Self Checkout
Submitted by Compugasm on April 25, 2006 - 16:06
I was at the store tonight, doing my grocery shopping for the week, and the time came for me to check out. Today, I tried the self checkout. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
There are some serious bugs that need to be worked out of the system. The biggest is the human/machine interface. Currently, it assumes you've never seen someone scan UPC codes before and you might just forget your own name if you didn't carry around ID. Must we all suffer so that the lowest common denominator can use this thing?
After decades of watching cashiers rapidly scan and bag my groceries, I felt that I had seen enough to be able to emulate their efficiency. However, the self-checkout system is equipped with some sort of scanning governor. It allows only one item to be scanned, and bagged, before the next item can near UPC-government-laser-mind-controling-grid. So I developed a slightly slower rhythm. No big deal, if only that rhythm wasn't constantly being interrupted by the patronizing pre-recorded voice (Majel Barrett Roddenberry?) telling me to "please place the item in the bag."
My biggest pet peeve of the entire process: checking out produce. This should not be a difficult process since most have a sticker with a four-digit code that can be manually entered while the fruit sits on the combination scanner and scale. I place my bananas on the scale, enter 4011 on the keypad, and asked to "Please Wait." What am I waiting for? Can't it figure out how to multiply two numbers and tell me what my bananas cost?
Incase you need help, there is an island in the middle of all the self-checkouts. If it really does only require one person at Mission Control to run these lanes, why aren't they all open all the time?
It's kinda cool idea, but only if you could just load your cart and walk out. Must we eliminate checkout jobs too? Pretty soon the only retail jobs will be as a greeter. All in all, I can't really tell if this is saving any time for me or creating more aggravation.
I bought a sandwich the
by rezo - 04/25/2006 - 22:59
!
<a xhref="http://www.kiwisbybeat.com" target=blank>Kiwis by beat!</a>
I bought a sandwich the
by rezo - 04/25/2006 - 22:59
I bought a sandwich the other day and... and... the bread... was stale. A little bit.
Kiwis by beat!
<a xhref="http://www.kiwisbybeat.com" target=blank>Kiwis by beat!</a>
? -- Vote Vito: Line Item
by LineItemVito - 04/27/2006 - 23:32
?
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Once, as a kid, I didn't
by Fabricari - 04/25/2006 - 23:16
Once, as a kid, I didn't want to finish my sandwich, so I could go out and play. And so I stuffed the last few bites at the bottom of a glass of milk. I don't know why this seemed to make sense, but it worked and I was excused from the table.
It was only a few hours, though, until the NASTIEST mold derivative sprouted up and out of that glass of milk. *shudder*
Fabricari - Sexy Robots and Violent Cyberpunk Comics
Steve "Fabricari" Harrison
OMG!! Was the crust still
by Compugasm - 04/25/2006 - 23:08
OMG!! That is THE WORST!!! Was the crust still on?
Re: Self Checkout
by LineItemVito - 04/25/2006 - 19:16
This is one of the reasons I mostly shop at Mom & Pop grocery stores. That, and I prefer to give the profits to people who are my neighbors instead of the stock-holders of some remote corporation.
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