Grocery Store "Smart Shelves" Will Identify Customers, Show Targeted Ads

Could be good. by meerling · 2013-10-14 03:55 · Score: 4, Insightful

Especially once we figure out how to 'convince' it to give us the best discount on everything.

Humans are lousy at reading humans, machines programmed by humans and used on the cheap will be relatively easy to fool.

Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:13 · Score: 0

What is more likely to happen, is the price of a competitor's product is increased if they are not paying the Microsoft dime.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:18 · Score: 2, Insightful

Especially once we figure out how to 'convince' it to give us the best discount on everything.
What exactly do you think the idea of the discount is?
In this case it isn't to get rid of vegetables before they get old. Nor is it to make you buy what you need in bulk to cut down handling costs.
In this particular case the discount isn't actually a discount but rather the correct value of something that has been intentionally overpriced to make you believe that you are getting a better deal than you actually do.
If you find a way to trick it into giving you the discount and this makes you feel clever and like you are cheating the system then they have succeeded as far as they possibly could with a system like that. You might even end up buying more than you can actually use just to spite them.
Re:Could be good. by Sarten-X · 2013-10-14 04:33 · Score: 2

Many jurisdictions actually have laws against such deceptive pricing practices, with varying requirements to be met.
The point of a discount is to be the tie-breaking factor in whether or not to buy a product of a particular brand. The seller loses some profit, perhaps even all profit, but gains a sale and may even make his competitor lose one. It can provide an opportunity to prove that one product is as good or better than an alternative, thus winning market share.
It is important to remember your own intent at all times. If you plan on buying a Brand X widget, a discount on Brand Y widgets don't matter, but a discount on Brand X only helps you. If, however, you were shopping for a widget with no brand loyalty, the discount may be enough to redirect your dollars, with both you and the discounted brand benefiting. The only way you lose with a discount is if, as you pointed out, you buy more than you otherwise would have. That's a bad idea regardless of discounts.

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Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

Unless advertising somehow decreases the cost of bringing products to market, it actually increases prices in the aggregate. You may pay less for a particular product on a particular day, just like you may occasionally win at roulette. Overall though, advertising increases expenditures by the companies, just like the odds favor the house. That cost is passed on to you, even though it's probably not that large. The house edge isn't that large either; but you still lose.
They keep telling us that if they target us, they can increase efficiency. In theory, if they could deliver just the right number of tomatoes to the store, none of them would spoil. In practice, they don't actually know when anybody is going to make tomato sauce. If they did, they'd really be reading our minds.
I'm skeptical that any store has actually increased overall efficiency with their club cards, targeted ads, etc; but I'm open to the idea and would be interested in seeing some links to real studies that weren't conducted by people selling targeting technology.
Re:Could be good. by daem0n1x · 2013-10-14 04:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

What's more likely to happen is that this will annoy the fuck out of me so much that I'll never return to that retailer again. And let the "smart shelf" figure out the reason why.
Re:Could be good. by AJH16 · 2013-10-14 05:00 · Score: 1

While I generally agree, I have to disagree with the blanket statement that it's a bad idea to buy more than you otherwise would have. Sometimes (even perhaps most times) that is true, but there are times when it can be of benefit if it is something that a) won't go bad and b) you will eventually use, c) the cost of storing it for the extra time you need to store it plus the cost of using the funds earlier is cheaper than the discount received and d) you have sufficient liquidity to cover any additional upfront cost. (I suppose d is really related to c.)
As a direct example, I received a discount of buy 1 get 4 free from a photo paper retailer recently. Normally I don't buy from them as they are normally over priced by about 30% and normally I only buy one package of photo paper at a time. However, since I had the funds available to spend on it, I purchased 25 packs of paper for the cost of about 8 packages from another retailer. It will take me some time to go through all that paper, but the storage cost is dirt cheap (effectively free) and eventually the return is a huge benefit. That said, when dealing with impulse buys from discounts, it's hard to evaluate all of that on the spot.

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AJ Henderson
Re:Could be good. by AJH16 · 2013-10-14 05:01 · Score: 1

Targeted advertising however, does decrease the cost to bring to market. With untargeted advertising, you have to spray and pray, when you can spend less and get more effect for the price, that is cheaper for everyone.

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AJ Henderson
Re:Could be good. by reboot246 · 2013-10-14 05:11 · Score: 2

I feel the same about it, but I think it would be fun to fuck with them by making it a point to pick up every item on the shelf. You could walk all over the store picking up items with no intention of buying them.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:17 · Score: 0

Yeah, coming soon to your grocery store... An elaborate mating^Wbuying ritual for each and every item you want. Approach the shelf, pick up an item, hold it up, put it down again, tilt head, stay put for 3 - 3.5 second, turn, move forward 2 feet, stop, 1 second pause, turn around, walk back 2 feet, wait for the (first) discount offer, smile, pick up the item again, wait 5 seconds, put it down, tilt your head at the monitor, wait for the (second) discount, get the item.
Thank you! Thank you!
Re:Could be good. by Nadaka · 2013-10-14 05:24 · Score: 1

I feel the same way about self checkout lines.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:27 · Score: 2

But targeting costs money. You need data about your potential customers and the ability to use it. The data isn't free and depending on what data you have, you might need some really smart people to figure out how to benefit from it. And a lot more advertising is targeted than you might think because people find it invasive, if they find out how much the advertiser knows about them. For instance, a consumer that regularly buys diapers can be assumed to have a kid. However, since that consumer would find it invasive to get advertising for toys that precisely matches the kid's age and gender as soon as toy purchases has revealed that too, the advertisers often make brochures which are a lot more customized than you'd think unless you compare two "identical" ones. A brochure for the aforementioned parent would have a handful of pages with totally uninteresting products to make it non-obvious that the rest are highly targeted.
I read a book on targeted marketing and cannot recall the trick that was used to deduct the approximate time when a customer was likely to give birth but I do recall that the parents of a newborn child are a seller's dream consumers. They're super tired, very emotional and have bad judgment so if you throw in some discount for diapers, they will come to your store and you don't need to offer coupons for anything else.
Re:Could be good. by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2013-10-14 05:32 · Score: 1

"Fat person detected. Would you be interested in a 20 cents off coupon for Special K?"

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Re:Could be good. by meerling · 2013-10-14 05:34 · Score: 1

Of course you are ignoring the simple fact that if you don't get the discount, even a disingenuous one, you are paying a higher price.

Now you could say "just go to a different store". True, but that's limited. There are only so many stores in any area, and certain products are not carried by all of them.

On top of that the time and fuel spend running from store to store has to be considered. Are you really going to spend 15 minutes, and around $0.20 - $0.80 in fuel to save $0.13 on something?

I don't like being 'profiled' by machines, but as long as someone is going to do it anyway, I might as well use it to my advantage. If you want to pay the higher non-discounted prices, or expend vast quantities of time and fuel to avoid those systems, more power to you. I'd rather just stick it to the creep that instituted the annoyance in the first place.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

I have yet to use a self-checkout.
You see, I used to be a grocery checker, and I used to get a paycheck for doing that work. (I quit when I got a "real" job, but it got me through college.) When the stores decide to pay me (a 2% discount on everything I purchase through self-checkout would be nice), then I'll use the self-checkout. Until then, I'll wait in a long line, not buying their stale candy bars, and make their for-pay employees earn their paychecks (and keep their jobs).
Re:Could be good. by bluefoxlucid · 2013-10-14 05:43 · Score: 2

Male, 15-19. Trojans, 20% discount!
Male, 20-28. Durex, 20% discount!
Female, 15-28. Pepper spray, 5% discount!
Female, 35-55. T-Shirt, I am a Cougar, 35% discount!

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Re:Could be good. by Stan92057 · 2013-10-14 05:47 · Score: 1

How would it tell if that person is in a steroid therapy? My x sister in law has lupus and she is not a fat person but when shes on steroid theory she gets fat. What is your comment to that?

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Jack of all trades,master of none
Re:Could be good. by dcollins · 2013-10-14 05:52 · Score: 3, Interesting

Practically only Slahdotters ever think of technologically-targeted ads as a good thing. In polls, nearly 70% of the public oppose such practices:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/12/privacy-do-not-track-ads-internet-gallup-poll.html

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Re:Could be good. by vux984 · 2013-10-14 06:13 · Score: 2

What is your comment to that?
Would she like a 20 cent coupon on special K?
Seriously. Who cares if it doesn't correctly detect that you sister has lupus and is on steroid therapy... if the outcome of an incorrect detection is...
"Would she like a 20 cent coupon on special K?"
Re:Could be good. by Anarchy24 · 2013-10-14 06:14 · Score: 2

I wish I had a mod point :-)
Re:Could be good. by Anarchy24 · 2013-10-14 06:15 · Score: 1

You're lame.
Re:Could be good. by RabidReindeer · 2013-10-14 06:19 · Score: 1

I have yet to use a self-checkout.
You see, I used to be a grocery checker, and I used to get a paycheck for doing that work. (I quit when I got a "real" job, but it got me through college.) When the stores decide to pay me (a 2% discount on everything I purchase through self-checkout would be nice), then I'll use the self-checkout. Until then, I'll wait in a long line, not buying their stale candy bars, and make their for-pay employees earn their paychecks (and keep their jobs).
Grocery checker is a real job, just not one to retire wealthy on. No need to be ashamed of it.
While I rarely use bank tellers instead of ATMs, I absolutely refuse to go near self-checkout.
You're right, though. One of the ways that people delude themselves into thinking they're wealthier than they really are is by doing everything self-service. In short, becoming an unpaid employee sans benefits. If you're really wealthly, people will actually fall over themselves to do things for you. If you're even moderately so, you can afford to pay for the convenience because your time is more valuable/important than that. If you have to do your own work, you're either value money over comfort or you're simply too poor to do otherwise.
I'm happy to say I can value a little comfort.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:20 · Score: 0

In this particular case the discount isn't actually a discount but rather the correct value of something that has been intentionally overpriced to make you believe that you are getting a better deal than you actually do.
No, I'll just go to the store which has lower all-around prices because they didn't just spend several million dollars to purchase, install, and maintain a network of 'smart shelves' in their stores.
Seriously, you could accomplish the same thing cheaper and more effectively by just hiring some customer service people to walk around and talk to the customers, and offer them on-the-spot discounts. Plus, you'd attract customers to your store just by having staff who do something other than scurry off to the back room the second a customer approaches them with a question.
Re:Could be good. by MitchDev · 2013-10-14 06:20 · Score: 3, Insightful

This.
I am so so SICK of being advertised at... I pretty much take unsolicited ads as a "Do Not buy from" list, unless people I actually know and/or trust tell me about a useful product and I decide to actively look into it...
Re:Could be good. by RabidReindeer · 2013-10-14 06:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

"Fat person detected. Would you be interested in a 20 cents off coupon for Special K?"
More like "Fat person detected. Have a coupon for 50 cents off 5-gallon Hagen-Daas, 2-for-1 Mega-Bag chips and 3-liter Diet Dr. Pepper".
Re:Could be good. by Archangel+Michael · 2013-10-14 06:25 · Score: 1

Actually, advertising CAN reduce costs, even if it increases the marginal costs for the items being advertised. If you sell widgets and make 100,000 widgets, but have the capacity to make twice that many by doubling your shifts, the marginal costs go down because you're effectively reducing the cost of overhead on the widgets. IF the cost of advertising is less than the increased efficiency, then it is a net win, even though you spent more money in production.
Advertising increases sales, and that is the point.
However, advertising a lower price may not increase sales. I read a story (don't know how true it is) about a woman's apparel store that had a rack of purses for sale that weren't selling. And they kept lowering the price $99 to $85, to $75, to $50 offering them on "sale". The frustrated manager told the new employee to mark them down from $50 to $25 dollars, but the new guy misread the price and put the "sale" on for $250 marked down from $500; more than twice the original price. The purses flew off the racks. A change in perceived value made the difference.

--
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Re:Could be good. by MitchDev · 2013-10-14 06:25 · Score: 1

And putting the wrong items back on the shelf...
Re:Could be good. by lgw · 2013-10-14 06:25 · Score: 1

The packaging on the product is already advertising at you. I don't see extra advertising on the shelves as any worse.
If I'm there in front of the product and considering a purchase, that's the correct time and place for advertisement.

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Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Re:Could be good. by game+kid · 2013-10-14 06:27 · Score: 1

You mean "only non-Slashdotters"? People here routinely (and rightly) swoon over ad and cookie blocking.

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Re:Could be good. by lgw · 2013-10-14 06:32 · Score: 0

Same applies to the whole of capitalism, really: lazy people trying to convince you that if they can just take some of the fruits of your labour, everyone'll be better off. Somehow.
You might want to use a more specific word than "capitalism" to make your point. All "capitalism" means is that the means of production are "owned as an investment", as opposed to the two other common models: "owned as a result of military conquest" and "owned by a central committee with a 5-year plan".
Usually people rant against "free markets", but that doesn't seem to be your gripe here. Controlling the means of production as a result of a track record of successfully controlling the means of production just sound like the right approach to me, which capitalism approaches as nearly as any system is likely to. Perhaps you'd like a different measure of "success" in this context?

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Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Re:Could be good. by aardvarkjoe · 2013-10-14 06:37 · Score: 1

If you're even moderately so, you can afford to pay for the convenience because your time is more valuable/important than that.
Typically, the reason why people choose self-checkout is because they want to save time. There is no faster way for me to buy my groceries than to go to the closest grocery store and then use the self-checkout.

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How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Re:Could be good. by Solandri · 2013-10-14 06:41 · Score: 1

There's a tendency for slashdotters to think that all advertising is bad (usually coupled with the notion that making money is evil).

Advertising is a two-way street. It isn't just a way for a retailer to make more money. It's also a way for the shopper to learn about products which may better suit his/her needs. I found this out after living without a TV for a year. My friends and I decided to go see a movie and... I realized that because I hadn't seen any TV ads in a year I had absolutely no idea what any of the currently playing movies were about. I had to spend 10 minutes in a crash course at Rotten Tomatoes on my phone to catch up. My friends patiently waited, then we could finally discuss movie choices. I still had trouble following though, because the titles didn't lead to instant recollection of what the movie was about. My friends though had had title and subject ingrained into them from repeatedly seeing the ads.

A properly designed targeted ad system could actually be very beneficial for the shopper. You won't be subjected to the same inane ad over and over - advertisers will want to keep it below the annoyance threshold. More importantly, you'll learn about products specific to what you're looking for - brands and choices you probably didn't even know existed much less had considered as a choice. One of the most useful things when I shop at Amazon are the little lists of "customers who bought this item also bought..." and "What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?" If you think about it, those are just targeted ads placed underneath the shelf of the product I'm looking at. They just happen to be good ads because they help me as much as they do the advertiser.

A well-functioning market requires that buyers be well-informed, and targeted ads do a better job at this. (This is orthogonal to truth in advertising, which I think is where many of the legitimate complaints against ads come from.)
Re:Could be good. by meustrus · 2013-10-14 06:46 · Score: 1

Especially once we figure out how to 'convince' it to give us the best discount on everything.
Sounds like a great idea for manipulating human psychology to me. Lead the human to believe it fooled the machine into giving it a "discount", which is going to make that human feel good about buying whatever. It only has to manipulate 5% of people to be successful, and I think you underestimate how easily we are manipulated.

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I sometimes ask revealing, often ignorant-seeming questions. Maybe they're harder to answer than you think.
Re:Could be good. by internerdj · 2013-10-14 06:48 · Score: 1

I'll give you that for most places. My first time to use self-checkout was at Walmart and was so that someone semi-competant was running things.
Re:Could be good. by AJH16 · 2013-10-14 06:55 · Score: 1

If targeted advertising cost more (per sale) then traditional, it wouldn't be a field because nobody would pay for it. Advertisers are consumers too and they look for the best deal they can find that will give the biggest return on investment.

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AJ Henderson
Re:Could be good. by MitchDev · 2013-10-14 06:59 · Score: 1

What a good little consumer you are...
Re:Could be good. by lgw · 2013-10-14 07:04 · Score: 1

How so? Advertising in general is just useless and annoying because it intrudes at an inappropriate time and place. But it does serve a purpose: to alert me of new products, or highlight existing products I might have overlooked. Doing that while I'm shopping for that specific item is a good thing.
It's the same discussion that's been rehashed many times about targeted ads on the web - they fail because they're poorly targeted: especially time-wise.

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Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 07:29 · Score: 0

Of course you are ignoring the simple fact that if you don't get the discount, even a disingenuous one, you are paying a higher price.
Except these machines are pushing candy. I save a lot more by not buying it. I don't need a discount on overpriced sugar.
Re:Could be good. by Stan92057 · 2013-10-14 07:38 · Score: 1

Why? because i bring up a very real circumstance of why some people are fat?

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Jack of all trades,master of none
Re:Could be good. by icebike · 2013-10-14 07:59 · Score: 1

Yes, load up the cart, and distribute it. Tampons in the Tea, Tea in the Chips.
Wear horse head masks or Santa Beards.
When store managers see this kind of shenanigans, they will rush this technology out of their store.
The grocery business works on paper thin margins, and huge volume. (Its probably one of the most
efficient large scale industries we have managed to build.) Anything that increases cost without an
larger increase in revenue till end up in the scrap heap of history in short order.
Besides, when Amazon delivers groceries, how is this going to make shopping any less
annoying?

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Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Re:Could be good. by Mr.+Freeman · 2013-10-14 08:03 · Score: 1

They're only faster because the stores shut down the manned lines! Next time, wait to use a manned line. Once you're through, complain about the long wait time to a manager. When they suggest the self-checkout machine tell them that you aren't interested in working for free.

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Re:Could be good. by icebike · 2013-10-14 08:08 · Score: 4, Informative

That works for small purchases, but the delays requesting clerk resets just because you re-positioned
a can of beans in the bagging area isn't worth the time saving for big buys.
Pick the middle aged lady as your checkout line, and ignore any minor difference in line length.
Smart shoppers learn that the semi cute checkers are new hires. The haggered looking
middle aged women are long time employees and know every price/number in the book and never
have to look up anything when the bar code sticker falls off the Mellon.
If she calls everyone in line "Hun", chances are you are in the right line.

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Re:Could be good. by icebike · 2013-10-14 08:14 · Score: 1

Why? because i bring up a very real circumstance of why some people are fat?
Yup, pretty much for that reason alone.
Do you not understand that grocery shopping and grocery stores are a volume business, and
it doesn't make a bit of difference to anyone if an advertisement appears incorrectly?
How is that different than what we have today, where all advertising is hit or miss?
Would you like to propose a solution where your health information is shared with grocery stores just
to make their in-isle advertising more appropriate and better targeted?
No?
I thought not. So why bring up health information which you would never agree to share,
and neither would your sister?

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Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 08:23 · Score: 0

How would it tell if that person is in a steroid therapy?

Purchases at the pharmacy.

My x sister in law has some condition and she is not normally a fat person but when she's on some drug she gets fat. What is your comment to that?
Your sister has poor self-control and is gaining weight because she's not adjusting her dietary habits to compensate for the medications she's taking.
Re:Could be good. by aardvarkjoe · 2013-10-14 08:29 · Score: 1

Next time, wait to use a manned line. Once you're through, complain about the long wait time to a manager.
That's not productive if my goal is to save time.
Instead, when it's convenient to do so, I shop at a different grocery store that hires enough staff that I don't have to wait in line. It's further from my home, though, so it only saves time if I am already in that area.

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How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Re:Could be good. by geekoid · 2013-10-14 08:32 · Score: 0

You can magical get fat. You can change the way you matabilize food, you might retain a little extra water, other than that you aren't gaining more fat than the calories you eat.
This country is gotten so fa,t it doesn't know what fat is. I had a conversation with someone complaining becasue his BMI said he was fay. I said 'you are fat'. He looked at me is disbelief.
I'm like, yes you are fat, not obese, but id you stomach is not smaller than you chest, you are fat.
Rule of thumb, may not apply to people on the extreme of the bell curve.
Right not people seem to think you aren't fat until you get some roll which is typically obese.
Anyways, you sister in law is using her medications an excuse to eat too much. Probably they zapped some energy form her and she doesn't move as much, thus needing fewer calories. That was speculation.

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Re:Could be good. by geekoid · 2013-10-14 08:36 · Score: 1

Would you rather have an ad for cereal sent to you why you are looking at cereal? or an add for tampons?
You are going to get an ad in any case.
The selection here isn't 'no ad' or 'focused ads' it's 'random ads' or 'focused ads'
OTOH I'm not sure how you learn about anything new without ads.

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The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 08:43 · Score: 2, Insightful

Yes, lets destroy a use of technology that will make everyone's life easier.
Easier?? From TFS:

The shelves will be able to track engagement, monitor how long customer's watch each ad, and offer discounts if a customer is considering a purchase (weight sensors will tell the machine if you pick up a product).
Yeah, that will totally make my life easier in the "don't over-pay" department. It's bad enough with club cards, and waiting week to week until that one item I want is on sale, and stocking up enough to hopefully last me until the next time. But now I have to do a little song and dance in the aisle, without even knowing if I'll get a coupon out of it? No, sorry, but fuck that shit.
Re:Could be good. by sjames · 2013-10-14 08:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

It is an incremental step. One of hundreds. That's how we're approaching the point where there is nowhere you can glance and not be exposed to an ad.
Re:Could be good. by RabidReindeer · 2013-10-14 08:53 · Score: 1

Next time, wait to use a manned line. Once you're through, complain about the long wait time to a manager.
That's not productive if my goal is to save time.
Instead, when it's convenient to do so, I shop at a different grocery store that hires enough staff that I don't have to wait in line. It's further from my home, though, so it only saves time if I am already in that area.
Whatever. When you go to Wal-Mart, you have to give up time while the security guard reviews the purchase anyway. Something I don't have to do because I don't shop in stores where customers are all considered thieves and the distance between the cashier and the door is considered an opportunity for Grand Larceny.
Re:Could be good. by Golddess · 2013-10-14 08:55 · Score: 1

Who cares if it doesn't correctly detect that you sister has lupus and is on steroid therapy... if the outcome of an incorrect detection is...

"Would she like a 20 cent coupon on special K?"
If that is the outcome, then yeah, it probably wouldn't matter to anyone. But that isn't what Impy the Impiuos Imp said. They said:

"Fat person detected. Would you be interested in a 20 cents off coupon for Special K?"

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Re:Could be good. by icebike · 2013-10-14 08:57 · Score: 4, Insightful

There is nothing about this proposed technology designed to make your life easier.
Its not there for you. Its there for the stores.
It won't reduce your prices.
It will not save you money.
Frankly, I'd rather remain an ass then become a koolaid drinking idiot like you.

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Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Re:Could be good. by aardvarkjoe · 2013-10-14 09:05 · Score: 1

Whatever. When you go to Wal-Mart, you have to give up time while the security guard reviews the purchase anyway.
Why would you think I shop at Wal-Mart? I don't.

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How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 09:05 · Score: 0

Deceptive pricing is when you sell a product for $5 for weeks on end, then mark it up to $7 while at the same time listing it as "on sale" for only $5.

Listing an item for $7 for weeks on end, but offering it for $5 if certain conditions are met, is a bit of a dick move, especially if it is difficult to tell that there is a way to get it for $5, but does not really qualify as deceptive pricing.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 09:11 · Score: 0

Especially once we figure out how to 'convince' it to give us the best discount on everything.
That is not a reason it is good, that is a reason it is bad (in the "Annoying As All Fuck" sense).

It's bad enough with so-called "club cards", but at least then the discount is up front. Now I need to do a little song and dance in the aisle on the chance that it will spit out a coupon? Sorry, but fuck that shit.
Re:Could be good. by Stan92057 · 2013-10-14 09:24 · Score: 2

"Anyways, you sister in law is using her medications an excuse to eat too much."

Dumbass! learn about what steroids can do to a body. She was not an over eater never was Steroid make you bloat so get educated before ya open your stupid mouth. Yes too many are fat lazy people if i thought for 1 second she fit that billing i wouldn't have posted it dumbass. Look up Jerry Lewis a famous steroid user.

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Jack of all trades,master of none
Re: Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 09:35 · Score: 0

hardly, as they are statistically more likely to pay full price.
"Celery detected in your shopping cart - 20% on tub of lard" would be more likely.
Re:Could be good. by contrapunctus · 2013-10-14 09:36 · Score: 1

I hate to be sexist, but I avoid lines that have women in them because most won't even start looking for their card until the last item is scanned (also they are more likely to write checks) even though one can swipe a card after the first item is scanned.
Re:Could be good. by Stan92057 · 2013-10-14 09:37 · Score: 1

lol that was a great conversation you had with yourself even answered yourself. And learn to read buddy i said X SISTER IN LAW but that's OK i don't care about that mistake that's for the grammar/spelling Nazi here at /.Why target over weight people at all? Why would i shop at a store where they discriminate by weight i want a coupon for 10% too and im not fat..........

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Jack of all trades,master of none
Re:Could be good. by icebike · 2013-10-14 10:03 · Score: 1

And when visiting any tech store, like AT&T or Best Buy, or whatever, I'm always looking for the
sales associate who is an Asian Chick, because she is FAR more likely know her shit than anyone else, and
far less likely to push some petty preference on me.
I know, I'm a bad person, racist and sexist, and Technophilic to boot. Still I'm human and can't turn that behavior off.
I don't go shopping to serve as training fodder for new hires. When I can't avoid it, I try to be helpful and patient, and non stress inducing, but I actively avoid incompetence. Sorry.

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Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Re:Could be good. by vux984 · 2013-10-14 12:42 · Score: 1

Pretty sure "Fat Person Detected" is the input not the output.
Re:Could be good. by gmhowell · 2013-10-14 14:48 · Score: 1

Next time, wait to use a manned line. Once you're through, complain about the long wait time to a manager.
That's not productive if my goal is to save time.
Instead, when it's convenient to do so, I shop at a different grocery store that hires enough staff that I don't have to wait in line. It's further from my home, though, so it only saves time if I am already in that area.
Whatever. When you go to Wal-Mart, you have to give up time while the security guard reviews the purchase anyway. Something I don't have to do because I don't shop in stores where customers are all considered thieves and the distance between the cashier and the door is considered an opportunity for Grand Larceny.
Why on Earth would you wait for them to check your purchases? In most states, the laws that would let them detain you are pretty strict and 'we do it to everyone' doesn't meat the criteria. The only place I put up with that crap is at membership stores (Costco, Sam's, etc.) as I believe it's a condition of membership.
Oops, just reread your comment (actually used the 'preview' button for its intended purpose. I must be new here.) It looks like you already don't shop at WalMart. I can respect that decision 100% (I didn't shop at one for about 6-7 years) but I think being detained while they check your receipt isn't the best reason in most cases.

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Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Re:Could be good. by gmhowell · 2013-10-14 14:54 · Score: 1

You really don't know much about the side effects of steroid use, do you? They can change basal metabolic rate, which will change calorie burn rate. Which will change your weight. Further, steroid doses are frequently modified on a regular basis. And finally, the way your body reacts to 20mg of Prednisone this month may not be the same as it reacts to that dose in six months from now after spending some time at 40mg per day.
I'm pretty lucky in that after being on steroids for a year, I'm at a pretty constant weight and one that I 'maintained' for probably a decade prior to the illness that put me on them. But in researching the drug(s) I'm on, it's pretty obvious that it isn't just some moral failing that leads to people on steroids gaining weight.

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Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Re:Could be good. by rtb61 · 2013-10-14 15:32 · Score: 1

Advertisers are targeted by advertising as well. Advertising main modern purpose to artificially inflate the desire for a product and hence artificially inflate the price, sufficient to pay for that advertising and of course the cost of producing an often junk product.
Advertising you pay for every cent of it with every advertised purchase you make. It is not free, even when to the consumer it has a real negative value, both in psychological harm and capital lost in producing better quality product.
In this case of course suppliers might well start to take fiscal offence and decide, "Fuck the retailer shelves there is no profit in it", let's all sell direct or via supplier controlled distribution warehouses with direct delivery". Eventually huge advertising budgets are going to collapse against direct sales and people telling the truth about crap products.

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Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Re:Could be good. by mjwx · 2013-10-14 16:26 · Score: 1

I hate to be sexist, but I avoid lines that have women in them because most won't even start looking for their card until the last item is scanned (also they are more likely to write checks) even though one can swipe a card after the first item is scanned.
I'd love cash only lines.

No body would use them and cash is a hell of a lot quicker than waiting for people to fumble with their cards, wait for approval, declined and start all over again because they fat fingered the 4 digit pin they cant remember unless its written down in their wallet.

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Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:Could be good. by mjwx · 2013-10-14 16:27 · Score: 1

I feel the same about it, but I think it would be fun to fuck with them by making it a point to pick up every item on the shelf. You could walk all over the store picking up items with no intention of buying them.
Take the items of a smart shelf, replace them on a competitors smart shelf.

This is a procure I call being a smart arse.

There will no doubt be a million ways to hack these shelves, unfortunately the majority of people are dumbarses who will just accept the shelves and advertising.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 16:28 · Score: 0

So you are punishing the store for not giving you self-checkout discount by wasting your time standing in long lines? Hello Tea-party guy!
Re:Could be good. by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-10-14 20:50 · Score: 1

Controlling the means of production as a result of a track record of successfully controlling the means of production just sound like the right approach to me
That's not how capitalism works in practice at all.
Re:Could be good. by MitchDev · 2013-10-15 00:28 · Score: 1

Agreed
There are WAY too many sheep out there that think this is a good idea.
No wonder America has gotten so weak. Forget hard work and thought, let the dancing candy bar on the screen tell you what to do and think....
Re:Could be good. by MitchDev · 2013-10-15 00:31 · Score: 1

That's like telling someone "I'm going to kill you and rob you, would you rather I do it from in front or behind?"
Make the ads and the means to deliver them too expensive to maintain...
"OTOH I'm not sure how you learn about anything new without ads."
Must be great to have no friends or family you can trust with information about something they like or find useful. I pity you and the other drones who are slaves to the corporate machine.
Re:Could be good. by Nadaka · 2013-10-15 03:12 · Score: 1

I've literally driven a buggy of goods up to the CSM monitoring the self checkout and told him that he lost a sale today because they were unable to provide a checkout clerk.
And self checkout does not save time. Each item scans slower, bagging is problematic, and it randomly halts requiring assistance.
I've bagged groceries before. I could do it 10 or 20 times faster than the maximum allowed by the self scan station.
Re:Could be good. by aardvarkjoe · 2013-10-15 03:55 · Score: 1

And self checkout does not save time. Each item scans slower, bagging is problematic, and it randomly halts requiring assistance.
It does if there's a line of half a dozen people waiting for a clerk, and there's no line for a self-checkout station.
This is why I prefer shopping at a store that hires sufficient staff to man the checkout lines. But that is not always the most practical choice. Especially if I'm only buying a few items, it is most efficient to use the self-checkout at this particular grocery store.
Remember, my original objection was to the person who claimed that people that use the self-checkout are those that don't value their time. That's obviously wrong, because the reason why I do use it is because I do value my time.

--

How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Re:Could be good. by tlhIngan · 2013-10-15 04:11 · Score: 1

Unless advertising somehow decreases the cost of bringing products to market, it actually increases prices in the aggregate. You may pay less for a particular product on a particular day, just like you may occasionally win at roulette. Overall though, advertising increases expenditures by the companies, just like the odds favor the house. That cost is passed on to you, even though it's probably not that large. The house edge isn't that large either; but you still lose.
It's a necessary cost though - because if no one knows about your product, then you may have saved money and have a cheaper product, but you'll also get far fewer sales as a result.
You can easily draw parallels to many geek oriented sites and projects that die on /. all the time, and the first top comment is "What is it?".
Hell, I know many people who "cut the cord" using bittorrent, and they're promptly asking if a TV series has started again - or other folks who don't realize that a movie they wanted to catch is now in second run because they didn't know the release date.
Yes, there's a lot of advertising methods - but it's one of those necessary evils. You hope that people would do word-of-mouth, as it's one of the most effective advertising methods available, but it's potentially not timely enough to catch the deal, or the show or whatever.
Personally, I'm blasÃ© about it. I don't block ads, but I disable javascript which gets rid of most of them. I don't fear ads from TV or the oddball ad that shows up for a cool upcoming movie.

weight sensors??? by Joe_Dragon · 2013-10-14 03:57 · Score: 1

The ones used in mini bars or self check outs don't work that well so how much false positives will there be

Re:weight sensors??? by DexterIsADog · 2013-10-14 04:08 · Score: 1

False positives on weight sensors in minibars are a feature, not a bug. The hotel needs to charge you $8 for that Toblerone to help make up for the money they lose on minibars in the first place.
Re:weight sensors??? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:55 · Score: 0

No, no, the aisle will have a weight sensor. Customers who weigh in excess of 300 lbs. will be offered a "buy one get one free" deal on all king size candy bars.

just what we need! by Xicor · 2013-10-14 03:58 · Score: 1

now we can see if we can haggle with robots for discounts on stuff!

They better watch out . . .. by MarkvW · 2013-10-14 04:00 · Score: 1

You throw a targeted ad at me and it just might be an offer to contract with me, and you just might be bound by terms you didn't mean to be bound by.

Re:They better watch out . . .. by wooferhound · 2013-10-14 04:25 · Score: 1

The NSA is going to want to tap into that data . . .

--
We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky

Oh shit by darrellg1 · 2013-10-14 04:01 · Score: 3, Funny

the condom section is going to go nuts....

Re:Oh shit by home-electro.com · 2013-10-14 05:17 · Score: 1

Somebody passes an isle with his gf and is offered XS size condoms. I see a potential lawsuit against the store here.
Re:Oh shit by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:39 · Score: 0

Do XS condoms exist? Me and a few friends have been taping some hidden camera fun lately and one of our "pranks" was to go to stores and (somewhat loudly) ask for extra small condoms but none seem to have any...
Re:Oh shit by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 09:10 · Score: 0

"where are all the plus-sized condoms? this store has been out of them since they put in these smart supermarket shelves, and all they've had are these little ones."
oh, and that "finger cot" guy was actually being funny, check it out http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=finger+cot&id=8563A468D8E9776231E11DB600713B5217D49E8D&FORM=IQFRBA
Re:Oh shit by slash.jit · 2013-10-14 10:11 · Score: 1

Imagine what would happen if the stores partners with Google.

Good Lord... by TwoUtes · 2013-10-14 04:01 · Score: 1

Can't we go anywhere without being subjected to advertisements?

Re:Good Lord... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:09 · Score: 0

No
Re:Good Lord... by jxander · 2013-10-14 04:19 · Score: 1

Now please stay tuned for a word from our sponsors ...

--
This signature is false.
Re:Good Lord... by khellendros1984 · 2013-10-14 04:36 · Score: 1

Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?

Fry: Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And in magazines and movies and at ball games, on buses and milk cartons and T-shirts and bananas and written on the sky. But not in dreams. No, sir-ee!
See? TV doesn't lie. We're on the way to the future!

--
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Re:Good Lord... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:43 · Score: 0

If you're in a store, you're already being subjected to heavy advertising from the product packaging, price tags, coupon books, banners, and intercom announcements.
Re:Good Lord... by pla · 2013-10-14 05:30 · Score: 3

Can't we go anywhere without being subjected to advertisements?

No, but you can learn the joy that comes from playing "make it stop talking".

Try this as an experiment - Wait for a reasonably busy day at Target (a particularly egregious offender for this experiment). Go up to one of their many end-cap monitors screaming ads at you.

And... Turn it off (some of them have no off switch, in which case, just unplug it). Simple as that.

At first people will look shocked, then guiltily relieved, as realization slowly dawns on them - You've done nothing wrong, and the screeching has stopped! A few will even take up the "cause", and on a good day, you can get a wave of ad-lessness to spread out from your starting point that keeps the store basically ad-free until the end of the day, when sadly, everyone will have forgotten that they don't need to put up with it.

Call me petty if you like, but little pleasures make life enjoyable. And I, for one, look forward to sensors that can weigh the product on the shelves, just to see how much fun we can have screwing with their error handling - How do they react to someone taking "half" of a can of tuna fish? How about adding one? Replacing one with two gallons of water? Fun fun fun!
Re: Good Lord... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:02 · Score: 0

They don't want you, they want your children, the decision makers, cuz kids all want the same thing... high margin, low nutrition, processed sugary crap sold by manipulation.
You are only transportation.
Re:Good Lord... by Dr+Herbert+West · 2013-10-14 06:10 · Score: 1

You, sir, are a do-er of good. If more people would treat advertising as the noise it is, rather than an annoyance to be endured (we kill mosquitos, don't we? Why put up with ads?) the world would be a better place.

Before someone flames me for "Won't someone think of teh jobz", full disclaimer: I'm occasionally employed by ad agencies. Can't stand it... til I get the paycheck.
Re:Good Lord... by geekoid · 2013-10-14 08:49 · Score: 1

The world needs hypocrites to. I suppose.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Game the system by jabberw0k · 2013-10-14 04:01 · Score: 1

Now you'll have to keep a selection of masks (Guy Fawkes, George Bush, Muhammad Ali...) in the cart and switch them as you wander the aisles. Or maybe wearing a burka will be enough.

Re:Game the system by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-10-14 05:03 · Score: 2

May I suggest that anyone wearing a Guy Fawkes mask gets bombarded with adverts for t-shirts with "TWAT" written on them?
Re:Game the system by coyote_oww · 2013-10-14 10:54 · Score: 1

Self-righteous people won't buy shirts that accurately describe them.

Great way to lose customers by treerex · 2013-10-14 04:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

I for one have no interest in such targeted advertising, and until they become ubiquitous I'll avoid any store that has these.

Can you imagine where this will go? Shelf notices that you're overweight and you picked up a candy bar? Screen says, "Are you sure you want to buy that?" This will work great until someone puts a sticker over the sensor bar.

Re:Great way to lose customers by disposable60 · 2013-10-14 04:19 · Score: 1

This will work great until someone puts a sticker over the sensor bar.
Sharpie, liquid paper, spraypaint, RTV. Something difficult and expensive to undo without damaging the lens.
You'll need a hoodie and a mask, though.

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You're looking for quotes? See my journal.
Re:Great way to lose customers by HideyoshiJP · 2013-10-14 04:20 · Score: 1

That's exactly what I plan to do. Ha!
...I hope the sticker store has some of these. I'm going to need a discount on stickers.
Re:Great way to lose customers by ColdWetDog · 2013-10-14 04:26 · Score: 4, Funny

You'll need a hoodie and a mask, though.
Likely not. Just wear a baseball cap with a bunch of IR emitting diodes on the brim. That will likely swamp any visual input and will look 'normal' to the unaided human eye.
Come on guys, techno up here. This is a challange. Rise to it.

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Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Re:Great way to lose customers by clickety6 · 2013-10-14 04:28 · Score: 2

Can you imagine where this will go? Shelf notices that you're overweight and you picked up a candy bar? Screen says, "Are you sure you want to buy that?" This will work great until someone puts a sticker over the sensor bar.
I can't see the stores limiting their profits sales by trying to dissuade customers from purchasing.
More likely, if the sensor sees you're overweight, when you pick up a candy bar a voice will say " Go on, take five! Take ten! Take them all! You know you want to!"

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----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
Re:Great way to lose customers by Qzukk · 2013-10-14 04:41 · Score: 1, Funny

Come on guys, techno up here. This is a challange. Rise to it.
I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.

--
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Re:Great way to lose customers by dcooper_db9 · 2013-10-14 04:42 · Score: 2

Better approach: Put a box of saltines where the Oreo's are supposed to be. Hold a bag of potatoes while standing on the weight sensor. Take stuff off the shelf, walk around the store and then put it back.
Bad data is worse than no data.

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I do not block ads. I do block third party scripts.
Re:Great way to lose customers by AmiMoJo · 2013-10-14 04:47 · Score: 1

Shelf notices that you're overweight and you picked up a candy bar? Screen says, "Are you sure you want to buy that?"
Nah, advertisers would never miss an opportunity to make you feel shitty about yourself and spend money trying to fix it. I imagine the screen would become one of those funny mirrors that makes you look fat, while a loud voice shouts "hit the gym, fat ass!" at you, followed by a little printer dispensing a coupon for the local sweatshop. Obviously the voucher will have a photoshopped barbie doll standing next to her photoshopped he-man on it too, just in case you had some dignity or feelings of self-worth left.

--
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:Great way to lose customers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:49 · Score: 0

True - I already look for cardboard boxes at WalMart to hang on and cover their aisle advert monitors - as many as I can, every visit. One can only hope that tape or stickers work well for these cameras, unless they're set to alert if no picture - "Bweep! The AdverCam seems to be blocked by an object! Please remove the obstruction. Thank you." Even then, that might be kind of fun if the store has about 2 or 3 AdverCams.
Anyway, kindly keep jamming, and maybe proper social evolution might run its course.
Re:Great way to lose customers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:50 · Score: 0

Or should I?
Re:Great way to lose customers by sl4shd0rk · 2013-10-14 04:58 · Score: 1

Shelf notices that you're overweight and you picked up a candy bar?
The interesting part will be when the system notifies your health insurance provider, in realtime, about the candy bar and adjusts your premium" accordingly".

--
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
Re:Great way to lose customers by mellon · 2013-10-14 05:06 · Score: 2

More likely the shelf will urge you to get the king size instead of the regular. What makes you think the advertisers will take your interests to heart?
Re:Great way to lose customers by bobbied · 2013-10-14 05:14 · Score: 1

Small IR laser pointed in the right direction and vola.... By by sensor... Problem solved.

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"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Re:Great way to lose customers by bobbied · 2013-10-14 05:16 · Score: 1

I love that approach... Yea, Move the cereal from the shelf below to the one hawking their wares electronically.

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"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Re:Great way to lose customers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:31 · Score: 0

This will work great until someone puts a sticker over the sensor bar.
Will probably be an rfid tag (so markers/stickers will not work) with you swiping something to 'log in' with your cart. Oh you didnt log in? Someone will sit on a camera and do it for you. Or use a nfc thing with your phone and figure out who you are. Or watch your cell and just see you walked into the store and figure it out for you.
Re:Great way to lose customers by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2013-10-14 05:40 · Score: 1

Hehe normal advertising does this already without the need for expensive sensors.
Just wait for government to mandate stuff like this "to contain health care costs". There's already blathering in Europe about penalizing fat people.
"Fatass detected, purchase will be reported to penalizing agency."

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(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Re:Great way to lose customers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:42 · Score: 0

Not even that, chances are, you'll see some store shelf stacking lackey stick a price label over the lens without thinking that it's important.
Re:Great way to lose customers by Princeofcups · 2013-10-14 07:32 · Score: 1

Can you imagine where this will go? Shelf notices that you're overweight and you picked up a candy bar? Screen says, "Are you sure you want to buy that?" This will work great until someone puts a sticker over the sensor bar.
You have that backwards. It will see that you are overweight, and suggest ice cream to go with that snickers. And for the next hour only, 10% off whipped cream.

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The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
Re:Great way to lose customers by geekoid · 2013-10-14 08:50 · Score: 1

Yes, they cold never find a gut in a hate with LEDs. You just blend right on in.

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The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:Great way to lose customers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 12:32 · Score: 0

or a great way to get customers - accepting the fact I am going to see ads (a pretty good assumption in this day and age) why would I want to see any ads that aren't targeted?
I'd like them to go one step further and let me know when I may be running out of something - how about you swipe your store card and it lets you know you may be running low on razor blades because it has been 5 weeks since you bought them? Show me stuff I want to see and hide the tampon ads.
Re:Great way to lose customers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 13:16 · Score: 0

Or you know, you could just ignore it. There's so much advertising out there now that it's just visual background noise. This will go the same way.
Re:Great way to lose customers by Neil+Boekend · 2013-10-14 20:40 · Score: 1

People with their dignity intact spend to little on comfort food. This can not be allowed.

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Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.

Headphones by intermodal · 2013-10-14 04:02 · Score: 1

I can guarantee that I'll start carrying headphones to the store with me if that starts happening. Actually, given those awful televisions running constant ads that some stores have, I should probably already start doing that.

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In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!

Re:Headphones by xeno · 2013-10-14 09:04 · Score: 1

I did this last weekend for the first time. I'd resisted being that-obnoxious-dude-with-the-headphones-on-in-a-public-space but the experience was pure joy. I walked in, and you know what? No audible adverts. I could read my shopping list and get thru it in half the time. No impulse buys. And one other curious thing -- when I took the earbuds out at the cashier line (if they make me self-checkout, i'll just buy from amazon), I noticed that the music is truncated to maximize advert time. 30sec of a song... 15sec announcement.... 45sec song.... 15sec advert.... 30sec song....
Yeah. Headphones back in.

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I think not...(*poof*)
Re:Headphones by intermodal · 2013-10-14 09:46 · Score: 1

Count me in. I wore them all the time at university when I had to walk through the area where the business-majors tried to sell things to students who couldn't afford them. Made it a lot more pleasant, even though I too was a bit bothered by the "obnoxious-dude-with-the-headphones-on-in-a-public-space" factor. I'm not proud to say that you do get used to it, but I came to accept it as a legitimate defensive tactic.

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In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!

This will be annoying by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:02 · Score: 0

I see you are $race, perhaps you would like to know about our discount on $steriotypicalFood today?

Re:This will be annoying by Sarten-X · 2013-10-14 04:44 · Score: 4, Funny

Stereotypes are a crude biologically-formed statistical analysis, stored in cultural memory and transmitted through oral and theatrical tradition.
These systems will use a highly-refined statistical analysis, stored in The Cloud and transmitted through wired and wireless networks.
Both will ultimately determine that people who have spent time in Australia are more likely to buy iocaine powder than a Sicilian. The latter system will just be able to tell you exactly how much more likely.

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You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Re:This will be annoying by zotz · 2013-10-14 07:33 · Score: 1

~;-)
+1

--
FreeMusicPush If you want to see more Free Music made, listen to Free

I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:02 · Score: 0

what would a hand held taser do to the sensors?

Re:I wonder... by Sarten-X · 2013-10-14 04:18 · Score: 3, Insightful

It would assist in a vandalism charge, just like it would if you used it on the cash registers, in-store speaker system, or vending machines. With the closed-circuit surveillance the stores already have for shoplifting, the trial would be speedy, and you'd likely be found liable for the replacement cost of the device, plus penalties.
But hey, at least you'd have given a clear message to the store manager: You're a psychopath who carries a taser to intentionally damage someone else's property at the slightest provocation. That was the message you wanted to send, right?

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You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Re:I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:55 · Score: 0

How long will their stupid idea exist in the real world of shopping ? When behind someone at checkout with several kids that constantly touch and pickup everything near them. When a shopper (like me) is annoyed by loud sound from ad's or tv's etc. ask them to "turn it down or off" or I'll fucken leave my shit on the checkout and walk out. When someone punches or just fucks-up the stupid ad display? Here's one that Mondelez didn't plan on, I'm a customer that will "not" purchase items that I grew fucken tired of seeing and hearing their stupid ads. Game changer.. yup it may be... I will buy less of their shit once annoyed by their dumb-ass ad idea.
Re:I wonder... by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-10-14 05:05 · Score: 1

Property exists because the concept benefits society, not to give business owners free reign to act like dickheads.
Re:I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:08 · Score: 0

Conversely, someone else acting like a dickhead does not give you free reign to be a dickhead.
Re:I wonder... by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-10-14 05:13 · Score: 1

Yeah, you're right, tasering is OTT. Spray-painting, OTOH, would be reasonable.
Re:I wonder... by Sarten-X · 2013-10-14 05:14 · Score: 1

So let me get this straight... anyone you think is acting like a dickhead no longer has the right to own property? Well gee, with such defined morality as that, I guess we can dispense with the whole "rule of law" thing outright.

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You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Re:I wonder... by Sarten-X · 2013-10-14 05:17 · Score: 1

Spray-painting would still be vandalism, just like it would be if you painted the cash register displays, store windows, or product packaging. It's just vandalism with less shrapnel and more odor.

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You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Re:I wonder... by dwpro · 2013-10-14 06:17 · Score: 1

Psychopath is a pretty strong word to describe a minor act of rebellion. I'd say it's "normal" if not rational to rebel in some way against the ever encroaching attempts at manipulation and control.

--
Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz
Re: I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:21 · Score: 0

No worries. I have a friend who crunched the stats for a startup doing in-store vidiotizing. There was no payoff and they went the way of the moral banker.
The first time some mom thinks she's being stalked by the backroom grocery boy...
Well, maybe there's an angle after all. ;-)
Re:I wonder... by Sarten-X · 2013-10-14 07:01 · Score: 1

A minor act of rebellion is shopping elsewhere, writing a letter, or complaining to the store manager. I don't think we should consider "normal" behavior to include assault with a deadly weapon.

--
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Re:I wonder... by geekoid · 2013-10-14 08:53 · Score: 1

business owners have every right to act like dickheads. Just like you. I'm not sure why you think otherwise,
Of course I'm not sure why advertising makes then a dickhead in the first place.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:I wonder... by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-10-14 09:12 · Score: 1

I can't think of any resonable justification for a "right" to act like a dickhead.
In particular, a society would have to be absurd to protect people's means to be a dickhead.
So, if you want to try to maximise your profit with intrusive, targeted advertising, go ahead. But don't expect me to pay for the justice system to protect you when someone comes along and disables the equipment you use to do this.
Re:I wonder... by feufeu · 2013-10-14 10:57 · Score: 1

They don't care about my message and I will quite likely get a coupon for cheap batteries for the taser.
Re:I wonder... by psithurism · 2013-10-14 11:05 · Score: 1

I'd say it's "normal" if not rational to rebel in some way against the ever encroaching attempts at manipulation and control.
Like shopping in a different store?
I'd understand vandalizing a display you were forced to interact with, but essentials can be bought at the ubiquitous stores that litter any particular suburb, and many aren't even advanced enough to accept credit card payments. I really don't see a reason to enter a store you don't like, seek out the features that you don't like, and vandalize them.
Re:I wonder... by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-10-14 20:53 · Score: 1

Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with vandalism per se.
Re:I wonder... by dwpro · 2013-10-15 00:55 · Score: 1

I think that's a valid argument. However, sometimes when I'm low on petrol I'll pull in to what seems like a ubiquitous gas station and after I enter my credit card, a speaker suddenly starts blaring advertisements at me. I feel like my urge to yank out the speaker wire is justified by the obnoxiousness of the advertisement. I fear something similar is what's coming to shelves near me.

--
Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz

Advertisers as clingy ex-girlfriends by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:03 · Score: 0

Someone invented DVR to skip commercials; someone else invented adblock to turn off ads on the internet; we ignore billboards; why don't they get the hint? I had a girlfriend like that once. Took me almost a year for her to get the hint.

Re:Advertisers as clingy ex-girlfriends by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:04 · Score: 0

Took me almost a year for her

This is why I don't comment before I've had my coffee.

Mondelez says by psybre · 2013-10-14 04:06 · Score: 2

Mondelez says the software will only use and collect aggregate data, and will not record any video or photos."

Yet.

--
Authority questions you. Return the favor. -- d474

Re:Mondelez says by Nethemas+the+Great · 2013-10-14 05:25 · Score: 1

It doesn't really matter. The number of events required to map a behavior pattern to a person's identity is trivially small. Humans require photo/video to identify, algorithms require far, far less.

--
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
Re:Mondelez says by jc42 · 2013-10-14 06:53 · Score: 1

Mondelez says the software will only use and collect aggregate data, and will not record any video or photos."
OK, let's see a show of hands: Who here just laughed when they read that, and muttered something like "Yeah, right, we believe you."?

--
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.

Kinnect hardware by TyFoN · 2013-10-14 04:06 · Score: 1

So, this technology could be used in the xbox it self?
Is it already? I'm not sure if it shows adds at all as I don't own any.

Re:Kinnect hardware by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:21 · Score: 0

Have you used an xbox360 in the last few years? See all the advertisements when you are on the home screen? If those can be tailored using the kinect they are including with each XBone, then you can be assured it will be.

How long will it last by g01d4 · 2013-10-14 04:07 · Score: 1

My admittedly limited understanding of the business is that margins and profits are very tight. I can't image something like this pulling its weight in terms of cost-benefit.

Re:How long will it last by buzzsawddog · 2013-10-14 04:15 · Score: 2

At first you offer it for free. You convince people how important it is to them. Then you dangle them on a leash and make them think they are getting a discount. Then once they CANT LIVE WITHOUT IT you make them pay full price!!!
Re:How long will it last by dsavage · 2013-10-14 04:23 · Score: 1

Just a quick comment:
Admittedly, retail profit margins are pretty thin, however, they aren't uniformly thin. There are certain product that are loss leaders, and there are some that have a healthy profit margin. (Like electrical wire at Home Depot is historically relatively cheap, but the wire nuts that you use as connectors aren't.)
Something like this would be a one time investment that you could amortize over many months, if not years... making it very cheap in the long run. And even if it only steers 1% of the public to a higher profit item, it'll pay for itself... on top of that, it can be a "upsell" to products that don't have good shelf space, they could pay to advertise their product more often than others. And that would be considered gravy...
Re: How long will it last by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:41 · Score: 0

You ate the big lie. If you need proof, go to any city's Asian district and shop for groceries in a smaller store that doesn't advertise or charge for shelf space. You pay at least 30% less across the board, for everything.
Big chains may have low margins but only after accounting for premium expenses like; prime real estate, full page color ads in every newspaper, stockholder equity (which they never seem to pay off), massive executive salaries, bonuses and expense accounts, financial consultants, IT consultants and online "rewards/loyalty" programs.
If they are so poor, why do did Costco & Safeway decide to install gas pumps? Surely it wasn't to sell another low margin commodity, at a discount!
Re:How long will it last by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 20:45 · Score: 0

No human would ever stoop that low. I refuse to believe it. They will simply keep offering that discount, just like my crack dealer.

Try that a few times . . . by StefanJ · 2013-10-14 04:09 · Score: 1

. . . and suddenly masks will be deemed a threat to Free Enterprise, and wearing one will put you on a terrorism watch list.

Anyway, you'd better wear gloves too, because shopping cart handles will eventually have DNA sensors and galvanic skin response detectors.

Re:Try that a few times . . . by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:23 · Score: 0

White gloves go with a Guy Fawkes mask very well.
Glue a couple of buttons on to the back of each glove and you could use a Mad Mouse mask too!
(and watch the midden hit the windmill......)

OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by GodfatherofSoul · 2013-10-14 04:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

It'll never happen, but I'm sure they've been used as an end-around credit card privacy laws. I remember when my local grocer first introduced them. The prices of everything went up overnight, then you needed their card to get the same old prices. The thought that they might make advertising to me even more interactive isn't at all appealing.

And, as for just switching grocery stores, I don't know where most of you live but here in KC I only have 2 practical choices (without a long drive).

--
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!

Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by cusco · 2013-10-14 04:44 · Score: 2

When they ask for your phone number instead of the card use (321) 123-4567. There are several hundred (if not more) people around the country using that number. Works almost everywhere, if it doesn't work at some chain fill out a card. I've noticed QFC and Radio Shack will occasionally remove it, so I just fill out another form with the same number and a different name and it starts working again for another year or two.
As an added benefit, it's amusing as all hell to see how many cashiers think that's my actual phone number.

--
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:45 · Score: 3, Interesting

Grocer cards: Ask the person behind you if they want the extra purchase credit on their card. You get the "discount", they get entered into the database. Everyone's happy!
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by CanHasDIY · 2013-10-14 04:47 · Score: 1

Lemme guess, Pricecutter and/or Dillons/Kroger?
Yea, screw them. I was glad when they built a Hy-Vee down the road from my house - no 'grocer card' to speak of, but they have a "fuel saver" program by which you can get X cents/gallon off your next fuel purchase if you buy certain things.

--
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Nidi62 · 2013-10-14 04:49 · Score: 1

It'll never happen, but I'm sure they've been used as an end-around credit card privacy laws. I remember when my local grocer first introduced them. The prices of everything went up overnight, then you needed their card to get the same old prices. The thought that they might make advertising to me even more interactive isn't at all appealing.
And, as for just switching grocery stores, I don't know where most of you live but here in KC I only have 2 practical choices (without a long drive).
As far as I can tell, the Publix stores around me do not use loyalty cards (but they are also as a rule more expensive, even looking at prices that haven't been adjusted for loyalty discounts). But, if being tracked on a card bothers you so much, then simply get some people together and use the same card. Give one person's address, one person's phone number, another person's name, etc when they ask for information. Generally you don't need the physical card on you, you can simply use the associated phone number as identification. So, if a group of people shop on the same card, the data is skewed because it can't be singled down to an individual or single household.
For example, I live on my own, but I use my parents' card when I shop at Kroger. Saves me money, my shopping habits are mixed in with theirs(and since I occasionally shop for/with my gf, a little bit of hers as well), and since they don't have a store with a gas station near them and I do, I get to use all the fuel points. I get to save money and my shopping data is obscured with other data, making targeted ads for me or my family less relevant.

--
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:51 · Score: 2, Informative

I always use Jenny's Number at chain stores.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:04 · Score: 0

You should really be worried about fluorine in tap water contaminating your precious bodily fluids.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by sconeu · 2013-10-14 05:05 · Score: 1

I don't know if Trader Joe's is national (I know that they're in both CA and AZ), but they don't do that shit either.
For a while, I shopped at Albertsons, specifically because they *DIDN'T* have a "loyalty card". Of course, that went away quickly.

--
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by mellon · 2013-10-14 05:09 · Score: 1

Um. How is that different from a grocer card? The bribe is different—fuel discounts rather than food discounts—but the effect is the same: they track your purchases.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-10-14 05:10 · Score: 1

I approach it with the view that a government TLA doesn't care what excuse you have for disturbing them with your marketing bullshit, only that you disturbed them with your marketing bullshit.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:12 · Score: 0

I don't know where most of you live but here in KC

So whose fault is that?
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by bobbied · 2013-10-14 05:25 · Score: 1

I take it you pay cash for everything too? lighten up or this "i"m being watch" thing might get you a long jacket with long sleeves that buttons up the back

--
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by linebackn · 2013-10-14 05:28 · Score: 1

But, if being tracked on a card bothers you so much, then simply get some people together and use the same card....

Because over time, especially if enough people do it, - and everyone should - they will make it harder, and harder, and even eventually illegal for you to do this.
And by shopping at places like this you are still saying it is OK for them to tack you and others, even if you have quietly fudged your data a bit.
Also don't be so sure that they will never have the techniques to see through your obfuscation.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:37 · Score: 0

Albertson's has discontinued their use.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by jerpyro · 2013-10-14 05:54 · Score: 1

I do too. Whatever area code I'm in plus 867-5309 and I've only seen it not work once.
Re: OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Nidi62 · 2013-10-14 06:00 · Score: 1

How could they make it illegal? About the only thing I can think of is pull the TOS/EULA crap and claim it is a contract. Ask for an ID? Get a fake out of state one with a random name. Or pick a real name from an out of state phone book and put that on the card. Require a card to shop there? With the thin profit margin of grocert stores, they cant afford to pay someone to just check cards when people enter. If they check at the counter then people will simply leave without purchasing anything, and the seller has to deal with more restocking of merchandise, further eating into profits and possibly increasing spoilage.

--
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Overzeetop · 2013-10-14 06:08 · Score: 1

The best part is seeing what "targeted" advertising coupons get spit out when using that number.

--
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by CanHasDIY · 2013-10-14 06:15 · Score: 1

They only offer fuel points on a very limited number of products (basically, whatever is on 'special' that week); if I'm not buying anything that gets fuel points, there's no purpose in swiping the card.
As opposed to the typical grocer card, that you have to use on every purchase to avoid rip-off pricing.

--
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re: OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by idontgno · 2013-10-14 06:19 · Score: 2

How could they make it illegal?
Lobbying. The usual way.
Require a card to shop there? With the thin profit margin of grocert stores, they cant afford to pay someone to just check cards when people enter.
You obviously haven't shopped at a Sam's Club. Hell, you haven't shopped at Wal-Mart... your friendly "Welcom to Wal-Mart" oldster could easily be repurposed as a card-check monkey, at precisely zero operating cost increase.

--
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:22 · Score: 0

For a while, I shopped at Albertsons, specifically because they *DIDN'T* have a "loyalty card". Of course, that went away quickly.
Since Albertsons was bought by a private equity firm, they no longer use the loyalty cards.
Re: OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:46 · Score: 0

Safeway has "online only" coupons, AND you have to link you online account to your existing affiliate account.
I don't shop there no more. Helps with my BP.
Re: OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by MitchDev · 2013-10-14 06:48 · Score: 1

Especially if you have a lot of frozen and/or refrigerated items...
Re: OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:52 · Score: 0

Try buying nitrogen fertilizer and Hallal meat on the same credit card, if you believe in conspiracy theories. Then make sure you download the Al Jazeera app for your smartphone and register as an Independent. Call up AIPAC on K Steer and ask about getting a visa to Israel during Ramadan.
Then, wait.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 09:13 · Score: 0

Well shit, that explains how Walmart was able to beat them out so easily. Despite their infamous dickery to suppliers and employees if they pull less shit on their customers you can see why they'd leave their local businesses.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by El_Oscuro · 2013-10-14 10:15 · Score: 1

You could also use the local number from Rejection Hotline

--
"Be grateful for what you have. You may never know when you may lose it."
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by coyote_oww · 2013-10-14 10:59 · Score: 1

What do you consider a long drive? In NV, I have 3 grocery stores that are about 2miles out of the way on the way home from work, or 3 or 4 others within 5 miles from home. (12miles from home to work, curious store distribution). I would have expected a city to offer mad choice.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by ffflala · 2013-10-14 11:41 · Score: 1

I had been using one of these cards at a local big grocery for a few months after moving to a new place. It would regularly print out additional coupons with my receipt. The interesting thing to me was that I stopped getting any coupons immediately after I actually *used* one for a discount on a purchase.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by Registered+Coward+v2 · 2013-10-14 11:57 · Score: 1

When they ask for your phone number instead of the card use (321) 123-4567. There are several hundred (if not more) people around the country using that number. Works almost everywhere, if it doesn't work at some chain fill out a card. I've noticed QFC and Radio Shack will occasionally remove it, so I just fill out another form with the same number and a different name and it starts working again for another year or two.
As an added benefit, it's amusing as all hell to see how many cashiers think that's my actual phone number.
Plus, filling out new cards allows you to complete the top 10 worst presidents lists, interspersed with famous dictators and serial killers. Somewhere someone is getting a good laugh, I hope, as they cull the list.

--
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by GodfatherofSoul · 2013-10-14 14:27 · Score: 1

I mean long drive as in for a different franchise. I did look at a map and there's a 3rd option about 2 miles out, but KC is dominated by 2 major chains and 1 smaller chain.

--
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by mjwx · 2013-10-14 15:59 · Score: 1

It'll never happen, but I'm sure they've been used as an end-around credit card privacy laws. I remember when my local grocer first introduced them. The prices of everything went up overnight, then you needed their card to get the same old prices. The thought that they might make advertising to me even more interactive isn't at all appealing.
And, as for just switching grocery stores, I don't know where most of you live but here in KC I only have 2 practical choices (without a long drive).
In Australia, they aren't allowed to offer discounts in this fashion... Rather they have a "points" system where you can trade the points in for stuff. It's basically a way of collecting info on you and not giving you anything for it (your points expire).

Supermarkets in Oz also offer their own credit cards, however this means they are now bound by the same privacy laws and they're just rebranded products from another financial services provider. This is more about locking people into a single source, so you have a Coles credit card, you buy groceries at Coles, petrol at Coles Express, alcohol at Liquor Land (owned by Coles). People get so blinded by the "Points" they get that they dont even bother looking at prices. In the end it's a losing proposition as the money they've wasted by buying more expensive alternatives for FlyBuy's points is greater than the cost of the airfare they got for free*.

* Not actually free, taxes and fees apply. You also spent $1000 to save $100.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by mjwx · 2013-10-14 16:23 · Score: 1

When they ask for your phone number instead of the card use (321) 123-4567. There are several hundred (if not more) people around the country using that number. Works almost everywhere, if it doesn't work at some chain fill out a card. I've noticed QFC and Radio Shack will occasionally remove it, so I just fill out another form with the same number and a different name and it starts working again for another year or two.
As an added benefit, it's amusing as all hell to see how many cashiers think that's my actual phone number.
This,

If you want to have the cards and not give away your personal details, fake them.

Nando's honestly doesn't care that I signed up as: Shogoth The Destroyer 12 Blah St, Blahville, WA. 9999 They didn't even bother checking the postal code (WA in Australia is 6xxx, the 9 series is not in use) and the staff get a kick out of calling out an order for Shogoth The Destroyer.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by coyote_oww · 2013-10-16 03:12 · Score: 1

Ah, thanks. I'm taken aback. In Carson City, my options are Walmart, Savemart, Raley's, Smiths, Scolaris, Trader Joes. I think the drive for those is, on average, more though. I really would have expected a much greater variety.

Honest, it won't record a thing! by kawabago · 2013-10-14 04:11 · Score: 1

Sure, I believe that. Actually I think the NSA will be putting back doors into it so it very much will record what we do. It'll catch shop lifters too.

Re:Honest, it won't record a thing! by mjr167 · 2013-10-14 04:21 · Score: 1

Will it be accessible through the user string roodkcab_asn ?
Re:Honest, it won't record a thing! by foma84 · 2013-10-14 05:01 · Score: 1

Too "inside" to be actually funny.

Home Depot Already Has Them: Tied to NSA? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:14 · Score: 1

[Reminds me of this]

Home Depot (HD) has these irritating security cameras that view/display you at eye level, beep at you 4X each time they detect you and undoubtedly send all gathered imagery to the NSA. They are positioned one camera every 10 feet of aisle, so walking back and forth stirs up a beeping frenzy. Got detected/beeped at about 200X browsing the drill bit aisle at HD. Very Irritating.

Obama need not know when I buy a router bit for my portable drill.

Re:Home Depot Already Has Them: Tied to NSA? by CanHasDIY · 2013-10-14 04:56 · Score: 1

Obama need not know when I buy a router bit for my portable drill.
Sure he does! After all, buying stuff at hardware stores means you might be a turrorist! ...Especially if you pay cash.

--
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re:Home Depot Already Has Them: Tied to NSA? by bobbied · 2013-10-14 05:39 · Score: 1

Obama need not know when I buy a router bit for my portable drill.
A *router bit* for a portable *drill* ? Um, I'm not sure what you are trying to do with a router bit chucked into your drill, but I'm pretty sure you are doing something wrong here....

--
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Re:Home Depot Already Has Them: Tied to NSA? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 08:25 · Score: 0

I use drill bits in my portable router.
(*argh argh argh*Tim Allen grunt*)

Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:14 · Score: 1

Oh no. It's just they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.

"..and will not record any video or photos." by LifesABeach · 2013-10-14 04:15 · Score: 1

That technology will come later?

I don't know of a single person that wouldn't enjoy being constantly bombarded by directed ads while shopping; it just adds to the total "experience?".

Increased Pricing For Routine Purchanses by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:16 · Score: 0

The eventual purpose will be to lower prices or offer coupons only for items you don't normally buy (or for brands you don't normally buy).

Then on items you always buy it will increase the price because they know you're going to buy it anyway (well at least most people will). And when your comparing prices between stores before you start buying the item there, it will be cheaper so you get in the habit of buying the new item there. Then they start gradually raising the price on the new item you always buy.
** Software patent in 3, 2, 1 **

And then the NSA will start using the cameras/sensors to determine if you're nervous while purchasing that pressure cooker so they can arrest you Minority Report style.

Ads? I love 'em! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:21 · Score: 0

I love ads. I basically watch those instead of TV - they come up with better ideas than TV these days. So... I'll sit in front of the shelf until the ads repeat. I also pick up stuff just to read the labels. I think my supermarket bills will plummet once this is in :)

Captcha: cutback - seriously; I want this captcha engine; It seems to read what I type and provide a work on topic pretty much every time

Re:Ads? I love 'em! by cusco · 2013-10-14 04:47 · Score: 1

Yes, it does. I think it was Rob Malda that requested that feature from the captcha vendor.

--
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin

Violation of Rule #1 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:21 · Score: 0

"Don't be creepy"

Re:Violation of Rule #1 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:36 · Score: 0

Exactly. Who wants this "feature"? Not the customers, surely.
Note to business owners: you can't pretend to know your customers. There are no technological shortcuts or work-arounds. If you want customer loyalty, you should put in the effort to ACTUALLY get to know your customers! There is no substitute.

Advertising Bubble by thatkid_2002 · 2013-10-14 04:22 · Score: 4, Insightful

If the advertising becomes really bubbled I can see an issue where attractive people are shown healthy products and ugly people are shown unhealthy products because that's what their respective profiles are probably going to indicate that they want... It's like the Search Engine Bubble (http://dontbubble.us/) - except for advertising.

This trend is obviously unhealthy...

Kinnect Kuality? by MellowBob · 2013-10-14 04:24 · Score: 1

Since it's based on the Kinnect software, will it recognize when it's being flipped off?

It's burka time! by wwalker · 2013-10-14 04:27 · Score: 2

Time to start wearing burkas?

Re:It's burka time! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 17:02 · Score: 0

Except in Quebec, if the PQ has its way.

High Tech Solution by Nkwe · 2013-10-14 04:28 · Score: 1

Some advanced technology such as this could be used.

Yeah! by no-body · 2013-10-14 04:29 · Score: 1

Isn't there something like ad-blackout happening?
Like ads showing in whatever fashion trying to catch attention and the saturation with ads is to high that any impulse intended to be created by ads is suppressed and blocked out.

Maybe it's just me if one tries to influence, I resist and the more they try, the more I get turned off. It's just no fun getting "guided" all the time by some folks trying hard to manipulate.

What happened to monitors on shopping carts? by sizzzzlerz · 2013-10-14 04:30 · Score: 1

I seem to remember that was coming to a store near you several years ago. Sensors embedded in the aisles would trigger ads to be played on the monitor as the cart came into range. At the time, I remember thinking what a shame it would be if the monitor got cracked as I throwing a can of beans into the cart. In any case, I've never seen these actually in use.

Re:What happened to monitors on shopping carts? by cusco · 2013-10-14 04:57 · Score: 2

A bar I used to go to put little monitors above the urinals, displaying advertising. They didn't even last a full night.

--
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin

By 2015 ... by jamesl · 2013-10-14 04:30 · Score: 3, Funny

... we'll all be "shopping" using Amazon Fresh and there will be nobody to "identify" in the grocery store.

Just like google... by stanlyb · 2013-10-14 04:34 · Score: 2

They promised to not use your personal data until....they changed TOS. Then they promised to use it only for ads....until they changed TOS. Then they promised not to f**** you......until they changed TOS.

Re:Just like google... by gmhowell · 2013-10-14 15:08 · Score: 1

They promised to not use your personal data until....they changed TOS. Then they promised to use it only for ads....until they changed TOS. Then they promised not to f**** you......until they changed TOS.
Who was it who said "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further"?

--
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon

RUFAT? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:45 · Score: 0

Oh, great. All it needs is a scale built into the floor and they'll be offering up all kinds of discounts to the heaviest people. Fat person approaching... ding, ding, ding! Discount chocodiles over here!!

Okay, so what is the over-under on... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:46 · Score: 0

..how long before these are destroyed by either annoyed consumers or someone after the prize inside that they can sell for a few bucks?

There's a reason you don't see the blinking led automatic coupon dispensers any more, nor the screaming BP jingle box on the gas pumps; people wrecked'em.

I'll just do what I do now... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:48 · Score: 0

Put painters tape over the optical sensors of music stations that play when you walk by. Should work just as well on these. If they want to annoy me, I'll annoy whoever has to maintain these things. In my personal experience, it'll be the monthly visit from vendor reps who will be annoyed the most. They'll whine to the store staff who have been avoiding the reps and roll their eyes after being cried to about how these machines *need* to function at all times.

I can see a problem here... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:51 · Score: 0

What happens when the local bigwig walks by the magazine section and a loudspeaker blares out:

"Hey Mr Jones, do you want to pick up your copy of Jugs Weekly today?"

Re:I can see a problem here... by bobbied · 2013-10-14 05:30 · Score: 2

Oh no, it won't say that.. It will go something like this...
"Mr. Jones! You need to buy this month's issue of "insert title here" or I'm going to tell Mrs. Jones on Isle 3 about you... "

--
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Re:I can see a problem here... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:51 · Score: 0

He must be rich if he owns 3 or more islands. Which means she doesn't care about his titty magazines, as long as she gets to be rich and can continue banging the poolboy at the mansion on Isle 2.
Perhaps you meant "aisle"... but that's not as entertaining.
Re:I can see a problem here... by bobbied · 2013-10-15 02:05 · Score: 1

My spelling/usage stands corrected... But remember Mrs Jones will get half, unless a prenup was signed...

--
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101

"Oh, hell no!", part 5645 by kheldan · 2013-10-14 04:53 · Score: 1

Guess I'll be carrying a can of spray-paint or a pad of Post-It notes with me when I go to the store, starting in 2015.

#IDontWannaBeTracked

--
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!

Re:I've got a better idea by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 04:54 · Score: 0

To keep our shelves stocked, we have to hire stockers who speak English. Teenagers are no longer expected to work menial jobs, so that leaves the illegals, just like in kitchens.

Hacking into the system by charlesj68 · 2013-10-14 04:57 · Score: 1

"... Mondelez International ... will introduce so-called 'smart shelves' into store checkout aisles ... identify shoppers age and sex, and will then use that info to deliver demographically tailored advertisements ... will ... monitor how long customer's watch each ad

>cd /local/mnt/SmartShelf >cat logfile 02-Mar-2015 11:45:23 New subject detected; Age: 20s; Sex: M; Ad chosen: 22756 02-Mar-2015 11:45:47 Status: Failure; Code: 10 02-Mar-2015 11:46:39 New subject detected; Age: 60s; Sex: F; Ad chosen: 66563 02-Mar-2015 11:46:59 Status: Failure; Code: 22 02-Mar-2015 11:52:02 New subject detected; Age: 10s; Sex: F; Ad chosen: 74453 02-Mar-2015 11:52:47 Status: Failure; Code: 15 >cat err_codes 10: Subject oogling Cosmo girl's boobs 15: Subject distracted by texting 22: Subject fumbling with checkbook

Riiiiight... by sjbe · 2013-10-14 04:58 · Score: 2

Mondelez says the software will only use and collect aggregate data, and will not record any video or photos.

...at first. Later on we make no promises.

Seriously, if this can be abused it will be.

Re:Riiiiight... by bobbied · 2013-10-14 05:31 · Score: 1

You are from the TSA riiiight????

--
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101

Laugh by koan · 2013-10-14 05:13 · Score: 2

I have the dubious pleasure of being exposed to some of this tech, what's amusing is it does know who I am, but insist that I am also married.

In fact every record I search on the Inet (pipl, spokeo, etc) all say I am married.

I used to drink my share, but I don't recall ever getting that drunk so where is this marriage coming from?

--
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."

TRACKING cards by linebackn · 2013-10-14 05:13 · Score: 1

"Grocer cards"? "Loyalty cards"? "Discount cards"? Let's call them what they are. TRACKING cards.

Sure, they may not turn the information over to your health insurance provider... yet. But they do use the cards to track purchases in aggregate. That is the entire reason for their existence.

the product must be consumed. by nimbius · 2013-10-14 05:19 · Score: 3, Informative

this is consumer capitalism at its finest. No longer do we care about making a particularly good or useful product anymore. the focus is determining who is looking at the product, and custom tailoring a set of deceptive or manipulative advertising based on gender and age. Its desparation.

Ive worked at a grocery store, so i can tell you this kind of crap is pervasive.. ultimately most people are so sick and tired of consumer capitalisms model of tricking us into buying garbage, that its all they can do to enter $Grocery_store and purchase the goods they need with a minimum of hassle. Grocery chains use different kinds of music and even sizes of floor tiles throughout the building to control shoppers walking speeds, they run vanilla airfresheners in the bakery department to ensure you always think something fresh is cooking, and they only fire up the 40 bird rotisserie during dinner hours. yearly, or more frequently, they also decide to completely revamp the store and put all the goods in different locations. if you make it past this insanity and find the toilet paper you originally wanted, you'll have to fight a kind of mathematic jigsaw puzzle more sinister than reaganomics that largely just ends up making you buy what grocers want you to. the asinine barking video adverts on some shelves already exist. theyre triggered by motion and they drive shoppers, in my observation, into a bath-salts rage most of the time. whats worse is all this stuff in a grocery store comes together as a 'perfect storm' during food-based holidays. the music, the smells, the colors, and everything designed to get normal shoppers to spend a few bucks more, sends people into sectarian violence during thanksgiving. I've seen customers literally beat eachother in the aisles for the last tin of pumpkin pie filling without so much as considering the 3 pallets of generic brand we keep in the far hinterlands near the milk. targeting things to customers wont work as well as you think.

Stockers. stockers drive huge wooden pallets of cereal and such up and down aisles for restock. most of the boxes have smiling faces on them, so expect 200 or so encounters from the same middle aged man who never touches the product as he rolls down aisle 6 to be broken up, and placed on a shelf. these pallets are pretty big too, so dont expect third shift stockers to care that much if your camera gets nailed by 2000lbs of slow-moving watermelon on its way to produce. these guys routinely rip off coupon dispensers and colored banners hanging out of the aisles, and whatever ends up on the floor after 3rd shift usually gets thrown in the trash by first 1st shift clean crews.

those loyalty cards. dont think for a minute your information isnt getting added from the advert to the card, or isnt somehow related, because it absolutely is. The card seriously knows more about who you are as a person than your closest loved ones, and is used to routinely provide a pavlovian treat to bad customers in order to get them to become good ones. the popularity of an item drives inversely its sale price, so expect the AI from the advert system to factor into this as well as restock levels and future pricing.

--
Good people go to bed earlier.

Re:the product must be consumed. by neminem · 2013-10-14 06:31 · Score: 2

"those loyalty cards. dont think for a minute your information isnt getting added from the advert to the card, or isnt somehow related, because it absolutely is. The card seriously knows more about who you are as a person than your closest loved ones, and is used to routinely provide a pavlovian treat to bad customers in order to get them to become good ones."
Stores I have loyalty cards with might know a lot about the person who owns the card, but here's a fun fact: they have no idea *who* owns the card. You don't actually have to fill out the demographic info sheet they give you when you get a card in order to use the card, or at least you haven't at the couple places I have cards with. So all they know is that *someone* is using the card to buy the stuff I bought. I'm happy giving them that information.
Re:the product must be consumed. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 07:59 · Score: 1

Stores I have loyalty cards with might know a lot about the person who owns the card, but here's a fun fact: they have no idea *who* owns the card. You don't actually have to fill out the demographic info sheet they give you when you get a card in order to use the card, or at least you haven't at the couple places I have cards with. So all they know is that *someone* is using the card to buy the stuff I bought. I'm happy giving them that information.
You misunderstand - nobody cares *who* you are or what your name is. The store can find an angle to squeeze an extra dollar out of customer number 89677824690 and that is all that matters to them.
Re:the product must be consumed. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 13:51 · Score: 0

Have you ever used a credit or debit card or check to make a purchase when using a loyalty card? Then they know exactly who you are, where you live, what you do for a living, where you bank, who your family members are, all kinds of fun stuff.
Re:the product must be consumed. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 14:00 · Score: 0

You sir are naive. By saying that just because they can't identify you by name they won't be able to link your personal habits with everything else they have got on you. Remember back when AOL leaked their user searches and claimed that users were not identified? http://techcrunch.com/2006/08/06/aol-proudly-releases-massive-amounts-of-user-search-data/
Same deal and you are just like the same old gullible people out there.

Track this... by linebackn · 2013-10-14 05:34 · Score: 3, Funny

The shelves will be able to track engagement, monitor how long customer's watch each ad...

Will they also track the frequency at which people "accidentally" smash these things?

And what if we don't want that kinda tracking by Stan92057 · 2013-10-14 05:50 · Score: 1

And what if we don't want that kinda tracking? I have store cards they save me alot of money. But here,s the kicker Pssttt its MY choise.

--
Jack of all trades,master of none

I'll just do a switcharoo... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 05:51 · Score: 0

I usually wear a button-down casual shirt and some denim or casual khaki's (typical Google dress), whether I'm at work or in public. Guess I'll go in with a hoodie and sunglasses (concealing most of my face), with my head hung down. I don't want to be identified for anything. I came in there for a purpose, just let me get what I came in there without being badgered, spied upon and tracked.

No marketer will ever know what I want: I MAKE THAT DECISION.

Awful by nospam007 · 2013-10-14 05:59 · Score: 1

I'm glad that I buy my food online with Adblock+.

Without an adblocker invisibiliy cloak, I won't set a foot in there

Target Ads = Invasion of Privacy = Scam by Panther+Silverelf · 2013-10-14 06:07 · Score: 1

Don't walk, Run away as fast as you can, otherwise you will fall victim to some scam. Oh and guess what they now have you on video and will pass it to every other marketing organization in existence and you will be the permanent target of every scammer there is. This will be the new malware.

Finger cots by Overzeetop · 2013-10-14 06:07 · Score: 1

They're called finger cots.

--
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?

Annoying is the new smart by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:25 · Score: 1

Sometimes it's best to not bother anybody.

Hi Connie, I see its that time of the month. by Revek · 2013-10-14 06:29 · Score: 1

Again. You know you might be interested in some of our other feminine hygiene products just down the aisle. I can just imagine this wafting down the aisles as I try to get to produce.

Just what I need, more ads by snoig · 2013-10-14 06:36 · Score: 2

They already know I'm a middle aged single geek. How many more erectile dysfunction and over 50 dating site ads can they throw at me? And here's a clue for you ad programmers. If I need the erectile dysfunction pills, I don't need the dating sites and if I need the dating sites, I don't need the erectile dysfunction pills. Now get off my lawn!

Re:Just what I need, more ads by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 07:58 · Score: 0

your missing the point it's an advertisers wet dream a virtuous circle of profit. They send you on dates , if your lucky you get a date if your unlucky you don't get any dates and need cosmetic surgery to get dates . Both cost money
You now need a loan loans cost money, you have to work harder and are more stressed , you get penile erectile dysfunction pills. These cost more money. You get so fed up with the whole dating concept you order the current flavour of take out bride Indian , Thai , Russian etc. These cost a shit load of money to purchase and maintain your erectile dysfunction gets worse and once shes got a green card she divorces you. This costs a metric ton of money.
Your hairs now gone grey and you look 120 in order to get a date you need cosmetic surgery , cosmetic surgery costs money.
Recurse

Ads = Bad by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:41 · Score: 0

I refuse to shop at stores with ads on the shelves. Its why I don't go to walmart anymore - meijer serves all my big box needs. If this continues, I will have to become a self sustaining hermit, or start doing business with local people.

Here... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 06:55 · Score: 0

Record my dick mother fuckers

_|_

Targeted ads are next to useless. by Z00L00K · 2013-10-14 06:59 · Score: 1

Because if you target ads depending on what the customer usually purchases, e.g. Colgate toothpaste it's useless to show ads for another brand.

Throw in ads for stuff that the customer doesn't buy and maybe it will have some effect. But when I shop I don't give a crap about ads in the store. In addition to that most ads are so stupid that you just feel embarrassed by them.

--
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.

Conditions/allergies? by YalithKBK · 2013-10-14 07:01 · Score: 1

Yes, lets have random candy advertisements flung at diabetics and ads for peanut butter shown to people who would die if they ate it, just because they happened to walk by the shelf (which is not hard to do in a grocery store). The people handing out free samples of crap food that I don't want are annoying enough. I don't need to have the shelves themselves haranguing me about what to buy! The entire store is one giant ad already! Why do you think things come in brightly-colored, shiny packages? They get your attention! You learn color patterns and associate foods with certain labels. And if things are on sale, it generally says on an eye-catching tag under the item. Why do I need a shelf telling me that Oreos are on sale when I can see the bright red "SALE" tag right under the bright blue Oreos package? Geez!

Re:Could be good.but are you a terrorist by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 07:19 · Score: 0

But are you a terrorist if you put all the items back in the wrong location or is it a federal crime under Interstate Commerce?

What does the fox say? by zotz · 2013-10-14 07:31 · Score: 1

What does the fox say?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE

I was looking for someone to make the point you did... ~;-)

all the best,

drew

--
FreeMusicPush If you want to see more Free Music made, listen to Free

You must go to some tough bars by swb · 2013-10-14 07:35 · Score: 1

Because they have had these here for years and the closest thing to vandalism I've seen happen is that one bar quit using the advertising service but kept the displays and started piping ESPN to the screens instead, so you could have a piss and keep up with sports while you did it.

I can only imagine its a code/safety/insurance thing, but the active displays I have seen in bathrooms all use stainless steel boxes with high-impact plastic fronts and behind-the-wall wiring. You could destroy it if you wanted, but it would take pretty serious effort.

Re:You must go to some tough bars by cusco · 2013-10-14 08:05 · Score: 1

Well, I don't go to the bars any more, so patrons' tolerance for intrusive media may be higher today than in the late-'80s/early-'90s.

--
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Re:You must go to some tough bars by swb · 2013-10-14 08:42 · Score: 1

Even so, were they inclined to smash stainless steel boxes on the wall in the head?
My sense is that knocking those things off the wall would require tools of some kind, at the very least something like a hammer or a tire iron. It's hard to see any place staying in business where the patrons can literally rip things off the wall.
Re:You must go to some tough bars by cusco · 2013-10-14 09:02 · Score: 1

Actually wrecking them wasn't hard. The screwdriver blade of a Swiss Army knife smashed the plastic covering the screen, half a beer in the hole took out the screen, a toothpick shoved into the speaker a few times changed the singing Budweiser ad to "mjfmfjvhg". Sounds like the manufacturers have learned a few things over the years. I suspect you live in a more civilized area than northern Michigan, I'm still amazed at the things I've seen drunken rednecks destroy.

--
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin

And I will make it my mission by kilodelta · 2013-10-14 07:43 · Score: 1

To figure out how they power them and disable every one I can. Because I can tell you the stores will not provide the power for these things. They'll be battery powered more than likely.

They don't need your phone number by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 08:19 · Score: 0

I do too. Whatever area code I'm in plus 867-5309 and I've only seen it not work once.

Haven't you noticed that more and more of the self checkouts let you select "forgot my card" and still receive the card discounts? They don't need your phone number: your buying habits are consistent enough that they know most of which purchases you made and when you move your shopping to a different store of the same chain in your area.

Misapplication of Teck by jimbrooking · 2013-10-14 08:22 · Score: 1

Too bad Mondelez can't figure out how to package Triscuits without breaking 1/3 or so of every box.

"Vanity sizing" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 08:29 · Score: 1

Do XS condoms exist? Me and a few friends have been taping some hidden camera fun lately and one of our "pranks" was to go to stores and (somewhat loudly) ask for extra small condoms but none seem to have any...

You need to learn about "vanity sizing" http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_sizing. It's not just for women's clothing (or even men's clothing).

farmers market by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 08:55 · Score: 0

and co-ops

and good thing I'm in a rich white people area so I have many grocery choices

the first time as store blares an ad at me in the aisle is the last time I enter as a customer

farmers markets take care of the fresh stuff, online ordering takes care of the dry/preserved goods

retail is a sewer and can't die fast enough

Not new... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 09:07 · Score: 0

Intel acquired a Canadian company's product (called "AIM Suite" - Audience Interaction Measurement) some years back and has been selling it into the digital signage market ever since. And it's used exactly like this: to monitor the gender and age of everyone who looks at the screen and show content relevant to them. The problem I had with this is that the gender/age stereotypes use to "target" ads actually have no basis in reality for what that individual person is truly interested in... and secondarily that the detection system was only about 60% accurate which the ad provider would need to be mindful of to avoid promoting overly feminine products to a man or vice versa when the system improperly detects gender. Overall, I was never a fan of this approach to advertising and I hope it goes away. Soon.

Dazzle paint and cash - and change gait by WillAffleckUW · 2013-10-14 09:07 · Score: 1

Remember, this will be used against you, and already has been.

So, buy a dazzle paint mask, wear a reversible hat you never wear, walk with a funny gait, and slouch.

And pay in traceable $100 bills. Oh, wait ... stick to $20.

--
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --

voice of sanity by coyote_oww · 2013-10-14 10:49 · Score: 1

Grocery checker was indeed an honorable profession. But, it is going away. While being a butler is also honorable, very few need or can afford them. If you can do your own checkout faster (and I can) that is perfectly honorable too.

Just because a job existed at one time doesn't mean it should exist forever. No more firemen or brakemen on trains - we've automated that. And checkout has been automated now, so we should expect the job of checker to fade away as well.

naked TSA scanner bonus model? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 12:13 · Score: 0

it should also include naked body scanners for the cashier to monitor customers.

Still useless by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 12:29 · Score: 0

A pox on them (Mondelez). I still can't look online, select many different things, not just snacks, get them together for pickup or delivery, and get the job done EFFICIENTLY! The whole thing is just merchandixing masturbation!

Ad block by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 13:06 · Score: 0

Looks like I will be installing Adblock on my Google Glass...

Stop Using The Word "Smart" ! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-14 13:27 · Score: 0

I'm sick and tired of hearing about "smart" devices. They are Big Brother, Privacy Eroding devices.

All the god damn "smart" devices do nothing except track, monitor, and record your every move.
Go f**k yourself!

How Does it Connect A Discount? by GumphMaster · 2013-10-14 15:51 · Score: 1

So, I pick up a thingy after being offered a discount on thingies by the All-Seeing-Eye(tm). How is that discount connected to the bar code on the my particular thingy so that the correct price is charged at the checkout? The article says, "custom coupons can be displayed" which is not overly useful at the checkout. The only mechanism I can see is printing a paper docket with an alternate code... and these printers are doomed to fail routinely, need paper and dilute profits any additional sale.

--
Patent litigation: A doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction... in which everyone seems willing to push the button

Police Stores... by lloy0076 · 2013-10-14 16:52 · Score: 1

might now be able to figure out how to identify criminals...

Targetted ads creep me out. by Ihlosi · 2013-10-14 18:58 · Score: 1

And what's worse, they make me less likely to buy things. Some of this aversion, of course, is due to the targetting algorithm thinking I want to be showered with ads related to anything I ever googled for or looked up on the web.

What a waste of money by BrentNewland · 2013-10-14 20:22 · Score: 1

Using Kinect? Good god, how expensive.

With that much money (which is just for the checkout lanes), I bet they could:
-Put RFID tags in all their value cards
-Put RFID readers on all the shelves and aisles

When they require their suppliers to put RFID stickers on all their products, they can now monitor all their inventory in real time. They can track merchandise for shrink purposes. They can track where their shoppers go, where they stop, what merchandise they handle. Combine that information with their purchasing information from the value card and I'm sure you could do all kinds of targeted advertising.

Want to actually display targeted advertising in the store? Put it in the shopping carts. Not the baskets, not the shelves. Carts to encourage more purchases. Any ads displayed on the cart automatically apply at checkout. Heck, now that you have screens built into the carts, and the cart knows the content of the cart, you can show the shopper a running estimated subtotal with tax and coupons.

Plus it opens you up scan-free checkout. Basket reports to the register what's in it, cashier verifies, done.

Sounds like the NSA: by wiz0690 · 2013-10-19 16:46 · Score: 1

Haven't we heard: "the software will only use and collect aggregate data" before?

--
/steve

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Grocery Store "Smart Shelves" Will Identify Customers, Show Targeted Ads

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