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Inside Amazon Go

nytimes.com

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Re: Inside Amazon Go

#51

Post by melling »

resu_nimda wrote: post #30
panarky wrote: post #19

There were a little over 3.5 million cashiers in the United States in 2016 — and some of their jobs may be in jeopardy if the technology behind Amazon Go eventually spreads. Why is this the knee-jerk response to technological progress? True progress isn't forcing millions of people into low-wage routine work. True progress would emancipate people from this drudgery entirely. Isaac Asimov questioned why the goal of bo…

Because the politico-economic system Asimov referred to is still intact. Our society does not use technological advances to emancipate the general populace. It would be amazing if McDonalds fully automated their stores and allowed their current employees to work one day a week for the same pay they receive now, but we both know that's not how it would work out.

How would they hire future employees they don’t need to replace the current ones that don’t work?

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#52

Post by hn_throw2 »

dennisdamenace wrote: post #46
threatofrain wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The marketplace today is hardly the place for meaningful interaction, whether with employees or other shoppers. What it seems like to me is unpaid emotional labor. To have interesting social time, we need less hours at work and more public (non-commercial) spaces to meet. For example, where are children supposed to meet?

I often learn a lot at the check out lines here in Oregon. People chat, exchange information. Often banal, sometimes valuable. Always nice.

I'm sorry, but it's completely unclear how nice chats do anything to resolve "American tribalism", or, more pertinently, why it's the responsibility of marketplace owners to generate squares of social interaction at all.

Even if this slight increase in social interaction did anything ("cash or credit?" -- "Credit, ma'am"), that's as ridiculous as fixing race conditions with sleep() calls (hehe, race conditions).

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#53

Post by degenerate »

dennisdamenace wrote: post #46
threatofrain wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The marketplace today is hardly the place for meaningful interaction, whether with employees or other shoppers. What it seems like to me is unpaid emotional labor. To have interesting social time, we need less hours at work and more public (non-commercial) spaces to meet. For example, where are children supposed to meet?

I often learn a lot at the check out lines here in Oregon. People chat, exchange information. Often banal, sometimes valuable. Always nice.

I can confidently say that's _not_ the case in most urban areas.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#54

Post by Kalium »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41

I know the standard reaction from a lot of HN folk will be to celebrate this progress: it's faster, more efficient, and no one likes to waste time waiting in line. Still, though, I think Amazon's automation of the retail experience is helping to create a society where there is even less real social interaction, and I think it's a factor (if even a small one currently) in the increasing tribalism in American society.…

I understand how you feel that way. It feels like Amazon, and others, are creating a wholly atomized society. Where people exist without having to admit that other people exist. Where people are stripped away from society for profit.

But... what if I want that? What if I don't want to be coerced into social interaction, every day, just so I get get my basic physical needs met? What if I want to engage with society and humans on my terms, rather than on yours?

Who gets to decide? I welcome this because it gives me another choice. It moves me one step further away from the coerced-social-interaction experient you envision as heavenly and towards a world where I get to make one more of the choices that matters to me.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#55

Post by seangrant »

iagooar wrote: post #24
dawhizkid wrote: post #12

Anyone in NYC who regularly shops at Trader Joes or Whole Foods knows how badly this is needed. There are literally two employees at Trader Joes whose job it is to hold a sign that says "End of Line" because the line is always almost out the door on weekends and weekday evenings.

Why not use these people as cashiers? I wonder if this endless line thing is something typical in the US. I've been to many European countries and other than before Christmas, you never feel like staying in line is something to even think of, because the longest you usually wait is maybe 5 minutes. In Switzerland, now that in many shops you get to scan the cart yourself (after shopping or during it) there is just no…

Seattle area here. All my life I remember waiting in lines 10-20 minutes if you go to a store on a busy day (fri/sat/sun). It's just simple math sometimes where there's so many people with $400+ carts trying to check out and cashiers can only scan so fast. Everyone with medium or small sized carts have to wait in this.

I've seen great strides in recent years to advance self checkout technology and its user flow. Walmart is my favorite example of this, my local one having almost half of the area devoted to self checkout. It seems to have been successful for them so far. I don't see anyone having a hard time operate them and perhaps more surprising, it's filled me with the idea that I can pop in and out of a big store on a busy day to just buy 1 item.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#57

Post by sotojuan »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41

I know the standard reaction from a lot of HN folk will be to celebrate this progress: it's faster, more efficient, and no one likes to waste time waiting in line. Still, though, I think Amazon's automation of the retail experience is helping to create a society where there is even less real social interaction, and I think it's a factor (if even a small one currently) in the increasing tribalism in American society.…

> Throughout history, "the marketplace" had been one of the major centers of interpersonal interaction

If you shop at Whole Foods, Target, Trader Joe's, Kroger, etc. this has never been true for you, unless by social interaction you mean handing your card to the cashier or asking someone a question. Even in my local, family owned grocery store I don't see this "marketplace" attitude. I doubt it exists anywhere outside of small communities nowadays in the US. Most people work 8 hours a day and hang out at home or in bars/coffee shops; we don't really want to hang out in a marketplace.

Note that I don't disagree with your overall point... I just don't think this is a good example.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#58

Post by goldenkey »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41

I know the standard reaction from a lot of HN folk will be to celebrate this progress: it's faster, more efficient, and no one likes to waste time waiting in line. Still, though, I think Amazon's automation of the retail experience is helping to create a society where there is even less real social interaction, and I think it's a factor (if even a small one currently) in the increasing tribalism in American society.…

I don't bother the opposite sex while shopping. But when it comes to just normal convo about good foods that me and another shopper are both buying, it's usually a short-lived "Isn't that ice cream awesome?! Hi five!." Nothing profound but I can see the positivity from even a small event of mutual love for the small things in life. :-)

I will admit though - Whole Foods and Trader Joes' employees are some of the nicest and down to earth people I've ever met. They definitely add to the experience of shopping.

But it appears that Amazon still has those type of people that will roam the store - just not cashiers. And they are probably a lot more grumpy and treated like crap, 'cuz Amazon.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#59

Post by [deleted] »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41

I know the standard reaction from a lot of HN folk will be to celebrate this progress: it's faster, more efficient, and no one likes to waste time waiting in line. Still, though, I think Amazon's automation of the retail experience is helping to create a society where there is even less real social interaction, and I think it's a factor (if even a small one currently) in the increasing tribalism in American society.…

[deleted]
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