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1247 points mangoman | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.209s | source
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delegate ◴[] No.13107158[source]
Look, I know this might not be a popular view here on HN, but I think this is useless. And bad.

I'm not talking about the technology behind it (I think it's an amazing achievement)..

I live in Barcelona and I have at least 5 medium-sized supermarkets within 5 minutes walking distance from my home. Plus there are several smaller shops that sell fruits and vegetables.

I know all the people who work in these supermarkets. The cashier in the supermarket downstairs always sings a quiet song while she scans my products, she knows my daughter and she's always nice and friendly.

The cashier in the other store talks to the customers. She stops scanning and starts talking while the line waits. Some customers might join the conversation. I know she has an old cat that eats an unlimited amount of food if allowed to do so...

There are similar stories about other shops in the neighbourhood - they come to work, they serve the people in the neighbourhood, they go home. They do this until they retire.

These people like their jobs because we respect them for what they do, so they feel useful and they work hard.

I don't mind waiting in line for 3 minutes. Or 5. It's never longer than that, even if the cashier discusses the latest news with the old lady.

The humanity of it has value for us here and that value is greater than the time we'd save by removing the people from the shops.

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1. nkassis ◴[] No.13107469[source]
I think what's probably going to happen is those sorts of shops will continue to exist as is. They provide an experience (a bit like local cafes etc...) They may even be able to charge a premium for this. The big bucks stores will end up converting to more automated systems. Stocking shelves probably one of the next things to go. So you get to choose, local more human experience or efficient highly automated experience.

Similar reason why Amazon hasn't caused small bookstores to close down.