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Comment by andrewflnr | Hacker News Reader

That's not my experience. Mostly they just work. Boring, perhaps, but I really don't want my grocery shopping to be exciting, and it wasn't actually going to be a moment of deep human connection anyway, so not much lost there. I more often find a traditional checkout line tiresome.

Loyalty systems are an interesting point to raise, since in a self-checkout system they can't nag you as effectively to join. Otherwise they're an orthogonal concern.

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Orthogonal to what? :) Loyalty schemes, staff reduction, staff deskilling, foisting unpaid work onto customers, etc etc are all perfectly aligned.

I'd disagree with your point about effective nagging. A human might get the message, particularly if they know you. An automated checkout never will, every transaction is identical.

Obviously my perspective is very "bah humbug". However, there are several major issues in modern western societies, including social isolation, spiralling cost of living, and the ongoing death of the highstreet. I see automated checkouts as another nail in the coffin. Melodramatic perhaps, but there it is. I'd happily exchange an automated supermarket for a string of corner shops run by flawed humans.

Orthogonal in that you can have one without the other. Clearly, since loyalty programs predate self checkout by... decades, at least? I don't even really disagree on the rest, but I don't see self checkout as an obstacle to fixing those problems.

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