I don’t see this as stealing, I see it as not letting the big corps ‘win’. Maybe I’m naive but the self-serve checkouts are here to stay and the savings are going straight to the execs and the shareholders at the cost of the little man. So in some weird way I think that if you discount your own products at least it’s not a 100% win for the execs and their KPI’s.

I know this is getting off topic a bit but I remember the days as a kid where I would board a tram with Mum and she would pay the fare to the conductor. Now, at least on the line I use (not heavily monitored) I would see about 80% of people not scan or buy a ticket. Given a 2 hour is approx $4 and a daily $7-8, I figure a conductor would have paid their wage within minutes. I think technology sometimes shoots itself in the foot, i.e. I’ve seen many of vending machines growing up get tricked by a 10c coin posing as a $1 coin for the sake of saving a store clerks wage.

Anyway, back on the topic of the off check-out chick losing her job or receiving a cut in hours, I figured this would scare you, Silvia; a Korean convenience store:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaVFRzTTP4

So maybe the need for the bloke monitoring the self-serve check outs will disappear, in fact maybe the blokes even filling the shelves will be made redundant. Stay strong, Silvia, because I’m sure there will be a lot of jobs created in the distribution and picking of these orders (well picking ain’t safe either, check below):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szU2-1infqc&feature=youtu.be

BTW don’t you just despise the low life who brag about stealing at the serve yourself checkouts,they’re the sort of people who look in their dictionary for ‘new’ words to use & then feel they should explain it’s meaning, they think everyone else is as stupid as they are.

I worked at a large Sydney store once that added 10c to every item to cover shoplifting, no doubt all the big stores do the same, so we pay for their thieving.

Silvia Ford: Anyway I can’t be bothered with reading your closed mind stuff anymore [...]

Feel free to take your bat and ball and go home. It’s funny that when people—such as you—are inevitably losing an argument, you resort to ad hominem attacks. “Closed mind stuff”? Is that really the best you can do Silvia? And here’s me thinking you were a logical thinker.

And like all conspiracists, our Silvia ain’t gonna let go of this one…

Silvia Ford: Luddite’s, brave men & women who tried to protect themselves & future generations, many were hung for their efforts, don’t fall into the capitalistic trap of belittling their cause [...]

Next thing, Silvia will be blaming the Illuminati for the introduction of self-service checkouts LOL.

—Anyway, I’m guessing we won’t be hearing any more from our Silvia: It’s a bit difficult to respond meaningfully after a dummy spit.

I used to refuse to use them but the lines at the other registers are long so I too had no choice but to use them. After time I started embracing new technology after realising that perhaps I was a technophobe.

I would hate to be an employer ‘back in your day’, imagine trying to find reliable staff when there is this abundance of available work. Sounds to me like there was a deficiency in the supply of labour. Which was probably so, hence Australia sought overseas workers. Which today seem to occupy most of the positions in the city supermarkets anyway, mainly because manning a supermarket check-out is a monotonous and mundane task.

You sure you live in Australia? In the Australia I live in the music and bookshops are vanishing, the cinemas are empty and pretty soon you and WTHell might have go online to buy a litre of milk.

Anyway I can’t be bothered with reading your closed mind stuff anymore, I do suggest that you chuck away your school dictionary and read a bit of history about the Luddite’s, brave men & women who tried to protect themselves & future generations, many were hung for their efforts, don’t fall into the capitalistic trap of belittling their cause, it wasn’t about smashing machinery or being anti-progress. Cheers

Silvia Ford: ausGeoff, you obviously have no idea who the Luddite’s were or what those people stood for & though you meant it as an insult to me it was actually a compliment.

You need to check out the “Luddite fallacy” before you make an even sillier comment Silvia.

And as you obviously revel in pedantry, according to my dictionary, the term “Luddite” is used as a broad reference to any opponent of industrial change or innovation.

And why am I not surprised to see this good ol’ conspiracy theory rear its weary head…

Silvia Ford: There is appropriate and inappropriate technology, depending on whether the effects are beneficial, or just another way to benefit a few wealthy people and disempower the rest of us [...]

Yep; it must be all those damn rich bastards introducing all this new-fangled, high-tech stuff eh? Just to keep us plebs in our places!

I don’t know where you live Silvia, but in every shopping centre in every Australian city you’ll find 8 or 10 or more cinema multiplexes. (I live in a rural town with a population of 2,100 people, and even we have a movie theatre.) And you do understand that box office records for movies are now discussed in billions of dollars don’t you?

— And what’s with this “kiddo” stuff? Sheesh.

The Luddite’s were not anti-progress they were trying to defend their artisan skills against the mass production of lesser quality products, perhaps if they’d been more successful global landfill wouldn’t be choked with broken down rubbish and our planet wouldn’t be facing climate change.

Oh and lets hope that coal seam gas is discovered under your house kiddo.

There is appropriate & inappropriate technology,depending on whether the effects are beneficial, or just another way to benefit a few wealthy people and disempower the rest of us, technology should be a choice, not an ultimatum.

Yea, some workers do move into other industries but not every worker has the ability to do so & not everybody wants to work in IT. BTW, surely you don’t believe that TV has not brought the cinema & movie industry to it’s knees, are you on this planet?

I’m old enough to remember when, as a teenager I could change my Saturday & school holiday jobs every week.Those jobs no longer exist.

Still wanders around the ol’ farmers markets spending his weekly pay cheque.

Silvia Ford: The buttons you’re pushing are putting people out of work.

New technology isn’t “putting people out of work”. I’m sure you recall the irrational fears—at the time of its introduction in 1956—that TV would be the death of movie theatres and the film industry?

It’s simply shifting the workforce from one industry to another. In the case of self-service checkout technology, doesn’t it take thousands of people to design, manufacture and service the equipment? What were those thousands of workers doing a decade ago?

You must have been absolutely horrified when the retailers started installing bar-code scanners, and the checkout staff stopped using manual cash registers?

And if you’re not careful, you’ll undoubtedly hyperventilate for weeks when they introduce RFID chip technology in the not-too-distant future.

Jim: Until the supermarket or variety store gives me a significant discount for serving myself and passing on the savings in staff wages, I refuse to use self serve.

— or use an ATM?

Now in 2012, I find everywhere they are, you usually find only one staffed checkout trying to cope with a long line of customers and one person trying to help the confused customers at the self serve checkouts, also with a long line of angry customers, everyone just wanting more staff on at the checkouts.

Until the supermarket or variety store gives me a significant discount for serving myself and passing on the savings in staff wages, I refuse to use self serve. Besides, I appreciate the friendly service I get at our local supermarket.

They are ok but find them far too slow and too stupid.

I see coles in QLD have gotten rid of the express lanes in favour of running everyone through the self serve checkouts it’s quite funny seeing people with 2 trolley loads of stuff trying to run stuff through these checkouts they simply weren’t made for that at all.

I do like it for the recharge thing, much quicker there though I got one from a Kmart machine and it was saying the recharge hadn’t of gone through on the screen but still pumped out a code anyway.

I still think they should have more people on late at night so you don’t have a line up of 30 people at the self serve checkouts

Just select the apple code from the menu for loose produce instead of the banana code.

Coles and Woolies must be losing thousands of bucks every week if everyone does what I do.

“why they are useful: it saves time, less fuss (usually ahem), more privacy, less BS shatter”

** i think you meant chatter??

But then you go and end your comment with

“if you’re still having trouble then you are fairly slow”

Thats def not coles training!

Yeah, and i agree with ozsoapbox- dont tell your customers that the system is designed to avoid shoplifting! You will just piss them off more!

Silvia Ford: Using these self scanners in any store is helping to put even more people out of work.

Unfortunately Silvia, that’s been the case over the past couple of decades as electronic technology gradually takes over from manual labour. Think ATMs and public transport ticket swipers and parking meters for example.

I guess its something we have to accept as the alleged “advancement” of our society. One of the main issues I have is that all this electronic paraphernalia is manufactured overseas, particularly in Asia, rather than here in Australia — where we could’ve organised a cross-transition of the newly redundant labour force into different industries here.

The nett loss of jobs could’ve been largely minimised.

Using these self scanners in any store is helping to put even more people out of work.How right my dad was.