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Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

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Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#51
post #15

I thought the idea was that these would allow more insulation in the doors than glass, and that the energy use from the screen was less than the energy saved from cooling losses (but what is the payback from the manufacturing, shipping, install, recycling, repair etc?). I'm skeptical, but it is conceivably possible that it works out if the screens are very efficient, using off the shelf parts. Maybe.

Either way they're doors. I'm guessing that increasing the frequency of door openings is an intended outcome of whatever they were thinking. A vending machine could be more energy efficient while providing exactly the same old consumer interaction disadvantages that are supposed to be a novel feature of this display.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#52
post #13

Everyone here who’s worked for some moderately large corporation knows exactly why this was done: it’s a flashy pet project for some “labs” team in an otherwise boring retailer and maybe they’ll recoup some of the cost in ads, minus whatever they lose for it being an awful idea. Some charismatic product manager sold it to execs as “being the future of connected retail” or some other BS. In a few months they’ll be rem…

Doesn't every new innovation (produced by a corporation), good or bad, generally come from the experimental arm of said corporation (e.g, R&D division)? You have teams dedicating to maintaining the core business, and you have teams exploring areas along the fringe of your TAM. HN's comments following Bitcoin's launch have made me acutely aware of how hostile we can be towards new ideas.

Your last point confuses me. Bitcoin has made some people richer, some people poorer, but it has not made the world a better place, nor found much use as a currency, and there’s still not a convincing case for blockchain as an important algorithmic invention.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#53

I do not blame cooler screen for selling this technology to anyone. But I want everyone to consider how much it takes to bring about a technology like this to a grocery store. If this is any of the big chain groceries, the manager doesn't even have the authority to put a sticker on the glass door. This was vetted by hundreds of people and none of them thought... glass? Business class tickets were purchased, hotels we…

> will be replaced with an ad I'm not sure what that means. These already are ads. They are directly advertising the products literally inside the case.

Yes but a short video of a person eating a delicious slice of that frozen Delicio Pizza surely will get your mouth watering. And if they can also tell you soap is on sale you may buy that before you leave. They know you need soap because the last time you bought some on your loyalty card was 2 months ago.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#55

A boring dystopia indeed. One day someone will be hunched over on a sidewalk, dying of thirst, and a patrolling Nestle®-branded drone senses (using state-of-the-art machine learning "customer needs" technology) his predicament. The drone hovers there projecting a holo-ad about Nestles hot product "Nectar of Life" which is just water from the region's last remaining aquifer cut with brackish water from the coast. The…

I can thoroughly recommend the movie Idiocracy.

Brawndo is the product the drone would be advertising.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#56
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I would go to another store due to this. I think that non-HN type people like my dad or my mom would probably go to another store due to this. Not being able to see what's behind the glass makes it take longer to shop. People abandon webpages that don't load quickly enough - why wouldn't they abandon stores where you have to open each door on an aisle of refrigerators just to see what's available?

The door clearly shows what's on offer.

If everything works perfectly, if there are no bugs (like, y'know, the failed one in the pictures in TFA), if it correctly tracks inventory, and if the pictures that they use match what people are looking for... then it might work. In reality, it will not.

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#57

I do not blame cooler screen for selling this technology to anyone. But I want everyone to consider how much it takes to bring about a technology like this to a grocery store. If this is any of the big chain groceries, the manager doesn't even have the authority to put a sticker on the glass door. This was vetted by hundreds of people and none of them thought... glass? Business class tickets were purchased, hotels we…

> Edit: What bothers me the most about this, is that it will actually work. Any surface where eyes may fall on, will be replaced with an ad.

Until someone finds out every screen has the same default password. And a few supermarkets are forced to shut them down because what was displayed was way, way worse than ads...

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#58
post #27

Seriously though, how does someone even come up with something this dumb? How does one go about thinking of and actually implementing this? How did the development process go through without someone interjecting "why the fuck are we spending $1000s on 6ft LEDs when we can just use glass?"

I would imagine this is the kind of thing you'd commission if your job title was, say, chief innovation officer at a soft drinks company. What else would you do?

[deleted]

Re: Sorry, we replaced that old technology, “see-through glass”

#60
This is obviously a comically idiotic idea, but ... hmm ...

If someone had taken this and put it in a museum as an art installation, I would love it. Thinking about it like that ... it tickles something in my brain. Using those absolutely huge, gorgeous screens, using our most sophisticated technology ... just to display a flat, bland, skeuomorphic representation of a completely mundane part of the human experience: the convenience store fridge section. I dunno, I'm finding it hard to describe what I feel thinking about this as a piece of "art". It would definitely make quite the statement. The size and scale of it is what takes it to another level.

But yeah, instead this is reality...

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