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Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

businessinsider.com

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Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#231

Post by PeachPlum »

timthelion wrote: post #114
castle-bravo wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... because only capitalism has made post-scarcity possible.

The monarchies of the late 19th century were technologically advanced, but that did not stop Europe from adopting democracy in the 20th century. The monastic system was the main scientific institution for over a milenia, both in Europe and China. Only an ignorant person argue that this system developed no new technologies. You say "only capitalism", but what are you comparing capitalism to? In the past 200 years, cap…

Communism works when the communist dictators don't commit genocide or run a brutal police state.

Its such a good system it needs to be implemented and maintained by force.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#233

Post by eric_h »

eddz wrote: post #200

> The robots are designed to free up store employees' time so they can use it to help customers. This is probably the most textbook spin I've ever seen. It's as if their PR firm didn't even try. These robots are obviously being deployed to increase margins. Personally I would have went for the "adding more value" angle, either by suggesting to the customer that "Your favourite product is more likely to be on shelves"…

> Personally I would have went for the "adding more value" angle, either by suggesting to the customer that "Your favourite product is more likely to be on shelves", or positioning these robots as "helpers" to shelf-stackers.

That's exactly the spin the company that makes the robot is using: http://www.bossanova.com

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#234

Post by eric_h »

sgustard wrote: post #218
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't you feel a tinge of guilt when you walk in one day and now there's only two tellers instead of three? Maybe I'm just weird but I was at target yesterday and there were only three aisles open with lots of people going to self checkout. I said fuck it and waited in line for a person.

I refuse to feel guilty, but I'm happy to blame the large soulless corporation that created this moral dilemma for me in the first place. I didn't fire those people. I don't eat at McDonald's anymore because I want to stay alive for a while, but I'm not going to feel guilty about their workers either. I'll admit standing in line for my robot checkout while idle cashiers stare at me with forlorn sad eyes makes me unco…

> I'll admit standing in line for my robot checkout while idle cashiers stare at me with forlorn sad eyes makes me uncomfortable

What? I just assumed that everyone optimized for the minimization of time spent waiting in line. Personally, I'd never wait in line for self checkout if a cashier was idle!

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#235

Post by the-dude »

linkregister wrote: post #157
timthelion wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand what you mean.

Stop sign. I don’t think it’s a good analogy.

In South Africa, these are literally called robots.

edit: was too fast, sorry. Traffic lights are called robots in SA.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#236

Post by posterboy »

forgotmypw wrote: post #179
notatoad wrote: post #167

The immediate take away i get from this is that it really isn't about taking over human jobs. humans don't do this job nearly as frequently as the robots would do it, because in a standard retail environment like wal-mart, it doesn't really matter all that much if the reported in-stock quantity is slightly off for an item. that is to say, it matters, but not so much that the big-box retail environments i've worked in…

It could also be for the same reasons you stated: it's low-controversy and low-responsibility.

availability is a psychologic factor in purchase decisions. The more in the soup pot, the more soup people will eat. Whereas the beloved low stock fear of missing out trigger might be too hectic for retail. The warehousing aspect is interesting too.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#237

Post by khacking »

freehunter wrote: post #228
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Erm, if we create robots better than us, they are our legacy, our homo superious, why should Homo sapiens continue? You don't see Neanderthals running around today for a good reason.

It’s easy to look back fondly on genocides that have already happened. No one shed a tear for the long lost Neanderthals. The Estruscans were wiped out by the Romans with almost no recorded history left behind. Native Americans, First Nations, and Aborigines suffered horribly at European hands, but we never entertain the idea of moving back to the Old World. Things are different for genocide that hasn’t happened yet.…

That is a confused argument. Firstly, the question of returning to the Old World is not what is being discussed, but rather whether it remains during a robot takeover or not.

Secondly, people left the UK and formed the United States not because they 'evolved' but because they wanted religious freedom (+ other lesser reasons).

Thirdly, by what metric is the United States more successful? That's a rather broad word to use for the comparison of two first world countries.

Lastly, yes I think tears would be shed, and I believe many tears were and continue to be shed for all the genocide you mentioned.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#239

Post by lucasverra »

guelo wrote: post #185
torgoguys wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the opposite experience. Pretty much any store around here, Walmart included, the employees are very willing to help you find stuff, and if they don't know where something is, they will find or call to an employee that does know.

Item location could be provided by a phone app today. My feeling is that they don't do it because they don't want you to know the exact location because they want you to browse the aisles in hopes that you'll throw something into your cart that you weren't planning to. Same reason that supermarkets put milk and eggs at the farthest corner away from the door.

I've been in a retailer hackathon. This is true. (ratailer is a worldwide actor french born)
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