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Microsoft is Working on Technology That Would Eliminate Cashiers and Checkout Lines From Stores, Says Report (reuters.com)
Microsoft is working on technology that would eliminate cashiers and checkout lines from stores, in a nascent challenge to Amazon.com's automated grocery shop, Reuters reported, citing six people familiar with the matter. From the report: The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is developing systems that track what shoppers add to their carts, the people say. Microsoft has shown sample technology to retailers from around the world and has had talks with Walmart about a potential collaboration, three of the people said. Microsoft's technology aims to help retailers keep pace with Amazon Go, a highly automated store that opened to the public in Seattle in January. Amazon customers scan their smartphones at a turnstile to enter. Cameras and sensors identify what they remove from the shelves. When customers are finished shopping, they simply leave the store and Amazon bills their credit cards on file. Amazon Go, which will soon open in Chicago and San Francisco, has sent rivals scrambling to prepare for yet another disruption by the world's biggest online retailer. Some have tested programs where customers scan and bag each item as they shop, with mixed results.
I don't know who Microsoft think they are. First the murky telemetry in Windows 10 that cannot be switched off. Then Microsoft Office becomes a cloud only tool. Next, Microsoft's CEO is pushing all sorts of "YOU OWN NOTHING" cloud crap - your games, apps, software all go cloud-only. And now I go to a bricks-and-mortar store and Microshaft of all companies tracks what I'm putting in my shopping cart? F you, Microsoft. Privacy invaders. Data thieves. Conscience free arm-twisters. Cleptomaniacs. I am not shopping at ANY store that has the Microsoft system in it.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
Cashiers rank among the top jobs in the US by numbers employed. Is Microsoft also working on technology that will eliminate the problems they're planning on creating when they make millions of jobs obsolete? Not to mention the fact that a lot of consumer spending and business revenue depends on millions of people being employable.
Once again, Greed is doing what Greed does best; doing whatever it takes to create revenue quickly without giving two shits about any long term impact.
I pay for things with cash. If a business doesn't take cash, they don't get my business.
I don't respond to AC's.
We have had it in the UK for at least a decade. A supermarket called Waitrose allows you to take a hand scanner and scan your stuff as you put it in your trolley. They are still doing it so the fraud must be at an acceptable level, as with self-service checkouts.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
"I am not shopping at ANY store that has the Microsoft system in it"
I hate to break the bad news to you mate, but you won't be shopping anywhere then. 99.9% of point of sale front end systems (known as tills to non geeks) are microsoft windows based and have been for decades. Before that it was DOS with the occasional OS/2 based system. The backend could be linux or something else non windows, but tills almost exclusively run Windows.
Well, that would not seem wise, to be voluntarily shutting yourself off from a large amount of potential business, just to not take cash.
And hey, not everyone has a smartphone, you know?
Not everyone has a credit card...
I myself prefer to use cash, I take out my weekly amounts I plan to spend on normal expenses (food, etc)....and like to do this so that I have a very good idea on my spending for the week. Credit Cards abstract you from your money much like casino chips do and makes it easy to overspend or buy crap you really don't need.
I have plenty of credit...I could use, but I also would rather buy with cash and not have my purchases associated with my identity as much as possible.
I"m certainly not alone with wanting to use cash for one of any number of valid reasons, and I can't imagine a business wanting to bar itself from a large amount of potential revenue.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
it's not Walmart's job to employ anyone...if you don't like their employment practices don't shop there. but be quiet already.
nothing to see here - move along
Self checkouts are just a normal checkout where they make the customer do all the scanning and bagging, and their verification system uses precise weights of the product, which is a pain in the ass and fails rather too often. They're more a cost-savings for the store than a convenience for the customers. That's not remotely the same thing as being able to walk right out of the store with purchases, which would drastically improve the shopping experience.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
Didn't RTFA or even RFTS but it's teh MiKKKRO$OFT so therefore bad!
I was curious about the legality of refusing all cash payments, so I did a little research.
Apparently, so long as the policy is stated *before* any debts are incurred, any business may set any monetary policy it desires. That's why it's legal to say things like "no bills larger than $20" or whatever. The only time this isn't the case is if there's a state law in place that requires businesses to accept cash or something along those lines.
The more you know, I guess
You are a minority. And one banks and government would like to eradicate. There has been a concerted effort for the last 20 years if not longer to eliminate physical cash. If you search "war on cash" you'll find an abundance of articles over the years on it. There are numerous reasons for this. First, the government wants to know your every move and tracking your spending is one of the easiest ways to do this. They say it's to root out illicit activity but who's to say HOW they actually use it? Second, if you have physical cash you don't need a bank. You can transact directly with anyone without a bank getting a percentage of the transaction like they do when you use a credit/debit card. It's also why banks and governments are fighting blockchain currency tooth and nail as it is digital but it removes the two reasons they wanted to go digital in the first place.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
No you have the fewest people looking for a job since 1973.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
The self-checkout lets me check the price of each item as I add it. The number of errors I catch is pretty high. I'm not looking forward to keeping a separate receipt on a calculator, comparing it to the insta-charge and then finding the one employee to complain.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
I pay for things with cash. If a business doesn't take cash, they don't get my business.
Really? You never write a check? Never use a credit or debit card? You make your house payment in cash? Pay your utilities in cash? You purchased your PC in cash?
Yeah I don't believe you are telling the truth. If you are then I kind of pity you.
I am not sure I understand how this would be different from the Sam's Club 'Scan and Go' app I used the other day. I scanned each item (who really needs a 2 gallon jar of mayo??) and put it in my cart. When I was done, I told it to pay with my credit card and it generated a upc code and a receipt. The person at the door looked at the receipt, scanned the code and I was gone. No waiting in line. Yes, there is the risk of putting an item in you cart without scanning. I would assume that if you are buying an iPad or other expensive item (that could possibly be hidden) they would do something like 'Hey, let me scan that for you to make sure it comes up with the correct price."
studen loans with no bankruptcy, trades being push down by schools, and to many jobs that want an college degree but then say people with college degrees don't have the right skills.
Until you get every manufacturer of the items you want to sell to add them at the beginning.
Walmart has the chops to do that. If you want your product sold in a Walmart, you WILL do things the Walmart way. That includes changing your packaging because a 16 oz package of your product costs too much, so make it 13 oz for 10% lower price ... keep them prices rollin' back!