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Inside Amazon Go

nytimes.com

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Re: Inside Amazon Go

#111

Post by wdr1 »

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.…

> where there is even less real social interaction

Good?

I'm an introvert. I don't value random, superficial interactions with people I'll never talk to again. In fact, they cause me anxiety & I dislike them.

I do value the time with a select group of people.

And by reducing the time I spend in the supermarket it allows more of the human interaction I do value.

My social group has a wide assortment of views, from Muslim to Catholic to Athiest, to #TrumpTrain2020 to #NotMyPresident.

I've never witnessed nor heard of people having meaningful discussion with the checkout clerk. I've never seen nor heard of someone, after that brief interaction, saying "You know, you're right. I'll reconsider my position on the person of the opposing political party."

The statement marketplaces may have been true when we in the barter system, but it certainly hasn't been president in modern society for sometime. And I say that as someone who grew up in a town of 2,000 in the 70s and has lived in a large urban area for the last 20.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#112

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Kiro wrote: post #82

Am I the only one living in a country where most stores have self-checkout already? The comments here make it sound like it's either Amazon Go or having to pay through a cashier. Jobs and social interaction have already been elminated by self-checkout. The revolution with Amazon Go is that you don't need to scan anything yourself, not that it removes the cashier.

Many stores in the USA already have self checkout, and have had it for a decade or so. Go just eliminates the checkout process all together.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#113

Post by seanmcdirmid »

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.

I avoid Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s because they are almost the only grocery stores without self checkout. Even Uwajimaya has self checkout now (ok H mart doesn’t, but they are rather quick anyways).

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#114

Post by pacaro »

Kiro wrote: post #84
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.…

The revolution here isn't self-checkout. In my country most stores already have that, which means all social interaction is eliminated already. So your argument is less about Amazon Go and more about self-checkout. The revolution is that you don't need to scan any items yourself or do anything at all. Just pick your items and go out.

The revolution is in how you spend your time. On an ordinary day when you know what you want for lunch, it can take under a minute to pop in and get it, under 10 seconds if you’re in a hurry.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#115

Post by 21 »

will_hughes wrote: post #108
FLUX-YOU wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There are undoubtedly attacks still to find but Amazon is definitely not being clueless about this. They likely have people watching the cameras full-time and will just report you to the cops if they see sleight-of-hand, now with identification and an address since you have to show your Amazon account when walking in. This is probably forever tenable to the bottom line since they're eliminating cashiers and security…

> will just report you to the cops if they see sleight-of-hand Why? Just add it to the order.

And when you try to cancel your Amazon Prime subscription: Hey, remember that time when you tried placing an item under your coat (video link)?

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#116

Post by galago »

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…

Trader Joes has a lot of urban stores. For example the one at Copley Square in Boston is in a basement across the street from a Tesla showroom. Its always busy, but there's no room to expand--even add an extra register. The farther you get out of the city center the wider the isles get.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#117

Post by seanmcdirmid »

seangrant wrote: post #55
iagooar wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Walm…

In my experience, Walmart has the worst self checkout software however: poorly designed and laggy as heck. QFC/Safeway are much better, even Target (which is pretty bad itself) is better.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#118

Post by 21 »

blibble wrote: post #83

not entirely serious, but not entirely joking: in a world where all stores are like this; you drop your phone and it smashes, can you still buy food? (what about people without phones?)

I don't think we're that far away from not even needing the phone at all - it might actually be a "privacy feature", ie: give you the illusion that they don't know already who you are.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#119

Post by bduerst »

galago wrote: post #116
iagooar wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Trader Joes has a lot of urban stores. For example the one at Copley Square in Boston is in a basement across the street from a Tesla showroom. Its always busy, but there's no room to expand--even add an extra register. The farther you get out of the city center the wider the isles get.

Yep - floor space ROI is calculated down to square inches in some retail stores. Cash registers don't increase the ROI.

Re: Inside Amazon Go

#120

Post by 1024core »

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.…

> a society where there is even less real social interaction,

Every time I shop at my favorite store, I encounter InstaCart employees more than regular shoppers.

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