A few years ago I heard that checkout chicks will be made obsolete by now. On "Beyond 2000" I think it was - they'd invented a cheap disposable device that would be attatched to each product etc... in the supermarkets, and instead of taking each item out one-by-one you'd just push your trolley through a doorway that would detect all the products inside your trolley and make up a receipt and this would make the process much faster.

Well I've never heard anything about this since - but now on tv I'm seeing a do-it-yourself check-out system being trialed in America, where people swipe their own products. I dunno about this. Experts are saying - ok yeah the company will save money on checkout staff, but they'll have to upjump their security to intimidate people from trying to get something past without swiping it, which will work out more expensively.
Then there is the sK factor - I'd hate to wait behind some moron or an old lady trying to work the self-serve swiping system.

What do you think the future of supermarket checkout will hold?

that would probably work out being slower because of people who cannot figure out how to work the thing...

I like the first one better :p.

Makes it better for all.

EDIT: Except the checkout chicks :p

I like the idea, maybe an express lane for people with an IQ :D

Though being in highschool it would put heaps of people I know out of work which is bad

people are too f***ing stupid...look at those machines at shell it has a big sign.... not an atm and the other day i saww this asian chick who could not grasp that the machine had a touch screen...hail human stupidity...

Well I don't think being a checkout chick (a job a machine SHOULD be doing) is something people should strive for. I suppose it's ok for 15 year old girls who just need money for alcohol and birth control pills, but they should be in school.

what about people who are just working there part time on weekends for some money??

it really would be slower.

yeah its gonna be slower, u could see on the news
they were taking their slow old time.

D E R P .. how come no one has invented teleporting supermarket food yet? what do the scientists spend all their money on? everyone wants teleporting food.. much easyier.

make a teleporting machine then we can have teleporting food

We had that do it yaself here in syd agesssssss ago. Well, only 1 wollies in the whole of syd has it and it happened to be my local wollies before i moved. The checkout chicks still are needed, they grab 10 items at random from your trolly and scan them to see if they show up on your recipt. If all 10 come up then your done.

who just need money for alcohol and birth control pills, but they should be in school.

you slipped that little gem in quite well teen.

mhad propz

teen you have nfi about the peeps who work on checkouts ignorant f***

look who is getting cut 'power' ... are you a checkout person or something? no need to get so cut at nothing.... baka.

i let my mum do the shoppiny

i second calling teen an ignorant f***...

Grocery checkout is not a job that requires human thinking and creativity. It's an insult to the species as well as a waste of brain and man power.
If you have an argument against why the job should be made obselete, on grounds other than pity for the poor skilless fools who are unable to pull their weight in society any other way then I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, it's you who is ignorant of the scope of this discussion.

no i have no arguement with the job being made obsolete i have an arguement with you saying they are all "15 year old girls who just need money for alcohol and birth control pills, but they should be in school" how do you know that???
who says they are not just working there part time for money so that they can have a social life and go out with their friends???

I am a checkout dick, and I am all for his (packing is much more fun). However like people have said, it'll slow it down.
It's like old people and ATM's, some people just like the human interaction. What about when it f***s up? You'll always need someone nearby, and also a few normal checkouts.

If you have an argument against why the job should be made obselete, on grounds other than pity for the poor skilless fools who are unable to pull their weight in society any other way then I'd love to hear it.

No, you are, considering 95% of checkout workers are still in school, working casually.

i have an arguement with you saying they are all "15 year old girls who just need money for alcohol and birth control pills, but they should be in school" how do you know that???

that was a joke you tool...

No, you are, considering 95% of checkout workers are still in school, working casually.

This fact is irrelevant to my comments, and I don't disagree with you.

gee teen talk a little slower just because you are too good for the rest of society go back to the country club you stuck up f***

go the edit teen who the f*** are you anyway what's your real nick

on grounds other than pity for the poor skilless fools who are unable to pull their weight in society any other way

good head goa'uld nice new nick

Jeebus don't take him so bloody seriously. He's just been kidding around the whole time.
"FARK YEW MAEN UOOR BA$H3D @ QGL!@?@"
What a load of crap.
Ah well as for the checkout thing i think it's pretty dumb. If they get this in Australia before there is cheap broadband here, you'll know the government is really screwed :D

whatever i am not a checkout operator and you sir are a tard

I editted my post because I felt sorry for you, being that it is not your fault you were born so simple.

roofle

I editted my post because I felt sorry for you, being that it is not your fault you were born so simple.

hmm... who do you think built your house.. who built the road and car that you ignorantly drive everyday?

guess what.. 95% of them are simple workers, with simple brains.. leading simple lives.. and im sorry, you are no better than any single one of them.

you need to chill out bro..

I'm not joking about finding ways to minimise human resources in repetitive jobs and speed up day-to-day living, however. That I'm serious about. And whether this particular system takes off or not, eventually sales people will be reduced to a minimum in common retail services such as the supermarket, thanks to people who have meaningful careers, such as engineers and managers.

thanks to people who have meaningful careers, such as engineers and managers

f*** yeh man... where would we be without those mcdonalds managers..

lol..

/me adds teen to dumbass list.

""no i have no arguement with the job being made obsolete i have an arguement with you saying they are all "15 year old girls who just need money for alcohol and birth control pills, but they should be in school" how do you know that???
who says they are not just working there part time for money so that they can have a social life and go out with their friends??? ""

Isn't "having a social life and going out with friends" the same thing as buying alchol and birth conrol pills???? Huh!

god where would we be without managers

i rekon the auto checkout would be awesome. no f***in around with some fag @ the counter askin if u want cash , id be in and out lickadee split.

as for the old ppl they be gone soon and in the meantime they can use manual. It would be better for the future, cause then 80% of ppl will know how 2 use them.

f*** yeh man... where would we be without those mcdonalds managers..
lol..
/me adds teen to dumbass list.

Where would we be, why don't you tell me.

Notice the lack of question marks in my above statement - as I know you won't have the answer.

The answer is this; A company cannot function without managers. Someone has to steer the company and day to day activities by making decisions, planning, creating strategy, organising, leading, and controlling the organisation. Their job requires cognition, and is not easily replaced by a machine or a computer. The checkout guy's job is.

.... baka.

oh god, you are so f***ing gay.

As for the checkout chick thing, I work a checkout, and I can garuntee Id scan and pack a whole trolley of s*** three times as fast as some chump trying to work a DIY system.

good point maxe...and how many of these f***wits /me points finger at teen think you can diy fresh produce...think about that one with your pea-brain goa'uld and what about when a product fails to scan...too many things YOU the f***ing stupid consumer who has half a clue does not think about...

your f***ing kidding if i can't be checkout chick anymore how the f*** am i meant to make a living.

too stupid to do anything else only other option would be to run for parliament =p

go for leader of the democrats Ember!

wait you need to be a dumbass for that...i nominate teen...

theres always MACDONDALS!!!!

lol

;P

McDonalds wont pay me $13 bucks and hour.

gee power thanks for stating my point

no people can make their own burgers!

even though i'm just a dumb little check out chick my hourly rate of pay is prolly bout the same or even higher than most of you people who have "important real" jobs

The produce would be packed and labelled in a seperate section, much as meat is now.
I know more about vegetables than a lot of checkout staff. They always get the vegetables mixed up, not knowing the difference between cucumber and zucchini etc... (always picking the more expensive one!)
Most people who buy such product would know what they are buying - the checkout staff are usually clueless though.

once again you display your COMPLETE f***ING IGNORANCE OF HOW THINGS WORK IN THE REAL WORLD go back to your goddam hole

considering that nearly all fresh produce is weighed by the kilo with the exception of some fruits and vegie's which are priced per piece eg limes, corn,passionfruit, continental cucumbers etc and some which are prepacked eg enoki mushies and tubs berries. not all customers are going to want exactly 1 kg of whatever fresh produce they are buying sometimes people only want one carrot not a whole f***ing kilo of them.

but what would this clueless checkout chick know.

oh an btw we get tested on the fresh produce every week what the fruit or veg is and what's the number for it and if it's sold by the kg or as a ea item.

oh no! you just warped teen's fragile little mind...he didn't know a supermarket was such a complicated place...poor teen go back to management....coffee?

Customers would not need to weigh anything, because that would be done by the staff in the f***ing vegetable section.

power - you are not contributing to this thread in the least. You haven't one single f***ing thing that could be even mistaken as reasoning or intelligent thinking.
Looks like you might not ever get a job anywhere else, because your brain can't think outside of picking something up, moving it sideways, and putting it down again.

Easy.

People will have their ID card with them which holds all thier info, bank accounts and whatnot.

You walk into a store, grab the things you want, do some sort of personal confermation and just walk out. Automatic purchase.

Each item would be taged so that you have to pay for it, if the unpaied item leaves the store the authorites are told and they will meet you at your front door.

The ID system would have to be non interchangeable. An implant near birth would help out..

so in essence your argument is take away one "pointless job" and replace it with "another"? weighing vegetables and packaging them? Teen make up your mind man....

Hehehhe, we'll probably be buying our lettace in squars cause they pack better that way :p

YESSSSS!, this is exactly what we need, more robots and machines replacing people in the workforce, HATS OFF TO THE SMARTYMEN OF SOCIETY

ahaha like homer, when he paid like 500yen for the square watermelon!!

id like a automated macdonadls!


rob the robots of big macks

so in essence your argument is take away one "pointless job" and replace it with "another"? weighing vegetables and packaging them? Teen make up your mind man....

Why are you asking me to make up my mind? Why don't you write a letter to the all the supermarkets that are implementing this system?

A couple vegetable guys who can sort of help customers out with their problems in one section of the store (he has to think and interact), is a lot better than a dozen or more 'drones' swiping bar codes across a laser.


I agree with Tollaz0r... we have the technology to do that - but all these religious people are screaming that it's the devil and other crazy stuff like that. (I'm not talking about the lettuce - but the ID thing).

Each item would have a magnetised strip on it (including the bags of tomatoes you get in the vegetable section - put on by the green grocer guys in that section) and if you don't scan the item, then it will trigger a security system if you try to walk out of the shop with it.
There may be teething problems like people trying to cheat the system - but there was that with everything, including the bar-code system.

Thus the security issue which as of now makes this idea a little difficult to implement.

i'm not a drone. i'm a happy little vegemite =p

teen what job do you have?

-Ember

If I've degraded you by implying that you are a checkout person, I apologise.

My occupation is irrelevant to this discussion, because this thread isn't about me, or you, or any particular checkout staff. I could work as a checkout dude at Coles, and still say these things, because they are right - and my current situation does not effect what is the truth.

i wanna water the vegitables on the vegitabe section at coles :D:D

(meh on my spelling)

teen i am a checkout person and i don't mind being one it pays well prolly more than what most people get and the hours are really flexible.

not saying i'm gonna make a career out of it but atm it suits me just fine.

-ember

ember - but do you feel you could contribute to this world and the people around you better in a different way? You have a mind and a body that can be used for so many things that are unique to human ability - checking out groceries is no longer one of those abilities, and the sooner you accept that you will be made redundant by something cheaper and more efficient (eventually), the sooner you can use your life for good!

the checkout staff are usually clueless though.

Seriously, don't say s*** against checkout staff till you have experienced it. After having worked in Frankies for about 8 months now, I realise what a clueless f*** I was BEFORE I started working there. There is alot more to think about then you would ever realise.

Hehehhe, we'll probably be buying our lettace in squars cause they pack better that way :p

Japan seem to have already perfected this :p

Seriously, don't say s*** against checkout staff till you have experienced it.

I find your statement empty and flawed, considering the post you replied to refered to my first-hand experience with inept checkout staff.

this thread is amusing not just because you're all allowing yuorselves to be baited by teen but also because really you're not arguing with what he says (except for the odd interjection - mhad props to maxe for that one) but you're just arguing with the way he's put his argument accross.

The birth-control/alcohol jibe was so obviously a troll i can't believe you guys called him a dumbass after falling for it. As for teens rather "advanced" ideas about the social value of particular jobs it's really quite ancillary to the argument as a whole and picking up on it as such is an obvious ad hominem attack on a person after failing to address his thesis.

I find your statement empty and flawed, considering the post your replied to refered to my first-hand experience with inept checkout staff.

Ok, there are clueless people at any work. My point was that often checkout staff may appear clueless, simply because they weren't trained particularly well. They simply don't know.

e.g. I work at Franklins. Wether on checkout or floor, I always get customers. More often then not I get a customer asking where abouts something is in the store. Now, I am a young male, how in f***s name as I supposed to know where the cus cus? To the exact point within the store? Sure, I work there, but jesus, we must sell a couple of thousand types of goods. So it really f***in s***s me when teh customer thinks I am some ignorant prick. When if they took a minute to think about it, they would have asked someone else. Sure ask, but don't get pissed if I have to send you to someone else.

Actually right now I am just venting because it pisses me off so much when customers think I am an ignorant clueless franklins dick. Like ofcoruse I want to help them, but I am not f***ing all knowing. If I can't do something, keep your thoughts to yourself, because I would probably be embarassed enough as it is, as I feel I should know what to do.

Now that you are all convinced on the whast of money that this sorta thing is, relise that there are UN backed projects happening around the world for helping poor nations and reaching goals of halving illness

But opponents, including the US, Australia and Canada, say the money is not there.

But he says the real cost is modest, perhaps as little as US$2 billion a year - or around $2 for every citizen of the rich nations.

- Taken from New Scientist news article

The money is here to spend on things we dont need and that cause arguments, or we could spend it helping to at least help sanitise the world.

how come no one has invented teleporting supermarket food yet? what do the scientists spend all their money on? everyone wants teleporting food.. much easyier.

are you serious? why bother with quantum entanglement when you can just build up food from an array of data, by the atom. that way, you can have perfect food, every time. and then you don't need to even go shopping. you just construct the item in question right then and there.

The produce would be packed and labelled in a seperate section, much as meat is now.

And how does the meat get into those little packages?

I've worked in retail for years now, and I think I can confidently say that teen is the sort of person who will walk into a store, walk up to the first person he sees and ask where the milk is. I get people like that all the time.
"Where is the sugar" "Right behind you".
"What time do you close?" "9 o'clock, about 20 minutes ago"
"Do you have product X?" " No, but we have Product N, that's in asile 4, about a thrid of the way down, on the left ha..., hey, where are you going?"

Customers are ignorant f***s who think the workers are the lowest form of life there is. I'd have no problem with banning them from the asiles altogether and making them make orders from a frigging machine out front. At least then I wouldn't have to spend hours each night filling shelves. I could just dump the box in a pile and be done with it.

Checkout operators have to have one of the worst jobs imaginable. Customers are always in a hurry, and always shop during the busy times, but can't seem to understand that if they started their shopping a little earlier, or shopped on, say, Monday night, they wouldn't be so rushed. If I had to work checkouts, customers would start being found stuffed behind the box compactor...

i dont care either way.

my spam for the night.

I've worked in retail for years now, and I think I can confidently say that teen is the sort of person who will walk into a store, walk up to the first person he sees and ask where the milk is. I get people like that all the time.

Yes that is true, and that has nothing to do with this discussion.
If anything you've just supported my idea of getting people out from behind the cash registers and onto the supermarket floor helping customers with things that require knowledge, and creativity.

Customers are ignorant f***s who think the workers are the lowest form of life there is. I'd have no problem with banning them from the asiles altogether and making them make orders from a frigging machine out front. At least then I wouldn't have to spend hours each night filling shelves. I could just dump the box in a pile and be done with it.

That would be OK, and I'm sure if we were all hooked up a little more this would be fine. Internet grocery shopping hasn't been a huge success because people like to see what they're buying etc..
Retail is all about appealing to the customer.

Checkout operators have to have one of the worst jobs imaginable.

Exactly - and now we have the technology to make the checkout process easier, and let these poor people do something better with themselves.

Customers are always in a hurry, and always shop during the busy times, but can't seem to understand that if they started their shopping a little earlier, or shopped on, say, Monday night, they wouldn't be so rushed.

That doesn't matter - it still takes the same amount of time either way.
You don't go up to a marathon runner and say "you could have finished that race MUCH sooner if you'd started running earlier!", because that is just pointless.

teen you're just jealous because you're a checkout chick at a corner store. You just want to move up in the world to Bi-Lo Brudda!

teen i am a checkout person and i don't mind being one it pays well prolly more than what most people get and the hours are really flexible.

No it doesn't... otherwise everyone would want to be a checkout person.

Customers are ignorant f***s who think the workers are the lowest form of life there is. I'd have no problem with banning them from the asiles altogether and making them make orders from a frigging machine out front. At least then I wouldn't have to spend hours each night filling shelves. I could just dump the box in a pile and be done with it.

If you had ever worked in the store room you would realise that you would still be placing them on shelves. Cept that only people who can work 9-5 would get those jobs, and most of your jobs would vanish.

Yes that is true, and that has nothing to do with this discussion.
If anything you've just supported my idea of getting people out from behind the cash registers and onto the supermarket floor helping customers with things that require knowledge, and creativity.

Helping customers only requires creativity in the first week, as for knowledge the chances are they have limited extra knowledge over the checkout staff.


anyways ... The little machine might take longer per person, but if you can wack 20 of them in a store who cares. Thats 20 realy slow lanes that would normaly be closed.

Lastly. Saying you people should lose there jobs only because they are boring mind numbing repiditive jobs is realy foolish. Assuming that all of these jobs get replaced by computers and robots and s*** ... where do you think that most of these people are going to find work next? Do you think they choose those jobs because of there superior intelicts allowd them to ?

They got those jobs becuase for what ever reason it was the best they could do at the time. You should be thankfull that they have gone off and found a job, and not sitting on the dole que ... which is exactly where they would be heading in Teens f***ed up world.

The vast majority of Australians are on 20-32k a year ... Most of those jobs are the boring mind numbing jobs that you could probably train a monkey to do (but it would take too long and monkeys are protected (damn protection agencys)). By Teens amazing logic we should replace them all with automative services so 1 or 2 out of a hundred can preform tricks for the wealthy class of people...

[Manager at MacDonalds Guy] " YOU, MONKEY BOY ... SERVE ME OR DIE!!!
[Poor dumb c***]" please massar dont beat me
[Manager at MacDonalds Guy]" SHOW ME WHERE THE SUGAR IS, AND I SHALL BE MERCIFULL!!!"
[Poor Dumb c***] " Oh thank yea massar, the Sugar is right behind you..

... wouldn't that be a wonderfull world. Make the class divisions between the rich and poorer even larger... more expansive. Because lets face it, if those f***ing poor bastards let go of that last 10% of the cash ... that is 10% more for the weathy people !!!!

That doesn't matter - it still takes the same amount of time either way

Not if a checkout line is non existant. Which it usually is a number of times during the week.

You don't go up to a marathon runner and say "you could have finished that race MUCH sooner if you'd started running earlier!", because that is just pointless.

that really puts the anal in analogy.. what a piece of s***. choose your words wisely faget.. you have the reasoning of a 15year old nazi skinhead.

funnily enough ad you've just used an "ad hominem" attack, how appropriate.

typo i get paid $18 an hour most people would prolly scoff at that but i know people my age who are computer techs and nurses and what not an they get way less than me and like me they are on casual wages.

I'm not saying I have the best pay rate ever i'm just saying that for what i do it's a pretty decent wage.

There are a lot of people who are suprised at what i actually earn most of them won't even consider doing my job because they think they are too good for it.

-Ember

Typo - Jobs exist because things need to be done. Jobs don't exist to employ people.
Keeping someone on a redundant job is about as good as employing someone to dig a hole then fill it back in again.
It allows them to exist without living. It occupies resources without getting anything done.

Teen: i dunno if its just me .. but the pc im using gives errors on ur sig

A Runtime Error has occured.
Do you wish to debug?

Line: 34
Error: 'style' is null or not an object

haha, see ^^ that teen.

that' means i win

Hemerage: no it's not you

It's your computer.

i thought i remembered someone else saing it :D

as if u didnt just change something teen!

it actually works on this page and doesnt give any errors

the previous page it f***s up and it doesnt do the highlight thing ... just stays red

ok for anyone who didnt know; including myself, as to what Ad Hominem means, here is a description! haha i guess i use this ... from now on i will try not to.. sorry teen :D

Description of Ad Hominem
Translated from Latin to English, "Ad Hominem" means "against the man" or "against the person."

An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making (or presenting). This type of "argument" has the following form:


Person A makes claim X.
Person B makes an attack on person A.
Therefore A's claim is false.
The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).

Example of Ad Hominem

Bill: "I believe that abortion is morally wrong."
Dave: "Of course you would say that, you're a priest."
Bill: "What about the arguments I gave to support my position?"
Dave: "Those don't count. Like I said, you're a priest, so you have to say that abortion is wrong. Further, you are just a lackey to the Pope, so I can't believe what you say."

I believe that most customers are too stupid to handle anything that requires the smallest bit of thinking, I dont know what it is, but it happens every day. Normal, intelligent people go out to do the shopping, but leave their brains at home.

Ad: you learn a new thing every day :)

use the force wisely young jedi

nmmmm LACKEYS

Fix your sig Teen its giving me errors....

http://goauld.cstrike.org/teensig.js i think your html in that is a bit screwey

i see it fine

omg teen ur a wanker...

power is not a checkout chick...

and i agree with ember...

working a checkout is not as easy as the stupid customers seem to think it is...

if we stuck u behind the checkout right now i'm sure u'd be a lot worse than us dumb checkout operators...

if u didn't have checkout chicks, it would take u mroe than 10 mins to put ur trolley full of groceries throught urself... if a checkout chick did it it would take 2, maybe 3 mins to put through...

and if there were no checkout chicks, how would people pay cash for their groceries, because now they are going to be putting the price of things up when paying with cards so more people will want to pay cash, and how are they meant to do that if u can only use cards? and even if they did accept cash, when the draw opens up, whats to stop people taking all the money that's in it?

carebear - Haven't you ever seen a vending machine that takes notes?

I had an entire, well-thought out reply, with examples and statements supporting my (and others) arguments, but then I realised. I don't care.

Customer-operated checkouts will fail.

Typo - Jobs exist because things need to be done. Jobs don't exist to employ people.
Keeping someone on a redundant job is about as good as employing someone to dig a hole then fill it back in again.
It allows them to exist without living. It occupies resources without getting anything done.

Firstly this system doesn't make humans reduntant. All it does is make a handy solution for people when there are large lines.

Secondly from a economic point of view, you are not compeltly correct. If the large percentage of the population where unemployed, then your taxes would be paying there social services. Although from a business point of view you would balance in a lot more than does it make people reduntant ... YIPPIE lets give them a life by firing them.

You would consider what your customers want, and in all honesty how many people want to use the virtual piece? Me I don't care because im nerdy, and I just want to get out of there. The lady with 9 million things in her trolly and 3 kids? She is going to want the checkout chick because she can do it so much more effeciently than she can.

As Large corperations and goverments are finaly starting to realise, people don't like dealing with machines, unless it is easy to use (ATMs), not because some company can (Automatic Answering Services (ASS)).

Lastly your quote no "It allows them to exist without living" is pretty retarded. Unless you live to work. Most people I know, even in hard or creative roles, work to live. By stripping jobs from people just because you can (your apparent argument) then you are moving them straight into poverity. Namly because there are not enough jobs for smart creative people that are currently on the market ... let alone if normal, uncreative people where trying to get those jobs too.