Author: Miss Cellania / Source: Neatorama
There’s a difference in technology developed to improve our lives and technology developed to eliminate jobs. The process of shifting labor from business to the consumer has been going on a long time: fast food restaurants, self-service gas pumps, and automated phone systems come to mind.
In the grocery business, it began with letting customers collect their own items in the early 29th century. The tipping point for self-service groceries arrived with self-checkouts, which is a bridge too far for many shoppers. Researcher Alexandra Mateescu talks about the history of self-service.Just to reemphasize, the pitch from the automated checkout makers was and is all about labor savings and much less about any perceptible improvements for customers. The automated checkout companies do try to nod to some consumer benefits, but it’s a…
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