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Shopping Carts Go Wi-Fi
agentk writes "The Boston Globe reports today that area supermarket Stop & Shop is adding computers with Bluetooth barcode scanners, 802.11 networking and infrared positional sensors to shopping carts in one of its stores. 'The Shopping Buddy automatically displays which aisle you're in, what's on sale there, and what you bought the last time you strolled through.' Most Stop & Shop stores already have automated self-checkout lanes. Is this the future of shopping? What will the impact be on privacy, the cash economy, and the experience of shopping in general?"
Is when they start dynamically altering prices second to second based on your past purchases, and those of other consumers recently. I wouldn't be surprised if laws are passed saying stores aren't allowed to customize prices.
Did you see what the unions had to say about this technology? I'm sick and tired of the whining that 'It'll take away jobs.' I know I'd go to a store that has such a useful technology. I hate waiting in a checkout line so a union checker can check me out. I want to scan my items as I shop so I can leave quickly. Sure, self-checkout is ok, but this is even better.
...Bluetooth isn't dead after all.
I went down to one in vegas, and even though they had a blue shirt patrolling every other isle it gets boring asking them were every little thing is. The store is way to big to just LOOK for what you want. I was figuring interactive "you are here" maps in terminals on the pillars where the phones are. Nothing difficult about that at all. In fact the more I think of it they should really test the waters with kiosk type maps before pumping money into "smartcarts", if those things arn't perfect in implementation people will get no use from them at all.
there is nothing different about shopping with this new system then shopping without it. they already can see what you buy (unless you decide not to use the checkout and make a run for it, actually then they'd definatly know what it was you took) , and as for tracking around the store, ever hear of CCTV?
dybia felly dwi a hampster (i think therefore i am a hampster)
About 10 years ago, a brand new Schnucks (local grocery store to St. Louis Area) installed something similar on its carts. However, it was basically just a portable ad monitor. It was a BW LCD touch-screen that popped up new specials when you moved to particular locations. It sensed your position from overhead sensors, I'm not sure if they were IR or what, but long story short, they didn't stick around for very long. Maybe this system will have more success because of the automated checkout feature, but I really doubt it.
My experience with self-checkout has been that I'm not nearly as fast as the checker that's been there for years and knows the price codes for all my fruit by heart. I tried to do it a couple of times and because the system has to be designed so that a 5 year old can use it, it seems to take twice as long as it would had if I was a super-user.
this combined with rfid tags could be used for supermarkets to charge each individual person a different price for items based on a profile of the person indicating how much money they have. pure evil.
There isn't much point in stealing a common, ordinary cart either...but the stream that flows through my neighborhood greenspace is full of them.
rj
we're moving increasingly towards a society where we don't have to interact with any other people.
Thank god. I fucking hate those guys.
I don't know if these are store coupons or manufacturer's coupons.
If they are store coupons, then it would seem that it would be in the store's best interest to give me a coupon for items I buy, to keep me coming back to that store.
If it is a manufacturer's coupons, then I guess whoever pays the most gets their coupons printed out at the register.