The failure of self-checkout technology

Re:The failure of self-checkout technology by d1sxeyes on Wednesday January 17, 2024 @01:23PM (#39031437)

I always gamble and scan any alcohol or age restricted items first. About half of the time, it throws an alert and flashes but lets me continue scanning, it just won’t let me complete and pay until someone has come over and approved.

For some reason though, some idiot designer who never actually thought about how these would be used in reality, decided to make it so that the other half of the time it immediately stops all scanning until someone comes to fix it.

In the first case, basically I waste no time. In the second, I lose however long it takes for the cashier to come.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The failure of self-checkout technology by pcthrowaway on Wednesday January 17, 2024 @05:15PM (#39034322)

If you scan the alcohol first, you can then move over to another checkout and proceed with the rest of your items if you need to wait for assistance for the alcohol

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The failure of self-checkout technology by d1sxeyes on Thursday January 18, 2024 @07:10AM (#39040770)

Thanks for the tip—never tried it, but it sounds solid!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The failure of self-checkout technology by jon889 on Thursday January 18, 2024 @08:01AM (#39041157)

Why don't you just scan the alcohol last then?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The failure of self-checkout technology by kevincox on Thursday January 18, 2024 @08:12AM (#39041245)

Because you still need to wait for the attendant to come. But you have no chance of scanning other items in parallel. (Assuming you don't know if this store will block scanning)

It is always optimal to scan these first. You have two cases:

Blocking: scan 1 + wait for attendant + scan rest

Non-blocking: scan 1 + max( wait for attendant, scan rest)

The first case is never shorter than the second case.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The failure of self-checkout technology by throw1234651234 on Thursday January 18, 2024 @08:47AM (#39041609)

^ This post is just in case you forgot you were on hacker news.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The failure of self-checkout technology by d1sxeyes on Thursday January 18, 2024 @10:23AM (#39042818)

I agree it's a beautifully crafted response, and have nothing to add, it's exactly what my point was.

[ Parent | on HN ]