I like the idea of self checkout. The practical reality is often quite bad … I’d rather deal with a cashier (cashiers in my country rarely do small talk, it’s a very rote interaction) than having to wait for an employee to deal with the self checkout’s weird issues.
Some stores have a very good self-checkout infrastructure.
For some reason, it’s never grocery stores. And grocery stores are basically 3/4 of the stores I need to visit. But it’s possible for them not to suck.
This is why self scan is my favourite. Just scan stuff on your phone as you walk around, pack your bags ahead of time and the only time the staff need to get involved is age checking alcohol or painkillers, if there is some problem you had scanning something or if you get a random rescan request (which is admittedly horrible as it makes you feel like a criminal when they find the one item that didnt scan right). So much easier and faster than any of the other methods.
When self checkout started, it was too dumb. It would panic if you breathed on the scale wrong, frequently double-scan items or just have weird bugs.
Then for a minute, it was perfect. They smoothed out the UX, and everything Just Worked™.
Now self checkout is too smart. The camera sees me grab multiple items to scan back-to-back, or sees my kid playing with the bag carousel, and it sets off a shoplifting alarm that the employee has to come over and clear 2-3 times per trip.
So I’ve caught myself adjusting my behavior, like the Amazon drivers that get penalized for singing while they drive because the face-tracking throws an alarm.
If it were just me, I probably wouldn’t think much of it. But then I wonder: Is my daughter going to have to adjust her hands, her posture, her facial expressions… to be acceptable to an ever-present AI observer, for the rest of her life?
I’m old. I was socialized properly, I just don’t like to spend my low energy arguing with people like you because we are different. If people were nice to each other it wouldn’t take so much energy. I prefer machines
I like self checkouts, I like not having to talk to people. Just easier on my very autistic brain.
Still should be plenty of regular checkout lanes too.
I like the idea of self checkout. The practical reality is often quite bad … I’d rather deal with a cashier (cashiers in my country rarely do small talk, it’s a very rote interaction) than having to wait for an employee to deal with the self checkout’s weird issues.
Some stores have a very good self-checkout infrastructure.
For some reason, it’s never grocery stores. And grocery stores are basically 3/4 of the stores I need to visit. But it’s possible for them not to suck.
This is why self scan is my favourite. Just scan stuff on your phone as you walk around, pack your bags ahead of time and the only time the staff need to get involved is age checking alcohol or painkillers, if there is some problem you had scanning something or if you get a random rescan request (which is admittedly horrible as it makes you feel like a criminal when they find the one item that didnt scan right). So much easier and faster than any of the other methods.
I’d rather not use phone apps …
Then use the provided scanning handset! Both are provided, just depends what you prefer.
When self checkout started, it was too dumb. It would panic if you breathed on the scale wrong, frequently double-scan items or just have weird bugs.
Then for a minute, it was perfect. They smoothed out the UX, and everything Just Worked™.
Now self checkout is too smart. The camera sees me grab multiple items to scan back-to-back, or sees my kid playing with the bag carousel, and it sets off a shoplifting alarm that the employee has to come over and clear 2-3 times per trip.
So I’ve caught myself adjusting my behavior, like the Amazon drivers that get penalized for singing while they drive because the face-tracking throws an alarm.
If it were just me, I probably wouldn’t think much of it. But then I wonder: Is my daughter going to have to adjust her hands, her posture, her facial expressions… to be acceptable to an ever-present AI observer, for the rest of her life?
That seems to be where we’re headed.
What happens to the misbehavers?
yeah I would love a life without human conection…but thats just me and I have mental issues lol
We should definitely change our whole society because a minority have not been socialized properly.
I’m old. I was socialized properly, I just don’t like to spend my low energy arguing with people like you because we are different. If people were nice to each other it wouldn’t take so much energy. I prefer machines
We are not different, that is just an excuse. I have grandkids already for Christ sake.
We should not be encouraging social disconnection in our society and become dependent on machines.
I get it, they are more convenient for YOU. But at what cost to everyone else?
Like I was saying, just because we have a bunch of people who have not been socialized doesn’t mean we should be encouraging it with technology.
You say you are old, but you personalize like a teenager still.
I hate self checkout, I like being able to space out and find it stressful doing the whole song and dance.