841–850 of 1001 posts
I suspect during the beta they've asked their employees to try and steal things amd move things to the wrong place -- really push the software. At least I hope they did. I assume they are going into this expecting a loss while they work out the kinks.
Based on comments in here, one would suspect they implemented this entire thing without trying to break it even once.
Here's an ad from IBM circa 2006 predicting(?) this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eob532iEpqk Crazy to think we're actually here now. And even sans-RFID.
I suspect that Amazon has RFID tags on everything in addition to the vision systems. There are existing backup vision systems for retail checkouts, such as LaneHawk. Most of the components for this already exist. Now it's here.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it might be purely rfid based. All major rfid vendors have theft prevention devices which can detect in real-time products crossing a given line. Decathlon, the world largest sport goods retailer already use that technology. They still have checkout lines but technically speaking they would be able to charge you when you leave the store. Last time I spoke with them they were using Embisphere hardware, but any…
The last time I checked, the price of a printable RFID tag was around 10 cents. That's far too expensive for a 15oz can of beans. What sort of prices are you seeing?
I have reasons to believe several ink manufacturers/printers are working on an order of magnitude less per tag.
But are you so sure that 10 cents is too much?
What do you think the gross margin on that can is ? ;-) What do you think the net margin on that can, once the checkout lines (and their personnel) are removed, would be?
If a stitched RFID chip on a 2€ thsirt is currently cost-effective for Decathlon, I see no reason why printed RFID tags would not be cost effective in the very near future, if it is not yet the case (and once again, I have reasons to believe it is almost already the case).
I'm guessing it's not as simple as they make it look in the video...unless the food tags have some kind of RFID/Bluetooth to communicate with the phone in your pocket...maybe the grocery bags? Even with cashiers sometimes they don't know what the price is...also some things are sold by the pounds...where is the scale? What if you pay then walk back in again? You get double charged?
As for loose weighed items it doesn't look like they're selling those. /Everything/ in the promo shot of the store is already packaged and they look like they're going for more of a convenience store food source than a traditional grocery store.
So what happens when someone asks a good samaritan to help them get some expensive item off of a high shelf? How does this deal with things like a couple shopping together, one with an Amazon account and one without where both of them are getting items off of the shelves? Even if all of the video was monitored by a human I can still envision several pitfalls to this where it's hard to know who to bill for what withou…
See my theory above. There's no real inventory of your items until you walk out. What the vision system is doing is matching up your account (scanned upon entry) to the lane you choose when exiting (where the items are scanned).
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.
This isn't a solution. It doesn't matter who's "fault" it is. If 4.5M people lose their jobs very quickly, we're going to have a big freaking problem on our hands. Retail, fast food, stock pickers, truck drivers, etc.. etc.. Sure you could say "don't make menial jobs your career" all you want, but this is still going to be a huge freaking issue sooner than later. This is from just last week: https://www.ft.com/conten…
I think the mistaken comparison people make, is that when farmers and such lost jobs in the industrial revolution, new opportunities that didn't require total re-education were popping up as fast as old ones disappeared...this is not the case today. The shrinking range of opportunities are to be found in increasingly exclusive, high-skill white collar positions. People are being left behind, and the fuck-you-I-got-my-STEM degree crowd, their attitude isn't making anything better.
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 youre on EBT/WIC, what % of those folks have both a smartphone, Amazon Go installed AND an amazon account?
You would be surprised how many EBT/WIC folks have smart phones since they are often part of educational plans and back-to-work initiatives. It was often easier to order product off Amazon than locally (gift cards, debit cards).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the privacy implications for a shopper at Amazon Go are the same as a shopper who shops at Tesco with a credit card. The company can use your credit card to track exactly what you buy already and many people seem to be happy with that (even going so far as to sign up for loyalty cards).
But it should be possible to a) use a prepaid credit card or b) pay with good old cash. That way it is still possible to buy without getting tracked (while all the others that don't care use the loyalty card).
Also any online shop (Amazon included) has a complete history of everything you've ever bought.
For brick&mortar shops you would be a fool to assume they don't mine your shopping history based on your credit card (or some sort of hash that's computed from your CC#).
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...
There are 3.5 million truckers in America. I welcome self-driving trucks, however.