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Interesting that you equate these technologies as lowering food prices,when that isn't actually the case right now.
Food prices are going UP.
Technologies such as you admire(being a computer person perhaps there is a reason you like such things...) are there to maximise profits,NOT minimise price.
What information are you referring to,that subsidies are what keep food prices artificially low in the USA?
That self checkouts do nothing to lower the price of groceries to the consumer and are a simply another way of corporations to maximise profits while fooling the easily fooled into thinking it is a good idea?
That this nation is going down the tubes?
That actual unemployment is probably in the high teens to low twenties percentage wise?
I have gathered you are new to the workforce and a true believer in technology as our saviour,and that is fine if you think that way.
Problem is regards to THIS topic is there is no advancement in technology,just corporations making it's customers do the work so they can maximise profits all the while having some(the minority it seems) praise it for being GREAT!!!
Sad thing is,while I do single out Americans for being fooled by this,it is a global problem in developed nations.
But I live here so I refer mainly to us.
The benefit to the consumer of self checkouts are....what exactly?
Lower prices?
Quicker service?
More selection?
Better shopping experience?
Interesting that you equate these technologies as lowering food prices,when that isn't actually the case right now.
Food prices are going UP.
Technologies such as you admire(being a computer person perhaps there is a reason you like such things...) are there to maximise profits,NOT minimise price.
What information are you referring to,that subsidies are what keep food prices artificially low in the USA?
That self checkouts do nothing to lower the price of groceries to the consumer and are a simply another way of corporations to maximise profits while fooling the easily fooled into thinking it is a good idea?
That this nation is going down the tubes?
That actual unemployment is probably in the high teens to low twenties percentage wise?
I have gathered you are new to the workforce and a true believer in technology as our saviour,and that is fine if you think that way.
Problem is regards to THIS topic is there is no advancement in technology,just corporations making it's customers do the work so they can maximise profits all the while having some(the minority it seems) praise it for being GREAT!!!
Sad thing is,while I do single out Americans for being fooled by this,it is a global problem in developed nations.
But I live here so I refer mainly to us.
The benefit to the consumer of self checkouts are....what exactly?
Lower prices?
Quicker service?
More selection?
Better shopping experience?
OZ, please post your sources for when you claim that food prices are increasing. Adjusted for inflation, food prices have decreased over the last 25 years (as the graph I posted shows).
You keep making claims without any facts to back those claims up, and you keep ignoring facts that I post. That makes it difficult to have a rational discussion.
I will say it again. Adjusted for inflation, food prices have decreased over the last 25 years.
Stop making outlandish claims without data to back yourself up.
I posted a graph showing a drop in percentage spent on food in the exact years that technology going into grocery stores (as we are discussing) has risen. My graph started in 1975, and yet agricultural subsidies as have been in place since the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. That being said, the increase in percentage given to agricultural subsidies that I am assuming you are speaking about is the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996, which still does not show any major spike in either direction with regard to consumer purchasing.
From my research, the decrease in percentage of income spent on food by US consumers over the last several decades cannot be accounted for by subsidies, and CAN be accounted for by the increase in usage of new technologies. I am interested to hear your response. I am sure my research HAS to be wrong, since I am just another 'ignorant American', right? Try to include some numbers/statistics/names of legislative acts in your next post. It will lend you a little more credibility. To be honest, right now it seems like you are just making up whatever comes to your mind as you go.
Yes but the quality of "food" has gone down, see diabetes epidemic. Go buy fresh stuff (outer aisles) instead of processed or chemically sprayed or genetically engineered garbage and see what the prices are. There is a big movement for people having gardens again b/c quality stuff has risen so much.
A the end of the day no one is forcing anyone to use the self check-out lanes. So if you feel there is no benefit to them you don't have to. If you think they are good, use them.
There are other jobs in retail other than cashier--and I've worked many of them. I've stood behind a deli counter and filled orders. I've mixed paint for customers. I've bagged groceries, pulled in carts, stocked shelves. I've set up displays, ran planograms and resets. I've straightened shelves.
Less cashiers mean more people out on the floor to help you find what you're looking for, hopefully people that now have the time to learn where those things are.
uhh what people out on the floor lmao? There is nobody on the floor to help you. If you ask for something they'll look at you like you are crazy.
When did you do all this? My guess is you *used* to do all this.'
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6
A the end of the day no one is forcing anyone to use the self check-out lanes. So if you feel there is no benefit to them you don't have to. If you think they are good, use them.
This is FALSE though, as I pointed out earlier there are several places now such as operating CVS that do not have ANY registers open, ONLY self checkout with somebody monitoring it. This is where everything is headed.
Yes but the quality of "food" has gone down, see diabetes epidemic. Go buy fresh stuff (outer aisles) instead of processed or chemically sprayed or genetically engineered garbage and see what the prices are. There is a big movement for people having gardens again b/c quality stuff has risen so much.
Sorry, but this is a false argument. Produce isn't any more expensive today than it was in the past. When I cook healthy, I spend less money than buying prepackaged meals. People eat crap because it is easier, not cheaper.
Sorry, but this is a false argument. Produce isn't any more expensive today than it was in the past. When I cook healthy, I spend less money than buying prepackaged meals. People eat crap because it is easier, not cheaper.
yours is false, getting a good loaf of bread is like 4-5 dollars, the cheap stuff is .79 cents. You can fill up 2500 calories of doritos on 1.99. but tomatoes are 4.99 a pound, if you can even find it in the ghetto grocery stores who often have no more fresh stuff than eggs, bacon, bologna, processed cheese. It certainly isn't just an "easier" thing, lots of people don't even have access to it. That is what people are eating. That bologna is certainly cheaper and more caloric than getting chicken breasts. That processed cheese is certainly cheaper than real cheese. On down the line. Canned salt laden vegetables are certainly cheaper than fresh produce. Are you seriously arguing the opposite? Again, quality meat, dairy, produce, unprocessed is more expensive, not cheaper. Only argument I could see is by cherry picking and maybe eating a diet extremely high in rice and lentils, but I'd argue eating 2 staple foods and low variety isn't healthy at all. Man before modern SAD ate a massive variety of plants/animals. I was buying sweet potatoes for .29 cents a pound just 3-4 years ago, now they are about 1.69 a pound. I was getting chicken breasts for 1.49 a pound just 3-4 years ago, now they are 3.99 and up a pound. Eggs have also skyrocketed in price. Gas has also spiked to high levels, which makes the fresh food more expensive to ship it all in. Are you telling me that is adjusted correctly to inflation? I'm not making these numbers up. Food has gone up significantly in just the last 4-5 years, so has gas, not sure how you haven't noticed it.
I prefer self-checkouts and automated tellers, and use them as much as possible to avoid having to deal with actual people. I don't like people.
Ha Ha, I totally agree. I recently told my local Albertsons I would never shop with them since they changed their self checkout opening hours from 6 AM to 8 PM. I work graveyard and get off at 6:30 AM and like to do my shopping right after work. I am only a single guy and buy very small amounts of grocery's twice a week at most. I go through the self checkouts very quickly. Unfortunately one day, I came to the store and found them all closed and also found a large line at one cashier. She told me what happened but she thought I was joking when I said I will never return to the store. That was about six months ago LOL. Smiths has 24 hour self-checkouts so they now have my business.
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I recently told my local Albertsons I would never shop with them since they changed their self checkout opening hours from 6 AM to 8 PM. I work graveyard and get off at 6:30 AM and like to do my shopping right after work. I am only a single guy and buy very small amounts of grocery's twice a week at most. I go through the self checkouts very quickly. Unfortunately one day, I came to the store and found them all closed and also found a large line at one cashier.
She told me what happened but she thought I was joking when I said I will never return to the store. That was about six months ago LOL. Smiths has 24 hour self-checkouts so they now have my business.
