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Amazon Go

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Re: Amazon Go

#181

Post by leesalminen »

coleca wrote: post #133
leesalminen wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop & Shop in the NE US released this in ~2006

I worked on that project (Shopping Buddy) and a few later iterations of it. This was before the iPad, we had these huge IBM super rugged tablets on the carriages. We used something like Zigbee to triangulate the precise location of the carriage in the aisle, so we could tell whether the cart was at the beginning, middle or end of aisle 5 or aisle 6 and target ads appropriate for where you were. There was a small scan…

Awesome insight! This is why I love HN.

My mother makes uses of it every week and gloats that we don't have the tech available here in Boulder (a tech hub).

Re: Amazon Go

#182

Post by elicash »

mulletboy wrote: post #151
elicash wrote: post #43

I worked at a grocery store for several years, and one thing I recall is customers CONSTANTLY putting items back in a random aisle, rather than where they found it. I wonder how this tech deals with that? Maybe they figured that out, too. But I was amused in the video when I saw the customer putting it back where it belonged, because that's not how I remember that going... All that said, this is fantastic and excitin…

> I worked at a grocery store for several years, and one thing I recall is customers CONSTANTLY putting items back in a random aisle, rather than where they found it. If the incentive is reducing the chances of being charged by the system for an item they didn't buy, you bet people will put stuff back where they found it.

True. And maybe they also figured out a technical solution, too. If not, I'm sure they will eventually.

But I'd also have been more impressed with the video if they showed stressed-out parents with crying kids and their hands full as they've got their cell phones tucked between their heads and shoulders, rather than young people quietly grabbing a single item and leaving.

This can actually HELP with those problems because a lot of those problems happen while in a line. Maybe they expect their customers to be like the ones in this video, but certainly my store was a little more chaotic. They should design for that chaos -- and maybe they did, but the video doesn't show it, is all. Presumably because they wanted to stress how easy it was, but to me that comes off as alien to the real world, based on my experience.

Re: Amazon Go

#183

Post by Blue3Wheeler »

I think this technology is something our society doesn't need in this moment. Reducing jobs only because people can't wait in the line is not a big step to humanity. We need to see what are the consequences for future generations instead of trying to look "futuristic".

Re: Amazon Go

#184

Post by tjr »

mabbo wrote: post #161
gech wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a starter job, people shouldn't rely on them as a career, it's their fault, bootstraps, etc. etc.

For the large percentage of Americans who don't have a degree or maybe not even a high school diploma, there is no such thing as a 'starter job'- there's just 'a job'. Heck, for a growing proportion of the population the degree doesn't even help. We in the tech industry would be wise to remember that we live in an incredibly privileged bubble where careers are real things, where it's easy to find new opportunities.

During college, I worked for about 6 or 7 months in a local supermarket. Seventeen years later, some of my former coworkers are still there.

Re: Amazon Go

#185

Post by leesalminen »

sqeaky wrote: post #96
leesalminen wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop & Shop in the NE US released this in ~2006

Where is that at? I am Omaha and google maps did not show a "Stop & Shop".

Good one :). NE = North East, not Nebraska in this instance though I can see the confusion.

Re: Amazon Go

#186

Post by gdulli »

giarc wrote: post #123
gdulli wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there's two things I get uneasy about, it's (1) giving up privacy in a whole new category of being filmed/monitored/tracked and (2) being guided into behaviors that encourage me to consume more and consume more casually.

If you've ever entered a grocery store, both of those things have already happened.

It's imperfect and unable to be completely avoided, but worse to move the line further in the wrong direction.

Re: Amazon Go

#187

Post by discordianfish »

gech wrote: post #120
jtcond13 wrote: post #100

Your periodic reminder that 'retail salesperson' is the most common job in America (~4.5 million). http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-10-m...

It's just a starter job, people shouldn't rely on them as a career, it's their fault, bootstraps, etc. etc.

How do people think it matters who's fault it is?

You can call them lazy or stupid but they still exist and a lot of them won't get a new job (again, doesn't matter if they can't or just don't want to find one).

Re: Amazon Go

#188

Post by huherto »

bluelu wrote: post #81

Maybe they also weight you when enter and leave the store. They can then cross check your weight with the weight of the items you have bought.

They could weight the contents of the shelves. Based on that you may know what you took out. I actually looked into that for a retailer.

Re: Amazon Go

#189

Post by Neliquat »

bluelu wrote: post #81

Maybe they also weight you when enter and leave the store. They can then cross check your weight with the weight of the items you have bought.

Many systems already do this for controlled access. Would be a useful bit of data to have if easily implemented. Problems are when access is not 1 by 1. You could get useful, but not consistent suggestive data.

Re: Amazon Go

#190

Post by simonvc »

devy wrote: post #147
elicash wrote: post #43

I worked at a grocery store for several years, and one thing I recall is customers CONSTANTLY putting items back in a random aisle, rather than where they found it. I wonder how this tech deals with that? Maybe they figured that out, too. But I was amused in the video when I saw the customer putting it back where it belonged, because that's not how I remember that going... All that said, this is fantastic and excitin…

If all merchandise in the Amazon Go store have been RFID tagged, this is a non-issue for checkout, as the turnstile tag scanner should be able to sense the items you take out of the store. As far as randomly put back at a different place of the items, the staff can use the tag scanner to detect that and fix it up even easier as oppose to physically locate the item by human vision which is arguably harder and less eff…

Faraday cage bags are already a thing.. I can see them being a lot more popular..
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