Here we are in 2004 and we don't have ray guns, flying cars yet. Hell we do not even have universal health care yet. But one thing that we do have is self-checkout machines at some stores.
Now for those of you who have not seen these things yet let me describe it. They are semi-manned kiosks where you bring your basket of food items and such and scan them then pay and be on your way. There is a semi-automated system with a touch screen and voice prompt ( in both English an Spanish no less.) to walk you through it and a system of scanners and scales make sure you pay and keep everything kosher. There really is not a reduction in people needed to man the things. I doubt that they are profitable yet. There is an grocer there to help you out if you mess up. There is a chart and touch screen to handle the typing in the product code for fresh fruit and veggies. There is a small camera over the top so the attendant can see your ID and what you are scanning if you are going to buy some beer or a R-rated DVD.
The system works best when you have a hand basket worth of stuff and there is not usually a line. I am usually only buying stuff for one or two so I almost never have a whole cart. The folks who buy whole carts tend to avoid these things so you can get out of the store pretty quick. But there are other advantages to them. Say you want to buy a semi embarrassing item like a rash cream, tampons or condoms you can buy them without another human going over the contents of your basket.
I have seen systems like this in Wal-mart, Fred Meyer and Albertsons and they are pretty much the same system.
It sort of adds the speed and anonymity of a vending machine to a supermarket. It is nothing like the ever present vending machines of Japan where you can buy everything from smokes, software, rice to used panties.
My girlfriend does not particularly like them and it is not a perfect. She thinks that it is a bit of a rip off since you do not get a discount and you are doing your own work checking it out. Sometimes the scales can be off and can give you error messages if you even slightly deviate or go a bit to fast for the system.
There is no way that I could see that this replacing the normal check out lines but it works well adjunct. I know that there is hundreds of millions being spent on RFID technologies to replace the bar code system. It is both promising and Orwellian at the same time.
But then this is coming from a guy who registered his Safeway discount card to Bilbo Baggins to throw off the system. But hey you can get out of the store faster and have a little bit more privacy and that is worth the hassle if you ask me.
My local Home Depot has a couple of these check out kiosks and they really do come in handy if you're buying one or two small items. Anything is better than waiting in for a cashier try to scan lumber and then fill out an order worksheet for the guy in front of you while you wait in line. ...now only if they'd adopt this system at the DMV.
They're excellent.. when they work. The last time I was at Wal-Mart all three of the self-checkouts were misbehaving, and it didn't help that one crazy woman decided to self-checkout two cartfuls of stuff including a large pumpkin. The attendant kept helping her instead of others with just a few items. It took me 10 minutes to buy three items.
We have these in most of the stores around here - have for a while now. They work out great and 90% of the time they do save time - even if you are checking out a large cartful of stuff (as I do most times at WalMart).
The Albertsons has several self-check out stations - more than they usually have checkers checking - and only one or two people monitoring the self check out, so it does save man power. They also have self scan where you scan your items as you shop then pay at the end. Very convenient.
I have been boycotting Wal-mart for a while now. It is just against my morals to spend my money there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart
I'm with Kym. I work with computers all day long, why should have to do it when I'm the customer? If a store is going to make me do their work for them then I want an incentive. And faster check out is not an incentive but a reflection on the efficiency of their system. I choose Thriftway.
Well Dunsay next time you need to by a tube of anti-fungal cream for an itchy crotch you might want to check one out just hypothetically.
I don't care much about self-checkout-systems because it won't speed up things (error in the computer, too many people in the line etc.)
Sorry, I couldn't resist to make you aware that you
"do not even have universal health care yet" [in the US].
Maybe we live not only on different continents but also in different times?
I just had to comment on this. I do think it is cheating, but I am more concerned about cashiers losing their jobs. Our job economy is already at a dangerous level and I do not think we can obsorb any more people kicked out of a job. So that walmart can save $5.00 in payroll.
And we do have a universal healthcare system. It is called Wellfare. I work in the healthcare field and do not support universal healthcare. To many administrative costs to even try to run a Universal Health care program. For low income families they have wellfare. Which pays all their medical bills at 100%. Paid by all of us that work.
Before we can have a Universal Healthcare program, how about our government work on some serious wellfare reform. I am tired of living in one of the highest wellfare states in the nation.
The working poor are still screwed under the current situation.
Medicare only helps poor children and the elderly. There are 44 million uninsured americans age 18 to 65 that have no way to pay for any kind of medical care. Medicare and Welfare is not the end all to the health care crisis.
Im a cashier at a local supermarket and i have run the usan system before it is nothing but the same resgister the cashier uses people just dont know that we see what your buying and it comes up on our screen at the attendant station so the whole privacy thing is a jock and i can scan faster than anyone at a self scan can and i am freindly compared to a easyscan system
I know but I would rather buy condoms from a U-scan.
Handy on occasion, but the speed thing is a bit of a hoax; the fact that you're doing the work yourself is one reason it seems faster. Management exploiting human psychology to prevent having to improve customer service on their bank account is not exactly a progressive stance from the standpoint of the customer. And the benefit to you isn't like the drink station at a fast food joint, where at least you can get a free refill...