Reminds me of Bastiat's "Petition by the Candlemakers for Protection against the Sun".

Apropos of nothing, the 1972 Vega requires surprisingly little work to be durable, with one exception: the plastic interior parts aged immediately in the sun.

Quite a bit of fun to drive once the dozen or so factory mistakes are corrected.

I do this myself and I'm a conservative. I think its because I can actually see the workers being replaced. Also, supermarket clerk is one of the few neighborhood jobs left that pay a decent wage. Also, supermarket clerks are usually fun people with good shopping tips.

The Black Death greatly decreased the able-bodied working population of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Consequently, those who survived were able to demand better wages from land owners.

I suppose that we could have our own Modest Proposal and reduce the unemployment rate by "culling" the working population. Maybe we could start with Occupy Wall Street.

Maybe I can get her to introduce my proposal for The Elevator Safety and Economic Opportunity Act.

Retrovertical transportation, to get our economy moving up again!

I really liked the part about Jesse Jackson Jr. blamed the iPad for destroying paper-based jobs. What an idiot.

Not a fair comparison. In many cases, there are no alternatives to choose. And others represent a real improvement in standards of living. Automated checkouts in groceries are not an improvement in standards of living for the customer. They're annoying, time consuming, often broken, or require a teller to come over anyway to deal with some issue. They're an attempt by grocery stores to decrease costs and improve profits by decreasing service.

(Notice how first we get rid of all the manufacturing jobs and tell everyone it's ok because we're transitioning to a more advanced service economy... and then we do our best to get rid of the service too?)

I'm with Lee. Grocery checkers provide a service, a service I enjoy, and I resent the attempt to take it away or make it less available. I already lost full-service gas stations. What's wrong with us voting with our dollars for something a little nicer, and employing people in the process? That's our free market choice. But I get the feeling some of these so-called "free market advocates" are really just misers who resent anyone having anything nice. I bet they all dress in the cheapest gray t-shirts and sweat pants, because spending more to cover their nudity is a useless luxury. Probably dream of the day when tailors and fashion designers are on the bread lines with the grocery checkers and elevator operators.

thule, like that progressive, you're ignoring a very important fact.

YES, the aspiring checkout girl is going to have one less job to go for because of the automated checkout machine.

BUT...but...but...but...BUT:

The manufacture and maintenance of that machine creates literally THOUSANDS of more jobs than the number of lost checkout lane workers.

The raw materials for that machine must be acquired...so that labor force expands, along with the machine/manufacture/maintenance for the things and people which do that.

The parts must be made, meaning factories hire new workers, as must the parts for those factories, employing more workers.

The parts must be assembled. More jobs.

The engineers who design these machines must be hired, and paid, countless people are involved in the creation process which leads to new employment.

The machines must be shipped around the country and around the world, leading to transportation demands which require workers.

The machines must be installed, checked up, and the network of systems that support them must be put into place and maintained. Many more workers.

Long story short, the tiny loss of jobs from a very unskilled labor sector, creates not just as many jobs, but MANY MANY TIMES as many jobs, as are ever lost.

Like when candle makers went under in droves when factories began to make candles, or tractors replaced hand tools for harvesting, the cost savings in product not only enables far more people to buy what they want or need, but far more are employed in the creation and maintaining of these labor saving devices, than become unemployed by their invention and widespread use.

Automated checkouts in groceries are not an improvement in standards of living for the customer. They're annoying, time consuming, often broken, or require a teller to come over anyway to deal with some issue. They're an attempt by grocery stores to decrease costs and improve profits by decreasing service.

This. I don't resent improvements in efficiency. I choose not to use them because they suck.

Ah, yes. Skyrocketing population meets the intersection of supply and demand, and fares badly. Well, (shrugs) - It is what it is. Millions of people complaining that things aren't as easy as they used to be aren't going to make things any easier.

You guys that hate the self-checkout lanes need to see a Kroger's. I've never seen one broken. You can still use the conventional lane, and get a lesson in speed from the cutie at the counter. The self-checkout lanes are an addition, not a substitute, at least not yet.

You have a choice.

Meanwhile, it is not the job of the food store to employ people. Just like any other company, it's to produce income for its stockholders.

I hate the self-checkers. They never work right and I always have to wait for someone to come enter some code anyway. Plus, I'll check out my own groceries the day the store pays me an hourly wage to do so. It's not as if self-serve is cheaper, like when they started the gas station switch.

A thought experiment. If the supermarket gave you a 10% rebate on your order, to a maximum of $1:

(a) Would that attract you to use the checkout machine? If not, what amount would?

(b) Would you expect people to break up their orders into $10 groups to maximize their rebate?

I never use the self-checkouts because they're annoying, slow, unwieldy, and I have to hunt for the barcodes and produce codes instead of having a grocer that already knows where/what they are. If the scanners were changed so that all you had to do was unload your stuff on a belt and it scanned, priced, and bagged the items itself and then spat out the perfectly bagged groceries at the end next to the credit card thing, I'd probably use it.

Whether something creates jobs or renders them obsolete isn't really something I take into much consideration. I'm not really a fan of people doing completely pointless work.... life's way too precious to waste like that.

try this thought experiment...
momof4 makes a weekly run to get vittles for her family... probably an entire cart full.

this old bachelor dude is just getting enough stuff for himself, and since he hates to cook anyway it's like 10 cans of soup, some salad stuff, and a 12 pack.

If he's REALLY lucky he wont be behind someone in the express lane that not only can't decide what they want, but who also has a fistful of potentially expired coupons that they are going to argue with the checker about.

So. momof4 certainly needs a checker, and I certainly don't. With a bit of luck the store decides to help both of us out by having a self check with a 15-20 item limit, and a full service check.

I almost NEVER use a checker, unless I am stocking up on a lot of produce when the kids come over and I have more than 15 items. It is exceedingly rare that I have gotten a broken self check, also rare that I need to talk to the attendant. I shop roughly 5 different stores by 3 different companies on a regular basis. A couple of them in run-down stores that needed a face lift 10 years ago.

If the store by you is always broken down, complain to the GM, and ask them what the corp complaint number is. They'll fix it unless they just don't care, and if that's the case, why you shopping there? You can imagine that they might have other issues that would affect your food, if they don't run the operation well, especially fridge/freezer temps, and produce.

All that said, there are stores that are removing these, but at least one store by me has just doubled the number of lanes. [the old run down small one]. Because they server a lot of retirees and apartment dwellers, I'd say that many people don't cross that 15 item limit, and this ups the throughput.

I don't resent the store giving me this option, because I am a better checker than most people I've ever gone through, and this puts the power in my hands. I can choose the speed, and IMPORTANTLY my pears never end up on the bottom of the bag, on top of a bag of chips but below 5# of potatoes [true story] I pulled the front end mgr right there and flogged the bagger on the spot... their training used to be better than that, but then they used to have to wear a tie under the apron too, so...

I'd be surprised that this actually removed a job that wasn't already gone long ago... remember in the days before bar codes, when they used to have to actually mark each item with a price in the store. Anybody complain about jobloss when the bar codes came in?

In stores where there are no self checks, how long do they let the lines get before they call in another checker? I've abandoned my cart numerous times in such places out of anger, and taken my business elsewhere. They know this is rare because it costs me a lot of extra time to do that, but the store I often shop in partly put those self lanes in BECAUSE of abandonment, and because enough people complained.

Choice, it tastes much better for dinner.

Of course, she never uses an ATM - because that eliminates jobs for bank tellers - right?

I really think this is just a move/excuse by her to make herself seem bigger. Stinks of ego and rationalization

Like,
I recycle thus care about the Environment.
I read Moby Dick so I am intelligent and well read.
I ride my bike to work thus I am fighting against big oil and am for the Environment.
I donate to bum magazines like Spare Change thus I care about the homeless.
I went to a football, baseball game once, so I am just a regular Joe.
I have a (fill in the blank) friend so I am not racist, homophobic, Islamaphobic, and so on.

Must be an election coming up she needs to make every move by here count.

I took a shit, so I care about plumbing.
I kissed a baby, so I like babies and am all for family values.
I screwed a prostitute so I care about my family... what whoops - sorry I made love to my wife . so our relationship is the best.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses!

Not a fair comparison.

True, Jason. But many people don't let a lack of fairness stop them from taking pot shots at the kind of people they don't like.

I don't resent improvements in efficiency. I choose not to use them because they suck.

Same here, Mike.

I'm willing to bet she doesn't use them because they suck and thought she could get some votes out of saying it was about jobs

I prefer self check out myself because it's faster and easier than standing in line while some dim bulb shows surprise at having to pay for groceries and hunts for a checkbook and/or piles on the coupons. Barbara Lee is too stupid to figure out the procedure. Choice is wonderful, ymmv.

I'm with Lee. Grocery checkers provide a service, a service I enjoy, and I resent the attempt to take it away or make it less available.

Hey, vote with your feet. I suppose you still deal with a travel agent, and don't book your own travel online?

Me? I'll be the one sailing thru the automated checkout line in record time. Better that than me standing in line, wondering why more checkouts aren't open and fuming 'cause the clerk is busy chatting up their friend checking and wasting my time.

Chalk me up next to SwissArmyD. If I only have a few things, there's even one person in line and there's an automated checker option, it's always better to use the automated lane. I've rarely ever had any issues with them and get out far faster then waiting for even one person with only a few items in a normal checkout lane.

I've seen plenty of people that can take forever using them, and they're usually the same people that seem to take more then a few seconds to get cash from an ATM or use any automated booths like a redbox too.

Out of curiosity: those that don't like automate checkers for a few items: avoid ATMs? Redbox or similar movie rental things? Automated check in for movies or flights?

Unless you get a lot of loose produce the automated checkouts are, in my own experience, quite fast and simple to use. Even a few produce lookups tend to be quite fast, with or without a sticker that has a code. Assuming you paid attention to which squash or onion it is, of course. I've had longer waits with a human checker when s/he didn't know a produce item name (and I forgot) and had to have someone go find out vs the little walkthrough the self checkout has, with pictures to help. I've had a few take an annoying amount of time to find the right code in their little cheatsheet with the codes too.

Granted, I'm the type that can figure out how just about every electronic appliance works without ever reading the manual, including setting the clocks and all the other setup stuff (never a VCR left blinking 12:00 when I'm around).

Don't get me started with how long some people can take in the self checkout lanes when they're the type that's slow using an ATM or something though. Or worse, the people with a whole cart load of stuff, including tons of produce, that use the self checkout and take forever. Why they use a self checkout, I have no idea.

I'm still looking forward to the day it's like that IBM commercial form a few years ago about RFID tags. The one where the guys loads up his pockets, walks out and the guard stops him... to give him the receipt he forgot in the scanner that read the tags and automatically debited his account.

Huh. I had no idea how many people were down on self checkout. I use it all the time and blast right on through without a problem the overwhelming majority of the time. I also use ATMs and online banking instead of tellers, don't stand at the Redbox kiosk for 20 minutes trying to figure out which way to swipe my card, and buy light rail tickets without incident.

I generally shop at Fry's, which is part of the Kroger chain. I rarely see the self checkout machines broken down or otherwise malfunctioning.

I also agree with the above posts about quantity of groceries. Last night I popped in to buy about a half dozen items (for a lovely sundowner and grilling by the pool) and zipped through the self checkout in about a minute. When I do a bigger weekend shopping trip, though, I'll typically use the "regular" line. I am often appalled and annoyed there, however, by the little old ladies who pull four dozen coupons from their purse then pay by writing a check (!!!) on a dead tree.

Oh, and Barbara Lee is a moron.

"I'm still looking forward to the day it's like that IBM commercial form a few years ago about RFID tags." So am I but this will likely result in the same screaming about privacy by people who know shit about technology. The small group of vocal ignorant (or specific agendas) scared the crap out of the average consumer.

I'm living the bachelor life style right now so I use self check out. When you buy only a few items its really convenient. Also keeps my blood pressure down. When I use the cashier line I'm always stuck behind a welfare brooder. 3+ kids all totality unruly, she's buying crap (Doritos and colored water in those plastic containers etc.), nails and hair done pays with an EBT card. Every so often I'm treated to the joy of seeing her jam the brood and her fat white ass into a nice SUV. That makes me hateful for the rest of the day.

I like the self checkouts, but I'm also smart enough not to use them when I know I've got an item that will be difficult to scan, or weigh on the scale, or at certain places that will require an attendant (like an R rated movie approval).

But I think there are people out there who are just afraid of them. When I was 19 or 20 I worked in a store that had these, and when the lines would get long, I would go around and ask people if they would like me to check them out at the self checkouts, and I had people literally run away from me. I was offering to do it FOR them, and they would still refuse. I had so many people get shitty attitudes with me because "my" machine was a piece of shit.. but they were too stupid to put their item in the bag after scanning it, so the machine could feel the weight and move to the next item to be scanned.

I know everyone has their own reasons to use or not use them, and that's fine, but whenever someone says they NEVER work.. I really start to wonder if it's the machine or the operator. Maybe it was because I was accustomed to them or something, but they never seemed that difficult to me.

I'm the lady with fistfuls of coupons. I refuse to pay 20% more for my groceries simply because you don't like the wait time while the checker scans them. 20% being what I typically save on what we eat anyway. Sometimes 30%. Totally worth it when your grocery budget rivals your mortgage.

And I frequently have 2 cartfuls. 9 mouths in this house right now, it takes a LOT of food!

Self checkout lines are a convenience to customers. They are meant to augment the "12 items or less" lanes that usually take longer to get through than donating a kidney. I can usually get in and out of the store in a few minutes by using them, a feat unheard of before their adoption.

That they also save the store some money is a bonus ... a win-win for everyone. If you don't like them, don't use them.

My mother-in-law was a grocery store cashier for 35 years. It ruined her health by having to stand all day and punch numbers into the cash register. I'm all in favor of technology that replaces menial labor. Its called progress.

So am I but this will likely result in the same screaming about privacy by people who know shit about technology. The small group of vocal ignorant (or specific agendas) scared the crap out of the average consumer.

Ironically these same people tend to have no problem sharing every little detail of their lives, willingly on twitter or Facebook. Often even "checking in" with gps data on where they are and when.

Self Checkout. I have a mixed opinion. My husband loves them and I like them ok if I only have a few items. They are usually the fastest route out of the store.
However, those little platforms with the scales underneath them that you have to bag your groceries on are a pain in the ass if you have to bag a lot of stuff. If you don't get all the stuff on the scale or run out of room it can really screw with the computer.

Usually as a matter of convenience with more than 10 items, I am in the regular checkout line.

Isabell, a helpful hint: you don't have to leave the stuff on the scale once it has been weighed. Once the computer recognizes it and allows you to scan your next item, you can remove a full bag and start a new one. At least that's how the ones I've used have worked. I hope that makes it easier for you!

Angie, The grocery stores don't make this easy to do. I have to either use two carts, which there is little room for, or put bags of stuff back in the same cart I am trying to take things out of.
There are only two stores I regularly shop at that have the self checkout anyway. One of them is Walmart. The other is King Soopers (Kroger). Walmart is a once a month thing for me. King Soopers maybe twice a month. The issue of using them rarely comes up.

I know I'm late to this one, but just had to say, there is one grocery chain that is actually removing automated checkouts, because people preferred the "service with a smile."

The Food Lion where I live had them, but it appears that they have removed them as well.

I only use the automated checkout at Weis Markets when I'm buying just a few things at a time.