4 ms·
Counterpoint: Automated checkouts suck balls. A significant portion of the time I attempt to use one of these, the machine gets stuck in some kind of nonsense
by recursive 15y ago
Counterpoint: Automated checkouts suck balls.
A significant portion of the time I attempt to use one of these, the machine gets stuck in some kind of nonsense about putting merchandise in the bagging area, or explicitly asks me to see a clerk or something for assistance, or otherwise basically does not work. I only use these now if there is a big line at the humans. I'm sure this all sounds like I'm just an incompetent checkout user. FWIW, I worked for a summer as an actual human cashier at a grocery store. I think I did a reasonably competent job at it.
- moocow01 15y agoThey really need to get the near field communications stuff in there - eventually you should be able just push your basket, yourself and your wallet/phone through a scanner and everything gets tallied and charged.
- thebigshane 15y agoI would like to see how this scanner tells the difference between a plum and a nectarine. Or stack of DVDs ranging from $9.99 to $19.99. This seems incredibly complicated with the existing "throw all of your groceries in the cart" process. I think that it would much easier (and cheaper all around) to design a warehouse where you give a computer your list and robot goes to the back and to fulfill your order.
- moocow01 15y agoThe products would have tags like they do today but would be NFC tags unique to the product. Fill up your basket - push it through the designated scanner and you've got a list of the items in the basket.
- bdunbar 15y agoThat would not work very well with fresh vegetables and fruits: what people like varies a great deal, as does the quality on the shelf. Case in point: my wife adores green bananas: can't abide them after they begin ripen. How do you tell a robot picker 'only pick the florescent green ones, please'?
- sopooneo 15y agoI think the ideal is even simpler. You just go in, take what you want, and leave. The exit is the scanner.
- ydant 15y agoThat is only the case at short sighted stores that assume all customers are out to steal. The units themselves can be quite good - Wegmans has machines as quick as the ones I used to use when i worked as a cashier at a grocery store. As near as I can tell the main thing is the Wegmans self-checkouts don't weigh the items you put in the bags.
- RandallBrown 15y agoI see this all the time. People put their purses on the bagging area or lean against it or they'll remove stuff before they're done. Then when the machine tells them something is wrong, they freak out and think its broken, instead of moving their purse or hitting the "I don't want to bag this item" button. Not saying this is your problem, but most people's problem is that they just don't pay any attention.
- recursive 15y agoHow does putting one's purse in the bagging area indicate a lack of attention? It's fully likely that I'm not using the machines correctly, but I didn't exactly go through a training course. I just use them as I'd expect them to work, because that's about all I have to go on.
- jdeibele 15y agoAt the stores I use, the bagging area has scales that total up your items to avoid people sneaking stuff out without paying for it. When my son would lean on that area it would prompt me to "remove item". So putting your purse there indicates a lack of attention.
- recursive 15y agoI wasn't there when they installed the scales. I didn't go through a training session where they explained the scales. If, for some reason, I could reasonably been expected to know about the scales, I might agree. But I do not. It's like saying you don't know how to speak fluent Italian because you don't pay attention. There was no expressed expectation that you were supposed to learn Italian.