ASDA Self-Service Tills

[Crosser]

Well, I appear to be in a minority. I actively seek out the self service tills, they are far quicker than queuing being a line of people for a normal till, I can scan, pack, swipe my contactless card and be out the door in less than a minute. Works for me (although the ones at ASDA are far inferior to Tesco or Sainsbury's.

 

As for the jobs argument - this has been used to argue against technology since the industrial revolution, and the arguments are still just as archaic now as they were during the original "Luddite" protests.

 

Yes indeed, I agree (mostly) but where does (the YOU do it and we'll make the savings) end?

 

Over the years we have been brainwashed into thinking that we should "be responsible" for all kinds of things (the re-cycling thing is one of the main ones) ........... and yet there is no advantage to it is there?

 

We still pay more and more taxes which we have no option but to pay, for less and less service.

 

Who IS actually gaining from these "innovations"?

 

I doubt it is the consumer, even if it takes 5 minutes less at the checkout for them.

[Phili Buster]

@smithy266

 

Refusing to use them on the grounds of keeping someone employed is all very commendable but technology has been at the cost of manual workers for a long time. The clothes we wear were at one time produced on looms operated manually.

How much of our daily lives are made easier, faster because of it. Technology is also responsible for creating work across the globe and cutting costs or at least keeping them low.

 

I'm sorry but if all I want is a pint of milk I'm not waiting behind a queue of trollies when there's a choice.

 

 

Quite correct, looms used to be operated manually but we are not expected to make our own clothes. However we are expected to operate the tills when putting someone out of work.

[ECCOnoob]

Quite correct, looms used to be operated manually but we are not expected to make our own clothes. However we are expected to operate the tills when putting someone out of work.

 

When the man behind the counters in the ye olde grocery shop individually fetching and carrying all the items a customer selected got replaced by a vast self service store I wonder if the same screams of concern were heard about the poor shopkeepers losing their jobs.

 

OR

 

Maybe people acutally embraced changed and accepted that things move on a bit more easily back then without such fuss.

 

Nobody is reinventing the wheel here. Its nothing new in the big progression of life. As technology and demands advance, some jobs inevitably become obsolete. However, they are replaced by a wide range of new jobs which didn't exist before the technology and demands was created. Round and round it goes.

 

---------- Post added 14-04-2017 at 12:42 ----------

 

We still pay more and more taxes which we have no option but to pay, for less and less service.

 

Who IS actually gaining from these "innovations"?

 

I doubt it is the consumer, even if it takes 5 minutes less at the checkout for them.

 

I disagree with some of your points.

 

The "service" you speak of its the choice to avoid standing in a long queue and check out a handful of items yourself.

 

The "gains" you speak of it the ability make it financially viable for a company to have a store open 24 hours a day 5 days out of 7 giving the customers the choice to do their shopping well outside of what would be deemed normal business hours. It also gives the ability to be more flexible with what your floor staff do and where they work as there is an alternative option to move them away from just sitting on a till. There is also the final and more blunt point that it allows for strict controls of a the number of staff a store needs to recruit keeping profit high and overheads low, which clearly translates in stores offering such cheap prices and discounts to keep them competative with their rivals.

 

Sometimes its about the bigger picture for a company overall, not just the black and white point of a checkout and someone working on it.

[Clai]

Asda at Walkley don't always have someone on the tills, so you have no choice and have to use the self service check out.

[silentP]

Quite correct, looms used to be operated manually but we are not expected to make our own clothes. However we are expected to operate the tills when putting someone out of work.

 

The point I'm making, or trying to is that technology is accepted everywhere with no regard for the jobs that are lost because of it. Digital cameras have seen a massive decline in film purchase, how many jobs have suffered because of them.

No one minds driving around in cars built with the aid of robots. It may well be that the till operator is freed up to perform other tasks until such time as they are required on tills.

[achorste]

The point I'm making, or trying to is that technology is accepted everywhere with no regard for the jobs that are lost because of it. Digital cameras have seen a massive decline in film purchase, how many jobs have suffered because of them.

No one minds driving around in cars built with the aid of robots. It may well be that the till operator is freed up to perform other tasks until such time as they are required on tills.

 

And that it is quite right and proper that jobs become obsolete when technology enables things to be automated. Stopping progress due to someone having to retrain or change jobs will result in stagnation.

 

Using your example, digital camera technology has resulted in hundreds of benefits - the following from a very quick google search:

 

Medical research & diagnosis (instant imaging, analysis & non-invasive imaging),

Entertainment industries (digital distribution),

Citizen journalism,

Environmental / weather monitoring (satellite imagary & transmission) which saves lives through advanced warning & crop prediction

Forensics & law enforcement

Physics & astrophysics (with massive knock on benefits to pretty much every other area of life)

Manufacturing processes of pretty much EVERY electronic device

 

Quite apart from the massively reduced environmental impact of personal photography by eliminating the processing of camera film itself.

 

The same will apply to every technology advance. If they hid the technology because some people would have to retrain or change jobs, we'd be worse off.

 

Looking purely at supermarket checkouts, the supermarkets are under significant cost driven competition. If they can cut their costs and offer lower prices by using more self scan checkouts, it's the consumer who benefits.

Edited April 14, 2017 by achorste

[silentP]

And that it is quite right and proper that jobs become obsolete when technology enables things to be automated. Stopping progress due to someone having to retrain or change jobs will result in stagnation.

 

Using your example, digital camera technology has resulted in hundreds of benefits - the following from a very quick google search:

 

Medical research & diagnosis (instant imaging, analysis & non-invasive imaging),

Entertainment industries (digital distribution),

Citizen journalism,

Environmental / weather monitoring (satellite imagary & transmission) which saves lives through advanced warning & crop prediction

Forensics & law enforcement

Physics & astrophysics (with massive knock on benefits to pretty much every other area of life)

Manufacturing processes of pretty much EVERY electronic device

 

Quite apart from the massively reduced environmental impact of personal photography by eliminating the processing of camera film itself.

 

The same will apply to every technology advance. If they hid the technology because some people would have to retrain or change jobs, we'd be worse off.

 

Looking purely at supermarket checkouts, the supermarkets are under significant cost driven competition. If they can cut their costs and offer lower prices by using more self scan checkouts, it's the consumer who benefits.

 

There, I knew someone would happen along and make the point

[taxman]

There, I knew someone would happen along and make the point

 

But when you are stood there for ten minutes whilst a machine shouts at you just because you have the temerity to buy a bottle of wine or some hayfever tablets and the "staff" are too busy chatting or generally being rubbish then technology ceases to be an advancement of society and becomes a curse.

[silentP]

But when you are stood there for ten minutes whilst a machine shouts at you just because you have the temerity to buy a bottle of wine or some hayfever tablets and the "staff" are too busy chatting or generally being rubbish then technology ceases to be an advancement of society and becomes a curse.

 

Not me, I'm blessed with an abundance of patience and my days of rushing have been kicked in to touch

[cytine]

Anyone who believes that supermarkets are using technology to benefit the customer by cutting prices are deluding themselves. Job cuts and technology are being used purely to increase profit nothing else.