7 ms·

Oh come on. Why are we still building technology that further isolates us from each other? You need facial recognition in a store to offer a customer rewards? W

Oh come on. Why are we still building technology that further isolates us from each other? You need facial recognition in a store to offer a customer rewards? Why can't you just remember your damn customers, person to person? Why must EVERYTHING be automated by computers? Further isolating us from each other and making us all less familiar with each other is what causes us to divide, and then it leads to people not understanding each other anymore. We all know where that gets us. From a scientific and engineering perspective, this stuff is great, but I don't think it's actually going to make our lives better.

tptacek 16y ago
Because you have thousands of customers every day, and you're open 18 hours a day and staffed by rotating shifts of people? Or because you're a chain of stores? Or because you operate a series of related businesses? I'm all for keeping things human-scale, but the idea that I'm going to have a personal relationship with the guy who sells me a TV is a bit much.
- joe_the_user 16y ago
  I don't want stores like that keeping any kind of track me. I remember ten years ago clerks at some grocery store had been trained to say good bye to me by my name after they read it from my credit card. The effect wasn't loyalty, it was creepiness. I notice this isn't done anymore.
  - tptacek 16y ago
    The stores here still do it. They think my name is Ramon Vera, though.
    - donw 16y ago
      My name... is Inigo Montoya. You billed my father. Prepare to die.
ThomPete 16y ago
That really depends on what it's used for. I don't see it as a replacement, but as an improvement.
- joubert 16y ago
  I live in a luxury building in Manhattan. 35 floors. We have 5 doormen; they know every single person who lives in the building by name. Not only that, but they also know regular visitors by name. When one walks in, they don't glance at a monitor to figure out who you are. They know you, they remember previous conversations (oh hi, Joubert, didn't you recently see Momix at The Joyce?) I cant stand it when a "customer service representative" has to "fake" knowing me.
  - tptacek 16y ago
    That's 5 people who's full time job is almost entirely to know the names of a little less than 1000 people. There are plenty of stores in which that many different, new people walk through the door every day.
  - olalonde 16y ago
    What about the day no one wants to do this shitty job? Maybe then you'll be happy that some computer recalls your name. I know this sounds provocative but my point is that some jobs will simply get replaced by computers and robots in a not so distant future. The same happened with agriculture in less than a century and the day will come that no one will want to be a doorman.
    - starkfist 16y ago
      there are many people who would rather have a job as a doorman than work in the robot factory.
      - olalonde 16y ago
        I know many people who would rather work on CRM software than have to memorize thousands of customers. My point is that having human beings whose sole purpose is to remember your name isn't a luxury that should be taken as granted.
rivo 16y ago
I have recently been addressed with my name by a flight attendant. I fly a lot but it's been the first time ever. They've always had this information but they almost never use it. I wonder if it would be the same in stores.
wglb 16y ago
Perhaps it is a bit to late to resist. This trend started with the automobile, and only increased with the advent of television.

tptacek 16y ago

Because you have thousands of customers every day, and you're open 18 hours a day and staffed by rotating shifts of people? Or because you're a chain of stores? Or because you operate a series of related businesses? I'm all for keeping things human-scale, but the idea that I'm going to have a personal relationship with the guy who sells me a TV is a bit much.

joe_the_user 16y ago
I don't want stores like that keeping any kind of track me. I remember ten years ago clerks at some grocery store had been trained to say good bye to me by my name after they read it from my credit card. The effect wasn't loyalty, it was creepiness. I notice this isn't done anymore.
- tptacek 16y ago
  The stores here still do it. They think my name is Ramon Vera, though.
  - donw 16y ago
    My name... is Inigo Montoya. You billed my father. Prepare to die.

ThomPete 16y ago

That really depends on what it's used for. I don't see it as a replacement, but as an improvement.

joubert 16y ago
I live in a luxury building in Manhattan. 35 floors. We have 5 doormen; they know every single person who lives in the building by name. Not only that, but they also know regular visitors by name. When one walks in, they don't glance at a monitor to figure out who you are. They know you, they remember previous conversations (oh hi, Joubert, didn't you recently see Momix at The Joyce?) I cant stand it when a "customer service representative" has to "fake" knowing me.
- tptacek 16y ago
  That's 5 people who's full time job is almost entirely to know the names of a little less than 1000 people. There are plenty of stores in which that many different, new people walk through the door every day.
- olalonde 16y ago
  What about the day no one wants to do this shitty job? Maybe then you'll be happy that some computer recalls your name. I know this sounds provocative but my point is that some jobs will simply get replaced by computers and robots in a not so distant future. The same happened with agriculture in less than a century and the day will come that no one will want to be a doorman.
  - starkfist 16y ago
    there are many people who would rather have a job as a doorman than work in the robot factory.
    - olalonde 16y ago
      I know many people who would rather work on CRM software than have to memorize thousands of customers. My point is that having human beings whose sole purpose is to remember your name isn't a luxury that should be taken as granted.

rivo 16y ago

I have recently been addressed with my name by a flight attendant. I fly a lot but it's been the first time ever. They've always had this information but they almost never use it. I wonder if it would be the same in stores.

wglb 16y ago

Perhaps it is a bit to late to resist. This trend started with the automobile, and only increased with the advent of television.