And This is a Good Thing?

First, e-commerce turned us into our own data entry clerks. Now, technology is improving our lives immeasurably by potentially making us all our own check-out clerks. Funny how making more work for me is somehow believed to be a benefit. Sure, I use the self-service checkout kiosks in Price Chopper when the checkout lines are really long--but I find it to be less a convenience than an annoyance. (Now I know how my mother felt when she complained long ago about gas stations switching to all-self-service pumps.)

Rather than pitching the latest storage solution, the Container Store mailing touted a new customer service with a clunky label, GoShop Scan & Deliver, but a potentially transformative premise.
As of this month, shoppers at the Container Store in Manhattan can register a credit card number at the counter and get a wireless hand-held scanner. As they walk the aisles, they scan in barcodes on desired items then pay for the purchases, which are delivered to their homes the same day.
Such customer self-service devices have been talked about and tested for years, and various retailers such as sporting-goods chain Modell’s have armed store clerks with wireless devices to assist customers and track inventory.