Self Checkout

I see the articles Optimus posts in this thread, but I kind of don't believe they really point to any true anti-self-checkout trend in the U.S. The articles seems to me more like low-scale outrage/engagement generation.

I'd be shocked to see self-checkout go away around here. There are ways to mitigate against theft, and it's not that different from mitigating against old school theft. Plus more technology will come to bear, as it already has at some places where a camera is not only recording but also automatically evaluating your hands, items, and bags' movements.

The WalMart Fresh Market in Gretna has this in place -- if you grab an empty bag and flick it around near the camera, the self-check station will alert an employee to come over and clear the fault. The WalMart employee views the last few seconds that the camera recorded to see what triggered the response. And so far as I've seen, this camera evaluation is not "ticky" or prone to error -- if you check out normally and pay attention to what you're doing, it's a breeze.