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It's not only that, it's the fact that the stores have externalised the checkout process to customers themselves. I could never understood why should I, as a c
by paganel 6y ago
It's not only that, it's the fact that the stores have externalised the checkout process to customers themselves.
I could never understood why should I, as a client, do the work that someone else can do for me (and more reliably, of course)? It's win-win, I'm not stressed at doing something wrong, I can do something else while my products are checked out and that person doing the product checkout also has a job.
But because it sounds tech-y and more automatic-y lots of tech-literate people fall for all of this, I don't see what's more automatic in me doing the same work that another person used to do.
- chrisseaton 6y ago> I can do something else while my products are checked out But the point is we don't need the 'while my products are checked out' step. We could skip that. You save time, save more people handling what you're buying, save them having to staff a checkout and freeing them to do something else instead. That's the real win-win.
- paganel 6y ago> freeing them to do something else instead. Yes, the'll be busy looking for other jobs.
- chrisseaton 6y agoI think it's demeaning to employ people to do something that is so clearly not necessary. If we want to create and possibly subsidise jobs for people let's create useful, productive jobs.
- ahepp 6y agoLike what, "door dasher"? "uber driver"? The economy is developing in the wrong direction. We are not on track for happy automation.
- bluGill 6y agoHopefully something more useful to society. We still need better mousetraps.
- mistersys 6y agoIn these stores, cashiers are waiting around most of the time. That's the issue. They couldn't stay in business because they had to pay for the cashier to checkout as well as wait around. By letting customers checkout, there's no more wasted money spent on employees waiting around. Also, the stores that are most promising don't require checkout at all, so that's an entire category of human effort eliminated, for better or worse.
- bluGill 6y agoMost stores keep one person up front when they are not busy, the rest of the checkout clerks wonder the store looking for things out of place, stocking shelves, finding or customers to help. Each store has their own set of duties but for the most part there are plenty of tasks to do when people aren't waiting in line.
- sokoloff 6y agoAnalogously, I don't see a reason why I should be forced wait in a queue for one of the limited other humans to help me do something that I can do myself in one of the 8 self-checkout lanes whenever I'm ready to do so. People who want the assistance of an employee can go that route, but I prefer the self-checkout process for the reduced waiting and self-service nature.
- leetcrew 6y agoif you want someone to ring up and bag your groceries for you, go to a high-end grocery store. meanwhile, I'll be paying less and getting out the door faster than you anyway.