabbit hole? Everybody has moral beliefs that they don't follow to their extremist conclusions. I see people getting laid off or turnover being allowed to happen - I see that the replacement job for a cashier gig is sometimes even worse - I do my little part to make society a little less bad. I also don't feel that pure individualism is really the way to live so I do sacrifice a bit of a wait in line and hopefully it helps the girl that checked me out keep that gig for a little bit longer.
All you're really doing is creating more pointless work to treat the symptoms.
If pointless work is the best we've got that's fine by me just as long as someone's getting paid on the other end.
Besides if you're sick and know you won't be cured for quite a while you might treat the symptoms as well. Treating the symptoms isn't bad as long as we don't forget to also treat the cause.
What? I just assumed that everyone optimized for the minimization of time spent waiting in line. Personally, I'd never wait in line for self checkout if a cashier was idle!
Definitely. Our average grocery bill ranges from maybe USD $50 to $125 (we're empty nesters), so 1% of that would be noise level. Heck, back when baggers accepted tips, I always tipped at least $1 (when I was a teenaged grocery bagger it was for tips only); that's more than the 1% would be.
Probably
I'll be using epsilon to describe these quirks from now on :-)
Meanwhile, self checkouts are slow as hell, cumbersome, and double check everything you do, but still manage to not stop theft. Not to mention many purchases need a human in the loop anyway, and the amount of times other shoppers spend ten full minutes also fighting with the things, but without the understanding of the back end POS software, and you could easily replace a group of 4 self checkouts with the one person being paid to watch them anyway
"Over the years, Hanway and his umbrella fell victim to all sorts of abuse from Brits he passed on the sidewalk. The most pernicious abuse came from an unlikely source: coach drivers. In England at the time, hansom cabs (two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriages) and sedan chairs were the primary modes of transportation. Business boomed especially on rainy days, as both hansom cabs and sedan chairs came equipped with small canopies that kept passengers dry. When it rained, Londoners flocked to these coaches, so Hanway’s umbrella represented a threat to business.
Fearing an interruption in their personal incomes, many hansom cab drivers and sedan chair carriers grew violent toward Hanway. According to the British history magazine Look and Learn, when they saw him walking by, they often “pelted him with rubbish.” On one occasion, a hansom cab driver even tried to run Hanway over with his coach. Hanway reacted by using his umbrella to “give the man a good thrashing.”" - https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-public-shaming-of-...
Can’t buy booze in self checkout (in CA).
Plus you need someone to verify the customer is not already drunk - selling to someone who is already visibily intoxicated is a great way to a lawsuit.
I will always vote for raising the minimum wage but at the same time I know it probably makes automation more attractive.
But while I agree there is an impact, I also don't think we should avoid automation simply to have someone doing a mindless job if it could effectively be automated. People don't necessarily need jobs, they need the resources that having a job allows them access to.