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Comment by bhousel | Hacker News Reader

This is a pet peeve of mine. I honestly think we should reserve politeness for human-human interactions only.

When the self-checkout machine at the supermarket says things like "Please scan your item, Please place your item in the bag, Please scan your credit card, Please take your receipt" it devalues the word Please. The machine does not give a shit about you, so it should not be using that word.

Edit: I just jumped on a conference call. "Please enter your access code followed by the pound or hash sign. Please say your name and press the pound or hash sign. Thank you. You will now be connected to your conference." UGH!

(Yes I know I have unusually strong feelings about this issue).

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Traditionally 'please' is way of affirming lower status, the asking party accepts that they are lower status than you but would like you to consider taking an action their behalf. Since the machine cannot scan your items itself (yet) it has to ask you to do that, it can't really order you to do that.

I suppose it could say, "The process will begin when you start scanning items." but it's simpler to use the honorific.

In error messages apologizing is present perhaps because the service requested could normally be performed but due to circumstances it cannot.

The machine does not need to affirm its lower status. It's a machine.

When it becomes sentient, then it earns the right to talk to me like human would. Until then, don't pretend to be something that you are not.

Edit: Maybe I'm weird, but I would prefer it to say something like "SCAN NOW", in a robot voice. Maybe add an "OK" if you want to soften it up a bit.

I didn't say I agree with it, I was just giving you the back story :-) Personally I'd prefer it say something like "Brain the size of a planet and they have me scanning groceries, really, like I care about your groceries? Sure if you hold them up I'll have a look but really how about a nice game a 3D chess or a number factoring contest.." but that is because I recognize that I am amused by irony :-)

That said, perhaps the most correct thing it could do is use visual iconography and not say anything. I'm sure the non-english speakers don't really "get" what it is saying but they have learned which steps go after each utterance.

Exactly. A machine affirms its lower status by simply doing what it is supposed to do. Machines that incorrectly second-guess the user, or offer apologies often make people feel as though the machine is being condescending, or trying to control them instead.

Stallman said that non free software controls the users. Such software & its developers must be made to apologise, unless the software is made free.

"The machine does not need to affirm its lower status. It's a machine."

I think many 'normal' users need frequent reminders about that lower status. Many users, when confronted with a message such as "could not find file 'foo'", will feel that that is their fault.

On the flip-side, a machine that simply gives commands without saying please may be perceived by some as affirming its higher status. Or, at least, this may be the designer's concern.

It feels strange to mix "please" with such a direct imperative. In fact it comes across as the opposite, like an authority is talking down to you. They could at least use the polite construction, "Would you please scan your item now." It would feel more like a request.

There's another piece of it which is tone.

If you were standing at a checkout and the cashier wanted you to swipe your own card, he/she might say, "scan your card please".

But, while the words read as an imperative statement or command, you'd probably notice that the intonation is one akin to a question. For instance, the voice would rise at the end, as in inquiry.

I guess someday the machine will be sophisticated enough to recognize your preference, and adjust accordingly:

    "That PIN code isn't valid, s**thead. Try not to 
     f**k it up this time."

What a wonderful future it will be! ;-)

The machines in Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy had "Genuine People Personalities", a big feature of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Maybe with computer error messages there should be different message translations sent out based on browser capabilities and geographical location.

However, the company gives a shit about their bottom line. It has been proven that their customers - humans - react positively to humanized language and as a result this is just a natural outcome in markets where the bottom line is important (read:all).

The machine didn't write that phrase though - a human did.

Sure, and if I were ever to interact with that human directly, I'd use my politeness. I feel like manners should be something special just for us humans.

That's a very shallow way of looking at things. It's not about manners, it's about perceived bossy tone being subconsciously associated with the machine's owner.

You get that "scan your credit card, human" and you will leave the store with a fuzzy feeling that something was off, someone was rude to you. While some people will try and analyze it, most - won't. They will simply pin this on the shop as a company. Does the company need that? Nope, it doesn't. Hence the "please."

You are quite free to be impolite to the machine.

I'd prefer that the machines continue to be polite toward me, if for no other reason, because that makes it easier to ignore the interface, and push it into the background.

Without the "Please" the phrase sounds like an order. You don't really want a terminal ordering/telling you what to do.

The "Please" reframes it into a request.

Never underestimate the power of language. Yes, we know it's a pre-recorded message, but we also know a human wrote those words. I'd wager that a self-checkout that barked out commands without ever saying please would sound rude, robotic and harsh to users.

English sorry and please are wildcards and they got diluted to extent that non-native english speaking countries use it for a light form of an apology.

I agree that constantly repeating please is a bad UX instead of "Thank you for shopping...." it could display "Thanks. Have a nice day!"

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