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In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

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Re: In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

#21

Post by repsilat »

esotericn wrote: post #8

Profiling sucks. In this case though, I'd say you're simply trading one injustice for another. You go from the ephemeral experience of having a few underpaid lackeys mistrust you, to having an eternal database of everything you buy owned by a third party. Then again, it's getting pretty ridiculous everywhere. The local supermarkets around me - they've gradually stripped real checkout operators away and replaced them…

> an eternal database of everything you buy owned by a third party.

Lots of people pay by credit card, or use store cards to get discounts. I wonder if it might be worth volunteering that information without any convenience/price reward if it means the shop might somehow act to serve me better as a customer.

I also think self-checkouts are net less degrading than human checkouts. Bag your own groceries. Be trusted enough to say whether those were organic tomatoes and pay the extra few cents. Lower prices and shorter lines are great too.

Re: In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

#22

Post by andrew_ »

Tossing in my own anecdotal experience: I worked in Loss Prevention (plain clothes security) for a major midwest retail chain, within 10 miles of a major metropolitan city for several years. We absolutely profiled customers. The catch is that we profiled teenagers of the Caucasian persuasion. Why? Because they were the folks most likely to try and lift goods. Folks wearing unnecessarily baggy clothing (think more than three layers, wildly oversized), obviously tweaking individuals, and people constantly changing direction or looking behind them were obvious targets - but far in the minority of people that were followed or apprehended. For me personally, the people who could be considered a minority made up maybe 10% of my total apprehensions.

It'll be different everywhere but not every retail store, and not every retail employee, fits the narrative of the article.

Re: In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

#24

Post by askmike »

repsilat wrote: post #21
esotericn wrote: post #8

Profiling sucks. In this case though, I'd say you're simply trading one injustice for another. You go from the ephemeral experience of having a few underpaid lackeys mistrust you, to having an eternal database of everything you buy owned by a third party. Then again, it's getting pretty ridiculous everywhere. The local supermarkets around me - they've gradually stripped real checkout operators away and replaced them…

> an eternal database of everything you buy owned by a third party. Lots of people pay by credit card, or use store cards to get discounts. I wonder if it might be worth volunteering that information without any convenience/price reward if it means the shop might somehow act to serve me better as a customer. I also think self-checkouts are net less degrading than human checkouts. Bag your own groceries. Be trusted en…

> I wonder if it might be worth volunteering that information without any convenience/price reward if it means the shop might somehow act to serve me better as a customer.

If they'd serve you better that automatically means they'd serve everyone else worse who didn't want to give up that information.

You'll love the Social Credit System in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System

This is not a world I want to live in.

Re: In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

#25

Post by pentae »

andrew_ wrote: post #22

Tossing in my own anecdotal experience: I worked in Loss Prevention (plain clothes security) for a major midwest retail chain, within 10 miles of a major metropolitan city for several years. We absolutely profiled customers. The catch is that we profiled teenagers of the Caucasian persuasion. Why? Because they were the folks most likely to try and lift goods. Folks wearing unnecessarily baggy clothing (think more tha…

Of course, if you'd swapped out the word "Caucasian" for "African American" your post would be downvoted and you'd be called a racist. But because we're DEFINITELY not racist mentioning you targeted white people is totally fine in 2018.

Re: In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

#26

Post by repsilat »

askmike wrote: post #24
repsilat wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an eternal database of everything you buy owned by a third party. Lots of people pay by credit card, or use store cards to get discounts. I wonder if it might be worth volunteering that information without any convenience/price reward if it means the shop might somehow act to serve me better as a customer. I also think self-checkouts are net less degrading than human checkouts. Bag your own groceries. Be trusted en…

> I wonder if it might be worth volunteering that information without any convenience/price reward if it means the shop might somehow act to serve me better as a customer. If they'd serve you better that automatically means they'd serve everyone else worse who didn't want to give up that information. You'll love the Social Credit System in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System This is not a world…

> they'd serve everyone else worse

That doesn't follow. It could be positive-sum.

Just from the checkout (without customer identifiers) they can find correlations. "People who buy salsa tend to buy corn chips. Let's put them near each other in the store."

With identifiers they might be able to do more things of that sort. "A few customers shop in two different locations -- over here for fresh produce, but over there for baked goods. Wonder why?"

> You'll love the Social Credit System in China

Be civil.

Re: In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

#27

Post by ncallaway »

pcurve wrote: post #15
SeanBoocock wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this sentiment. The author describes her lived experience shopping as a black woman throughout her life. She also points to recent publicized examples of black people being subject to poor treatment while engaging in normal activities. If you had lived your entire life being weary of store clerks, having inculcated that lesson in childhood, why wouldn't her observation be both genuine and important…

I empathized with her experience described in the first half of the article fully. But then she started making connection to Amazon Go by saying: "The idea of walking into a store, taking an item or several off the shelves and strolling right back out again boggled my mind. It ran counter to everything I had learned about being black and shopping." I think the idea would run counter to everybody regardless of race. "…

> I also didn't find above statement particularly credible or representative of average person

What data do you have to back up your determination of credibility here?

Is it based on surveys and discussions with minority populations who have similar shared experiences to the author or is it based largely on a comparison to your own personal lived experience?

Re: In Amazon Go, no one thinks I'm stealing

#28

Post by mishurov »

pentae wrote: post #25
andrew_ wrote: post #22

Tossing in my own anecdotal experience: I worked in Loss Prevention (plain clothes security) for a major midwest retail chain, within 10 miles of a major metropolitan city for several years. We absolutely profiled customers. The catch is that we profiled teenagers of the Caucasian persuasion. Why? Because they were the folks most likely to try and lift goods. Folks wearing unnecessarily baggy clothing (think more tha…

Of course, if you'd swapped out the word "Caucasian" for "African American" your post would be downvoted and you'd be called a racist. But because we're DEFINITELY not racist mentioning you targeted white people is totally fine in 2018.

The left nowadays have loads tools for witch hunt at their disposal: racism, metoo, homophobia, transphobia, etc. The Freedom of Speech 2018th Edition.
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