Amazon Go's Cashierless Tech May Come To Whole Foods As Soon As Next Year (theverge.com) 77
According to a report from the New York Post, Amazon may bring the cashierless tech at its Go convenience stores to Whole Foods as early as next year. The Verge reports: Amazon may start implementing the tech in Whole Foods sometime during the second quarter of 2021, according to the New York Post's source. This technology, which is currently available in more than 20 Amazon Go convenience store locations, uses cameras, sensors, and computer vision to let customers walk out the store with groceries in hand and avoid cashier checkout lines. The New York Post's source claims the rollout of the new technology into Whole Foods is one of two final projects that Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon's worldwide consumer division, is focusing on before he retires early next year.
Amazon Go's Cashierless Tech (Score:4, Funny)
I thought Antifa and BLM already piloted cashierless technology? Or was that just the beta test?
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I love computers.... but I fucking hate big tech, its soulless, its pointless, its devoid of life, its like that experiment where they give a bunch of baby monkeys a choice between a wire mesh mother and a soft mother and it fucked up the monkeys with the wire mesh mother.
Amazongooglefacebooktwitter are the only reason the stock market is up.... but they are like wire mesh mothers. I will go for the terry cloth as long as its still an option.
If I recall correctly from Psych 101, the wire mesh mothers provided food, but the baby monkeys still went to the cloth mother for comfort when they were anxious or afraid. So they always had both mothers available, but only bonded with the soft one. In other words, wire mesh mother says "Oh, you'll be back...."
Re: as a bearded tofu eating organic type (Score:2)
Sounds like they both have their place and both have their shortcomings. If you donâ(TM)t like âoebig techâ thatâ(TM)s fine. I prefer the big techs and their solutions. I hate the little stupid stores. Deal with it.
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this was not what the movement was supposed to be about.
First the vegans and granola people complained that nobody listened to them.
Now they are complaining that their movement has become mainstream.
Whatever.
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They define themselves as counterculture.. By doing exactly what billions already do.. Then they complain when a few more million start doing it..
Then they go find something else to be counterculture about.
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Not necessarily the same people at all.
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What is this rant about? Tofu is a standard food item for billions of people. If you like it eat it, it's not don't. It's not a religion.
You like standing in queues at shops? Good for you. I personally hate it and would rather get my stuff and take it home. I find watching other slowly putting things in bags, and slowly going though their possessions to count out coins one at a time as an offensive waste of time.
I've been to the amazon go store, I think it's simply amazing how they eliminated the most painf
I think we're a lot closer to massive automation (Score:3)
I don't think we're ready for the kind of societal changes needed when 1/3-1/2 of the population is superfluous. Will you pay for somebody to not work just because they're not smart enough for college?
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Why worry about that when you can deny it and kick the problem down the road a few years to keep that corporate profit rolling in for another couple years.
If we hadn't been subdued by our corporate overlords we would've acted on the threats we've known for decades like: ...
Climate change
Inequality
Prevention of crime via societal support (rather than for profit prisons)
Investment in healthcare systems and pandemic response bodies
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and after that the state will pay $30K-60K an year to keep them in prison
Re:I think we're a lot closer to massive automatio (Score:4, Insightful)
\Within 20 years we're going to see a massive bout of technology unemployment.\
People have been saying that since the 80's. The machines never took all the jobs, what happened is the humans kept working harder to keep up with the machines.
Single example e-mail. It's meant to send physical post quicker without needing physical sorting or delivery. It got warped into an instant messaging system and now people work all hours sending and expecting instant replies.
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Humans cannot keep up working harder indefinitely.
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People have been saying that since the 80's. The machines never took all the jobs, what happened is the humans kept working harder to keep up with the machines.
You're obviously not from a blue collar family then. When I was growing up (New Zealand), a huge number of people in my community had manufacturing jobs with which they housed and fed their families. I remember at high school, a couple of my friends didn't go on to sixth form (university prep) because they just wanted to go get factory jobs, which was still a viable path to having a decent life. This was in the late 90s.
Almost all those jobs went. The companies that survived massively automated (CNC machine
At my Job my team has taken on lot more (Score:2)
It's still the same 4 man team it's been since I started.
How? Because software got better. Things that used to have to be done by hand can and have been automated. Software installs that used to take hours of tweaking went away.
It's not the automation you see that's slashing jobs, it's the stuff you don't. Those little odds and ends efficiency boosts that happen here and there an
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This argument reads an awful lot like "this time its different"
As you say there will be a period of dislocation. I am not sure it has to be decades long, and I think there were a lot of other societal forces and bad ideas that made it so hard and long during that period. The big challenge our society will have today is an unwillingness to move. People won't go where the jobs are they won't leave places when the jobs go away.
We need to encourage physical mobility and as a society get past the idea that we ne
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I've been saying for a long time that "welfare benefits" (of which there are many varieties) need to be given a strict time limit of a year or two during which the recipient looks for work. If they can't find a steady job in that time then the benefits are given another month, plus a moving truck to places that have jobs available.
It's idiotic to pay people to keep living in a place like Detroit where the jobs are likely not coming back any time soon when there are job openings in Nashville.
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I'd like to see us come up with a sorta domestic h1-b program. Allow employees to deduct moving expenses for employees they hire and and relocate and keep on the payroll for at least a year if the individual was collecting unemployment at the time of hire.
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"Allow employees" - should be "Allow employers"
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You miss the bit, where you as the customer get spied on and recorded and analused, every action you take, everywhere you look, how advertising impacts you, how to make you but shit you do not way, how to make you spend more. All recorded all data mined, every single visit, every single action in the store and every single item purchased. It is as disgusting as fuck.
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than anyone really wants to admit. Within 20 years we're going to see a massive bout of technology unemployment. Folks like to gloss over the Industrial revolution because eventually there were new jobs. Thing is, there was decades of poverty, war & social strife while the rest of tech and society caught up and created those jobs. Luddite didn't start out as a slur.
I don't think we're ready for the kind of societal changes needed when 1/3-1/2 of the population is superfluous. Will you pay for somebody to not work just because they're not smart enough for college?
100 years ago 95% of the labor force was in agriculture. Now it's 5%.
Think hard - it's not really that difficult to understand this. There will always be something to do.
Re:I think we're a lot closer to massive automatio (Score:4, Insightful)
100 years ago 95% of the labor force was in agriculture. Now it's 5%.
Think hard - it's not really that difficult to understand this. There will always be something to do.
Here's another broad observation: The utility value of a human is difficult to increase. The utility value of robotics is advancing at unprecedented speed. At some point it is entirely possible that robots will be better at doing *all* the jobs that a human could do.
What happens then? It doesn't matter how many new jobs appear, the robots will still be better at doing them than a human.
I also find it funny that people read so much into industrialisation like the course of it is now set in stone. Industrialisation is this unprecedented artefact occurring at the end of ~5000 years of otherwise relatively stable civilisation development. To then try to assume that we've entered another stable period is bizarre. When I was born in the 80s people would have thought an iPhone as magic.
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I agree. I think there is going to be a real multiplier effect once automation starts picking up. Consider this whole Amazon Go tech. In the end, why even bother with that? If you have a fleet of autonomous convenience store vans roaming the neighbourhood, you just select what you want on your phone and it comes to your door for collection. With that there is no need for shelf-stackers, no need for the camera tracking system, no need for the building and the water/electricity/gas that supply the building. T
A bit far (Score:1)
If you have a fleet of autonomous convenience store vans roaming the neighbourhood, you just select what you want on your phone and it comes to your door for collection
While that has always seemed like a good idea and there are even now companies that deliver groceeries, most people prefer to go pick out things like produce, or evaluate in person the choice between several brands of something.
So there's always going to be the need to stock shelves (though it seems like that could be a lot more automated th
Executive summary (Score:2)
They're adding a lot of tech to their stores so they can stop paying for cashiers.
I'd suggest not picking your nose or scratching your balls while you're in the store, since you're on Candid Camera.
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They are adding a lot of tech to their stores so that you never, ever, have to waste time waiting in a queue.
I hate queues. Don't you hate queues?
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They are adding a lot of tech to their stores so that you never, ever, have to waste time waiting in a queue.
They are adding tech to their stores to avoid paying cashiers (who don't make so much money to begin with).
I would probably spend just as much time waiting in a queue because the average person is a lot slower checking themselves out than the average cashier.
I hate queues. Don't you hate queues?
I also hate doing the work of the cashier by sorting/scanning/weighing my items.
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Amazon go isn't self-checkout. If was that I'd totally agree that it's pointless.
With Amazon go stores you scan your phone to go in so the system knows who you are. You pickup what you want from the shelves. You walk out. That simple. No checkout of any kind. No queues of any kind. No need to scan anything, or use special baskets, or trolleys. You just pick up what you want and walk out and they bill your credit card (correctly!)
It's really magically amazing.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
I am still waiting for this. If Amazon can really deliver; it would be super helpful - especially during a pandemic.
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Well it doesn't use RFID tags but the amazon go store is exactly like that. IBM were well ahead of their time with that video, we should have had that tech years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Nice had not actually seen a Go store; thanks for vid link. Little different implementation but 20 years later it looks the tech is a reality!
Amazon system not same as self-checkout (Score:1)
They are adding tech to their stores to avoid paying cashiers (who don't make so much money to begin with).
Great, then by the logic of Uber haters, since they don't make much money they should be happy to have no job!
I would probably spend just as much time waiting in a queue because the average person is a lot slower checking themselves out than the average cashier.
That's provably not true today, go into any target or WalMart with self-heckeout sections. Sure the average person is a little slower checkin
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Wholefoods NY already there (Score:2)
(I don't shop there but) reports are that regular checkout is now cashless and there are hoops to jump through in the back of the store to pay cash.
sucks
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"Cashierless" and "cashless" are not the same thing.
Pointless (Score:2)
"Amazon Go's Cashierless Tech May Come To Whole Foods As Soon As Next Year "
Beem waiting countless years for a Whole Foods to come near me. It didn't happen. The moment is gone. Pointless "Tech".
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Everything is priced by unit. I've never been overcharged at an amazon go store.
I've definitely been overcharged by stores with checkouts many times. They use different prices to those on the shelf. They ignore discounts. They shortchange if cash is involved. Many times I've told them an item is on discount and it takes 15 minutes of waiting with an annoyed queue behind me for them to check only to confirm the till is wrong and make an exception for me. You bet they don't actually update the till. You bet e
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Trading a little convenience for your privacy again. Google will track everything you buy, quantity, how often, etc.... Do you really want google to know you bought anti itch ointment for your scrotum? Maybe all that bacon you purchase will be available to your health insurance and your rates will go up because of your unhealthy diet.
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Just put my in a trash compactor (Score:2)
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I don't know where you live but in every built up area I've visited "human service" means queues. Amazon go means no checkout at all and no checkout queues.
I think it's wonderful to be able to buy a sandwich on my lunch break without having to lose a chunk of my lunch time waiting for someone to slowly count pennies or hold some long conversation with the checkout guy/girl.
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Dont forget the added tracking as Google scans and records all your purchases.
Interesting way to deal with shoplifting I guess. (Score:3)
even walmart is getting in the act (Score:2)
back in June, Walmart announced they are testing cashierless stores too. I just hope Walmart, Amazon and others who are working with this don't decide to check at the door. It is bad enough to scan and go at Sams Club then get stuck at the door in extremely long lines.
as far as casjoers losing their jobs, there will need to be more security, more tech support and other jobs to make sure things go smoothly.
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Amazon go isn't just "cashierless", It's designed to be an easy and quick experience. You pickup your stuff and walk out. No checkout process at all. Your credit card gets billed, and amazingly gets billed correctly. Amazon go don't even give you a paper receipt.
Checking bags at the door is a sign that a store hates and mistrusts its customers and wants them to die in a fire. I don't go to stores that do that and nor should you. If customers just didn't accept that level of abuse stores would not do it.
Re: even walmart is getting in the act (Score:2)
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It sounds like you are saying you like being harassed in the car park as you walk out with things you paid for. Sounds like a pretty weird thing to enjoy to me but if that's your thing you go for it.
honest question (Score:3)
Re: honest question (Score:2)
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No if about it. Everyone is paying to cover theft. Businesses always pass on costs, and the expected cost of theft is well known, and added to the price you pay, just like inventory, rent, utilities, wages, insurance, taxes and all the other expenses incurred running a retail store.
So, if you are not stealing from a retailer, you likely pay between 3 and 8 per cent more in almost every retail transaction, to cover the cost of theft.
One well-known, but seldom discussed, effect of se
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Retail theft is a fact, and someone has to pay. Controlling theft is a multi-billion dollar industry in and of itself, and is far from perfect. While companies do take steps to reduce theft, few were ever willing to increase prevention costs and efforts beyond a point. The point used to be when theft prevention stopped being cheaper than allowing that level of theft.
Today's reality, unfortunately, is that many companies fail to get anywhere close to that break-even point with theft prevention. Simply easier
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Nonsense you charge the entire bunch with Conspiracy, and send them to one of Amazon's future guardless for profit prisons.
I am only kidding about the latter part; I hope I am kidding anyway.
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...one of Amazon's future guardless for profit prisons.
The way the US criminal justice system is setup that might be an improvement.
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The cameras are on the ceiling. You need to identify yourself in some way to get in. There are far easier places to steal from.
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Amazon is collaborating with Food Partners (Score:1)
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In India, Amazon is collaborating with Food Partners such as Dominos [earningkart.in], Pizza Hut. Moreover, they are also associating with pharmacy stores such as Medlife and so on. Amazon Might open the offline food stores in India by the end of the year.
Jeff Bezos might enter in the Pharmacy section to make the Amazon brand legacy!