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1247 points mangoman | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.245s | 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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mikeash ◴[] No.13107291[source]
If that's true, then you have nothing to fear. People will pay extra to shop at stores with human cashiers, and the machine-driven stores will not be able to compete.

However, I suspect that when presented with the choice, people will take the machine store in exchange for lower prices. And I suspect that you suspect the same thing, otherwise you wouldn't be concerned.

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jarjoura ◴[] No.13107528[source]
I don't actually think it'll be a difference in monetary value. I suspect machine run markets will feel cold and lifeless, while human run ones will feel warm and welcoming.

I've been to restaurants where you order from a terminal and your only human contact is someone who delivers your food without a word. There were a bunch of them at one point and they all closed down, and I don't remember thinking they were cheaper or more expensive at the time. I just remember feeling like the experience of going out with friends to a restaurant felt diminished.

Also at one point, Home Depot and Lowes switched to a majority of self checkout lines, but all that did was move everyone over to the "old fashioned" lines that ended up taking 3x as long to check out, but people continue to do this.

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mattferderer ◴[] No.13107897[source]
I would also argue that any store I've been to with a self checkout line tends to have a majority of the use. I find them faster. My wife was hesitant the first few times she used them, now she prefers them as well. I would argue that odds are you & the people in front of you, who often are in a hurry, will be faster than the person who checks out people all day & is suffering from fatigue & boredom. I would also argue that most people in a checkout line want to get out of the checkout line as soon as possible & with no errors.
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1. pimlottc ◴[] No.13108494[source]
In my experience, it's hard to judge the popularity these days as there tend to be more self-checkout kiosks than traditional checkout lines that are actually manned.