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More on Talking Shopping Carts 283

Posted by michael from the don't-forget-the-oreos dept.
ThosLives writes "CNN.com is reporting a story about Talking Shopping Carts. (I rue the day when viruses attack these carts, telling everyone to go buy Brand X). This article also has some interesting comments about possible (and likely inevitable) uses of RFID. I wonder, in the future, will I be able to buy anything with our new funny colored cash dollars?" We've mentioned these before.
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More on Talking Shopping Carts More

More on Talking Shopping Carts

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  • Great Idea. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Davak ( 526912 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:05PM (#7349485) Homepage
    Great idea... ...as long as I know where the mute button is.
    • Great idea... ...as long as I know where the mute button is.

      It's the trigger on your HERF gun. That'll fix it permanently. :-)

      • small screwdriver or nailfile planted in the speaker would do it. I would hope they would be helpful, but I fear the shopping carts are goin gto end up as Talky Toasters, only no toast and no wit.

    • Great idea... ...as long as I know where the mute button is

      I can easily see stores providing a mute button but rewarding you for keeping it on in the form of a 1% discount at the register or accumulation of "BonusBux" or something like that. Kinda like ad-supported software. If they put a mute button on there (and I'm sure people will demand it), they're going to have to give us some incentive to make sure we don't all automatically engage that function.

      GMD

    • Improving Health and Diet (Score:5, Interesting)

      by yintercept ( 517362 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:30PM (#7349824) Homepage Journal
      With computers tracking every grocery item purchased, I thought it would be really cool if they would give you a sum total of nutritional value of your grocery purchases. Assuming that you actually eat what you purchase, this would give you an idea if you are getting the RDA of the different nutrients you need. Technology could actually help us eat a balanced diet. Imagine how cool it would be if the grocery cart told you that it looked like you were getting too many carbs and not enough protein...

      Unfortunately, all of this technology is being used to make the quick short term gain of tricking people into more and more impulse buys and having the overall effect of decreasing the quality of the modern diet.

      I suspect the talking cart will be a grocery store annoyance on par with screaming kids in the playland carts that are the current fad.
      • mmm, nutritional value of my shopping. That thing better be well coded or it is going to crash on buffer overflows for fat and suggars and divide by zeroes for vitamin crap.

        Still the veggie vision sounds useful. I do ocassionally buy apples (I once was a baker and still like to make applepies, since noone makes them like me) and almost as a routine the checkout clerk has no idea wich apples I bought. Neither do I, wich is why my applepie is so intresting, and general confusion reigns until some kid is call

      • This kind of technology could be caried by the consumer if the a small hand held scanner could scan the UPC on the package and give you the data instead of having to read those small lists of ingredients on the package.
        • Most stores would chase you away if you entered the store with a scanner, although you could make an interesting consumer product that let you scan in the products (after the purchase) at home. This would be really good for people with alergies or diabetes, as the computer could make sure there weren't any nasty ingredients in the mix.
      • Technology could actually help us eat a balanced diet. Imagine how cool it would be if the grocery cart told you that it looked like you were getting too many carbs and not enough protein...

        In order for the grocery cart to make a reasonable guess whether my intake of protein is adequate it has to know a whole lot of personal details about me, at the very least sex, age, height, weight, and some measure of how fast my metabolism is. It also has to guess whether I am buying other food at other stores, how o
    • Great idea... ...as long as I know where the mute button is.
      A simple solution would be to wear earplugs while shopping. If you wanted to go the more expensive route, listening to a portable music device [apple.com] while shopping would do the trick as well.

      • Meanwhile, without you realising, everyone in the aisle is being told by your cart that your preferred pr0n mag is on sale and that it's been roughly one month since you've last purchased tissues...

    • Great idea

      Websites will begin installing software automatically that contains recorded messages and a worm like propagation manner. Spammers will go to stores and stuff wi-fi labels back between shelves etc...The software will work like gator eventually being everywhere (or like blaster). Then you will be walking through the aisles and your cart will say...

      Add three inches to your penis!
      I am sure that using methods similar to the above it will happen.

    • Re:Great Idea. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by aardwolf204 ( 630780 )
      There is a Texaco in town that I used to fill up at, but no more. They installed talking gadgetry to the pump that would try to sell my hot dogs, beverages, and car washes. It was very loud and annoying, echoed a lot under the canopy too, thank god it had a mute button. The solution to this annoyance was easy, dont fill up there anymore.

      Lesson learned: people dont like automated thingies trying to sell them things by talking to them.

  • Short life (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Godeke ( 32895 ) * on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:05PM (#7349499)
    This will have about as much impact as the talking coke machines and verbal notifications in cars: they will be vandalized or torn out. I can see some modest value in a display that shows where related items are, being a guy who doesn't go shopping often. I might actually use it. My wife who seems to have memorized the incoherent ordering would be annoyed I suspect. (Who is it who decides that bread and tortilla products are unrelated? That whipped cream *isn't* a dessert topping, fit to be displayed with all the others.)
    • That whipped cream *isn't* a dessert topping, fit to be displayed with all the others.

      I've noticed that too. A store by me has its pharmacy "family planning" section dangerously close to the dairy case with the whipped cream. What are they trying to tell us?
    • "Who is it who decides that bread and tortilla products are unrelated?"

      The whole concept behind store layout is to ensure that the average customer has to pass as much of the shelf space in the shop as possible. The theory is that, in doing this, impulse buying rates are increased. This is also the reason that shops rearrange the products on a regular basis, so that shoppers are forces to pay attention to the products on the shelves rather than go directly towards those they actually want to buy.

    • Re:Short life (Score:2, Informative)

      by el_gordo101 ( 643167 )
      Supermarkets layout is actually a quite sophisticated process. Ever notice how the bakery is often close to the entrance? The smell of freshly baked bread, cookies, etc. is there to entice you and start a Pavlovian hunger response. You will buy more food when hungry. Next in line are the perishable food depts. (produce, meat, deli). They want you to take the perishable products off of their hands quickly so they do not have time to spoil. The last aisle usually contains the nessecity items that you wa
    • Grocery stores are setup to keep you in there as long as possible, and expose you to as much product as possible. I.e. milk in the back on one side, and beer on the other side.

      Now these carts will be programmed to lead you to the other side of the store. If they could get away with it, they'd just have everything random - not grouped at all. They walk a fine line. I hear it's a pretty tough buisness to make money in too - wicked low margin and inventory management must be done extremly well to not loos

    • Re:Short life (Score:2, Interesting)

      by das_cookie ( 619577 )
      I can see some modest value in a display that shows where related items are, being a guy who doesn't go shopping often. I might actually use it.

      Therein lies a juicy new source of income for the stores. In order to get "listed" in the product directory, I can see the stores charging a fee to the suppliers, much in the way shelf space is sold to those vendors who are willing to pay for it. For example, look at the soft drink isle in any grocery - Coke and Pepsi products get 2/3 or more of the shelf space,

    • Who is it who decides that bread and tortilla products are unrelated?

      They are unrelated when deciding how to organize the shelves because the tortillas have to be kept cool to prevent molding and from becoming stale.

  • Great, just what I need... (Score:5, Funny)

    by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) * on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:07PM (#7349512) Homepage
    "Hi! I notice you haven't bought contraceptives in the past couple weeks. We have some excellent weight loss products on aisle 4, and our deorderant is on aisle 6", says a bright and chipper voice as I make my way to the chips and snacks aisle.
    • Or how about after you pick up your condoms, the machine says:

      'Better go to aisle 9 to pick up some soap and deoderant if you want in chance in hell of using your condoms.'

    • Hi! I notice you haven't bought contraceptives in the past couple weeks.

      My boyfriend broke up with me, you insensitive clod! *sob sob*

    • I notice you haven't bought contraceptives in the past couple weeks.

      I didn't read the article (of course) but I don't think I'd object too much to these carts unless they were actually keeping track of my purchases over "the past couple weeks" as you imply. If it's just making suggestions based on what's currently in my cart (and it doesn't know who I am) I don't see this as too different my TiVo taking it upon itself to record programs it thinks I might like. Hell, it's not really an invasion of priva

      • I didn't read the article

        This is obvious.

        unless they were actually keeping track of my purchases

        Which is exactly what they're doing. They're not doing this out of any wish to make your life better, unless it makes them more money. READ THE DAMN ARTICLE BEFORE POSTING.

    • That's why I only buy my beer, rubbers, and hand lotion at the local Kroger (with their special card) to see what happens. Sometimes I'll buy a package of clothesline, clothes pins and a copy of "Teen People" just to mess with their heads

      Seriously though, shouldn't they be working on technology to make the shopping process more secure and more efficient? All this will be is an extra layer of complexity and extra usage of bandwidth.

      Or what if you're at work and don't really want others to know what you sh

  • "and, by the way, it's been six weeks since you bought toilet paper"

    I just read a security report saying everyone stole it from their workplace. Surely this technology could be used to lock up all the inconsiderate bog roll thieves.

  • Privacy Issues aside... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ericspinder ( 146776 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:07PM (#7349521) Journal
    I'd really like to be able to download the information myself. Maybe they could add a MMC slot to the cart (or USB drive, smart card, etc.). I don't think it would be that hard, heck, they could probally do it now at the cash registers. Load that info into a program at home (maybe even a custom program for the chain) and there you got your shopping list. On a simular note, they could have the information tie into a website which you could create a "usual" list, plus a couple of items that were featured on the website.

    As I see it the real problem with the carts is the expense to wire (and upkeep) for each cart (besides, those thing get trashed quickly).
    • Ultimately, you could return to the store with your new shopping list, feed it into the cart and it would plot an ideal path through the store to get all your items. No wandering back and forth looking for the Peanut Butter, which is not with the Jams and Jellies, but in the breakfast cereal area (?).

      I could see it also suggesting which cashier to line up for, for quickest service ...
      • And that would be good for you, bad for the store. They want you to wander. More impulse items end up in your cart.

        And as far as quickest cashier line? Usually, it's the one with the fewest people. In case of a tie, look at the actual patrons in line and cart composition. Old lady? Add 1 minute, cell phone talkers are a + 1 minute, single guys are a -1 minute. Someone has an overflowing cart? Move to the next line.
        • And that would be good for you, bad for the store. They want you to wander.

          Agreed, but the joy of competition is stores do not always get what they want. If store A has time-saving carts that provide navigation guide, and store B has time-snarfing carts that provide annoying ads, I'm probably going to store A. Store B will improve their carts quickly enough, or go under, either because of lack of business or from the cost of continually fixing their annoying carts.

  • Viruses? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hype7 ( 239530 ) <u3295110&anu,edu,au> on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:08PM (#7349534) Journal
    I rue the day when viruses attack these carts, telling everyone to go buy Brand X


    Viruses?

    You think it's going to take viruses for this to happen?

    -- james
    • "'Rue the day'? Who talks like that?"

      ----------------

      Stomp stomp.

      Whirrr.

      "Pleased to be of service."

      "Shut up."

      "Thank you."

      Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp.

      Whirrr.

      "Thank you for making a simple door very happy."

      "Hope your diodes rot."

      "Thank you. Have a nice day."

      Stomp stomp stomp stomp.

      Whirrr.

      "It is my pleasure to open for you ..."

      "Zark off."

      "... and my satisfaction to close again with the knowledge of a job well done."

      "I said zark off."

      "Thank you for listening to this message."

      Stomp stomp st
    • I rue the day when viruses attack these carts, telling everyone to go buy Brand X

      I, for one, welcome our new shopping cart overlords.

      You don't have to do everything the cart says, and unless it starts tipping groceries into itself while you're not looking, I wouldn't worry. And there is always the choice of shopping somewhere without these carts (make sure to complement the staff about it, to properly register your votes).

    • The highest bidder gets the most prominent ads... and remember, in this case it's not a bug, it's a feature!

      However, I could just see the fun that covert shopping-cart-mod hackers would have with these.
      "Geeze, don't buy that brand of toilet paper, it's rip yer a**hole up."
      or, more appropriately
      "Extra large size condom eh? I'd suggest you go with the slim-fit there bub!"
  • Before we thought the homeless talking to their shopping carts were simply insane. NOW the carts are talking back.
    If me hearing voices from my shopping cart is normal, how am I to tell when the rutabega is upset?

    I'm still looking for the day when I can plug my PDA into my shopping cart, have it download my shopping list, and pick the groceries up FOR me.

    ~D
  • For now, cash doesn't have RFID chips, and as long as you don't use frequent shopper cards or credit cards, the "talking cart" won't be able to identify you. While it'll still give you some generic advice, more personalized (and potentially embarrassing) advice won't be available.

    • Re:Don't like it? Pay with cash. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by xyote ( 598794 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:22PM (#7349713)
      But you will get ads for fixing up your credit rating or consolidating your debt. Why else would you not have a credit card?


      That rfid in currency will be a pain. ATMs will start recording rfids in dispensed cash, and banks will starting selling that information. And that information will be pretty reliable. After all, how many of us only use ATMs and if 20s are the largest bill dispensed, how likely will we get 20s in our change. Meaning most 20s spent will have come from an ATM.

    • My shopper's card thinks I am John Doe and I live at 401 Dead-End Street, in Bigold City, Alabama.

      By the way, what do the groceries do with that information?

      • That's where they mail the card to. You didn't actually think they'd just give you a card. Just do what I do. Separate out the discount card items and tell the cashier you "forgot" your card. They always seem to have a card of their own. I've never been able to tell them sorry I don't want them, please reshelve the items themselves.
  • "This is a very sensitive topic. I may not want the store to be broadcasting what I bought last time I was in here. You're getting closer and closer to being inside my home."

    No kidding.

    We all worried about the privacy of cookies... Now they know what I am buying, eating, and drinking.

    I don't want anybody to know that I drink big "foties" of malt liquor. I don't want anybody to know I eat fat-ass hot dogs... and survive on captain cruch cereral.

    When do they start feeding all of this into a huge datab

  • Disappearing Carts (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tenebrious1 ( 530949 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:11PM (#7349576) Homepage
    Hmmm... I don't suppose the store is going to leave these outside overnight? I could use a few touch screen LCDs around my apartment, would make a nice front end for my MP3 Jukebox...

    • Lots of grocery stores in my neighborhood are adjacent to train tracks. This makes things easier. Put a cart on the tracks, train demolishes it, you go back and pick up the expensive pieces.

  • In a grumpy mood (Score:2, Insightful)

    by AKAImBatman ( 238306 )
    Whatever happened to "News for nerds"? You know, interesting technology, computing industry developments, space flights, etc. Instead, we hear about talking shopping carts. Not to mention that Slashdot completely misses out on REAL news like the Java IDE Poll [datadino.com] that turned the industry on its head and shocked developers worldwide. Instead, we hear stupid quotes like this:

    > (I rue the day when viruses attack these carts, telling
    > everyone to go buy Brand X)

    How many computer viruses does your microwave
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Actually, I did get the memo. But I think it reads, "Post at least one news story every half hour. Make sure it isn't too technical so that we can target a broader consumer base." I think "broader consumer base" translates into "people who like to think they're smart by talking about talking shopping carts, completely ignoring that this was done before with the Japanese talking cars of the 80's".

        And before anyone responds, I do know that these carts have more "personalized preferences" software than the ta

    • Re:In a grumpy mood (Score:2, Informative)

      by Ceadda ( 625501 )
      Ah.. hellloooooo... RTFA... They say you will be able to swipe your prefered customer card and the cart will bring up items you've purchased before. Also, you can check out items by scanning them into the cart! This means the cart has to connect to the central computer, and it has to be updatable in case they change prices, sales adds.. etc. Your obvoiusly not going to walk around the store with an ethernet cable tethering you to the main office, so they'll put in a wireless networking connection... Br
      • Repeat after me:

        "Data does not equal executable code"
        "Data does not equal executable code"
        "Data does not equal executable code"
        "Data does not equal executable code"

        ...

        Now you could give it bad data, but again, that's vandalism, not a "virus". Let me know when your local ATM machine gets a "virus". Or your programmable synth/keyboard.
    • Keep in mind that the average age of Slashdot users nowadays is about 13...
      • > Keep in mind that the average age of Slashdot users nowadays is about 13...

        *sigh* I know. "Targetting a broader market" and all that. The scary part is that you can't tell the 25 yr olds from the 13 yr olds.
    • ...for giving me something to intellectually punch. I'm in a much, much better mood now. Catch you all on a much more interesting story. :-)

  • A real use (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Dracolytch ( 714699 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:14PM (#7349621) Homepage
    The only real use I can see is if it can tell me, accurately, where the hell the Golden Ghrams are. In-cart navigation!

    Honestly though, the things would be so expensive (And prone to be stolen for parts), I doubt they'll ever really show up.

    ~D

    • No, you damned shopping cart, I don't want "Folding Prams!" Where are the Golden Grahams!?

      "Enjoy our selection of kitchenware including four types of rolling pins in aisle 16."

  • I'd like to see some new inventions that actually help solve tasks instead of these creations that do everything possible to reduce the amount of thinking that we do. Are people really so lazy that we can't exert the neurological effort to figure out on our own whether or not there is toilet paper on the roll? Can we not look for ourselves to see what is on sale? Can we not figure out for ourselves what wine we like with salmon?
  • "I wonder, in the future, will I be able to buy anything with our new funny colored cash dollars?"

    CNN has a story [cnn.com] on automated machines rejecting the new money.

  • I would love target marketing if it works... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MadAnthony02 ( 626886 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:17PM (#7349654)

    Despite the traditional concerns about privacy, I do kind of like the idea of target marketing. If companies are going to advertise to me, I would rather it be products I might actually buy than stuff I wouldn't. But all the opportunities seem to aimed at products I don't want. Amazon knows I buy mostly electronics from them, but I get a gold box full of kids toys and $100 pots. Credit card companies supposedly know my credit history, but all I get is secured cards aimed at people with no credit, or Amex Gold cards for buisness owners. Send me an application for a rewards card with no annual fee, and I might go for it.

    Same with this talking cart. If it really usues the info for telling me about products I might like, or that are a good deal, I might like it. If it just tells me that products I would never buy are on sale, then forget it.

    • The problem is they can tell 'what', but 'why' is a mystery.

      If my savings-card records show I buy brand X, but not Y, does that mean:

      Y costs too much, give me 20 cents off and I'll buy it

      I've never tried Y, but if you give me a free sample I might switch

      I hate how Y tastes

      I hate the business practices of Y which are changeable

      Marketers must approach these differently.

  • Cost??? (Score:5, Funny)

    by NumLk ( 709027 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:17PM (#7349657)
    I know cost is a factor of scale, but it sounds like they are describing some pretty high tech shopping carts. I have to imagine that to be practical they would have to be intentionally limited in thier function to prevent theft from the parts. They'd also have to be extremely durable or they'd be constantly breaking down.

    Seriously, grocery margins are as razor thin as they come, it doesn't take many stolen carts to make them uneconomically, not to mention that the wear and tear in a supermarket parking lot could cause the repair bills to be just as bad.

    On the lighter side, I can already imagine the bum's stolen cart: "PLEASE take me back! I'll have them throw in a free stick of deodorant & a 40 for you!"

    • That's what I'm screaming. I mean, I can't even find a cart that doesn't shake or veer off to one side or the other. And they're going to spend money for this solution in search of a problem?

      I remember a while back some of the grocery stores started putting calculators in the handles of the carts. Even these were constantly broken. And that's about as simple as an electronic device can get.

      I would imagine that just the power needed to charge these stupid carts would be enough to make them prohibitive.
  • I don't understand this article at all. There have been talking shopping carts for years. Most of their recommendations have been quite effective/helpful. The occassional request to slaughter a particular other patron in service to the dark lord Satan can be a bit problematic, but as long as I keep my eyes forward and just keep walking, there's no problem at all.

    So where is the news in this? What? No, no, I won't pick up the knife. I WON'T PICK UP THE KNIFE!

  • Attention K-Mart shopper (Score:5, Funny)

    by dfn5 ( 524972 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:18PM (#7349666) Journal
    (Loud booming voice from shopping cart) "Might I suggest sensual lubricants to go with those Trojans?"

  • Just try exiting the store... (Score:4, Funny)

    by charlieo88 ( 658362 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:24PM (#7349747)
    Dave Bowman: Hello, HAL do you read me, HAL?
    HAL: Affirmative, Dave, I read you.
    Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
    HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
    Dave Bowman: What's the problem?
    HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
    Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
    HAL: You haven't looked at any of the sale items Dave. I have the utmost confidence you will purchase one.
  • I rue the day when viruses attack these carts, telling everyone to go buy Brand X

    You mean, like, my shopping cart might spam me to buy *actual Spam*?!
  • "We'll see more change in the next five years in the way people shop than in the last 20," said Dan Hopping, a consulting manager with IBM who specializes in store operations and merchandising.
    Did anyone tell this guy about the internet? Somehow I don't find talking shopping carts to be more of a revolution in shopping then internet sales. Talk to me when this talking shopping cart leaves from my house, picks up the items I want, then returns with my purchases. Now that's a revolution!
  • If a shopping cart starts talking to me, trying to sell me something, I'm going to have to pull out old painless and blow the cart off of this planet.

    This is taking marketing too far.
  • Beyond being bandwidth hogs for everyone, stupid multimedia features interfere with accessibility tools like voice dictation. CNN started doing multimedia ads recently. I expect that nonsense from a gaming site but news sites need to shut the hell up. I'm against frivolous lawsuits but this violates the biggest crime in the United States:

    Interfering with economic activity.

    I sense a class action lawsuit against these punks if they don't make it easy to shut it off by *default*.

  • Targeted marketing (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mabu ( 178417 ) * on Thursday October 30, 2003 @02:35PM (#7349886)
    Does anybody really feel that they are being more accurately targetted these days?

    My friend in an apartment got a telephone soliciation selling vinyl siding; I am constantly bombarded with inappropriate solicitations. It seems the promise of technology was to allow more astute use of the tools and information at hand to tailor advertisement to those who have an interest, but has anyone actually experienced this?

    My experience has indicated that while the data and technology is available to allow for more targeted marketing, people in the industry feel that the indiscriminate "bulk approach" is more productive. This would be consistent with the realization that we are becoming more and more desensitized to suggestion, and more suggestion and promotional invasion is needed to transmit the same message nowadays. So is the use of technology and information truly beneficial in the future of marketing?

    • Re:Targeted marketing (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gregmac ( 629064 )
      My experience has indicated that while the data and technology is available to allow for more targeted marketing, people in the industry feel that the indiscriminate "bulk approach" is more productive.

      It is probably cheaper to just pay a telemarketing firm a flat fee to call their big list of phone numbers than it is to do research, collect data, analyze it, assemble that into a list, and finally hand that over to the telemarketing firm.

      This would be consistent with the realization that we are becoming

      • I rarely even notice things like billboards, they just blur into the background...

        Interesting note on this statement. Last spring about 6 of my friends and I took a road trip to New Orleans for Jazz Fest. On the way through Alabama, once we got away from the bigger cities like Bermingham, etc... we noticed something very scary...

        There were NO billboards at all... nothing... for miles... There was so much nothing there, there was nothing to even advertise.

        I guess we don't notice them as much when they ar
    • No, it works. Most people don't want their shopping habbits tracked and take steps to avoid it.

      If you want to see how this works, go to your local supermarket and apply for their "SuperSaver" discount card. Once you have it shop for nothing but adult mags and hand lotion and see what kind of advertisements show up in your mailbox after a few weeks. :-)

      I'm kidding, seriously, shop with it for a while and you will start seeing advertisments show up geared toward your shopping habbits.

    • Re:Targeted marketing (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cyril3 ( 522783 )
      It seems to be harder and harder for marketers to accurately target these days because it is harder to get good lists. Privacy concerns limit the availability of even public information that would allow direct marketing of products or services that a person may actually be in the market for.

      Case in point. I had a friend in the landscaping and outdoor hardwear business. He was using a mailing list generated by the local authority from Building applications esp swimming pools. With the list he was able to

  • ...but really, isn't this just yet another scheme to get us to buy more crap that we don't need? wow, those smart guys found *another* place to bombard us with advertising and suggestions in order to profit and make us spend spend spend.

    it's not like its gonna look at my cart and say "how about some macaroni and cheese to go with your hotdogs". it's gonna say "don't forget to pick up a box or three of Kraft brand macaroni and cheese. it's the cheesiest! it'll go great with your Oscar Meyer weieners...and d

  • Jackass (Score:2, Funny)

    by Denver_80203 ( 570689 )
    Jump in one and roll uncontrollably towards a curb... would it scream? "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Get off me you freak!" or.... Put the baby in the seat and... "Your child just shat his pants" Take the cart off site "heeeeeeeeelp! help! Amber alert!"
  • maybe a useful (non advertising) implementation would be something like this:

    say you have a limited budget to spend on food, and you need to make it thru x number of days. if the computer knows your likes/dislikes and the general eating habits (once again, this might be giving out too much info) of yourself (and family), then it could possibly make meal suggestions that would allow someone to be certain that they have enough food to last the week or whatever and stay within budget.

    i'm not embarassed to sa
  • These carts would likely be connected wirelessly to a central PC / server in the main office, and could be simple dumb terminals for whatever messages they'd send out. It'd be simple to make them location-specific, too ... strategically locate your access points, and use that info to send specific product info to the unit.

    now then... who needs to insert a virus? there'd be one vanilla comm standard, and likely, store personnel wouldn't have either the skills or motivation to change whatever out-of-the-bo

  • I can see a good use for this... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mark-t ( 151149 ) <markt AT nerdflat DOT com> on Thursday October 30, 2003 @03:13PM (#7350401) Journal
    Well... a good use for electronic shopping carts anyways... I could live without the jabbering.

    You prepare a shopping list at home in some format, putting onto a micro floppy disk or some other easily transportable technology. You then plug that into the shopping cart when you arrive at the store and the shopping cart gives you the most optimum path to take through the aisles in order to pick up all the items on the list. A small LCD monitor would direct you to which aisle you needed to proceed to next.

    I can't tell you how often I end up backtracking when I'm grocery shopping... it probably adds 50% to my overall time, maybe even more.

  • Would these talking carts scream for help when they're stolen by the homeless?
  • And here I thought it meant that they'd added speech synthesis to Interchange [icdevgroup.org]!
  • Not only can it tell an apple from a tomato, but unlike some checkout clerks, it can tell a McIntosh apple from a Red Delicious.


    Um, isn't that an apple macintosh?

  • It would be convenient if ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DaneelGiskard ( 222145 ) on Thursday October 30, 2003 @03:36PM (#7350726) Homepage
    ... you could select the thing you would like to buy on some touchscreen (or simply enter it, with a search function) and the car would lead you to the place where you can pick it up.

    It might only be me, but I regularly get lost when I try to find something in those large supermarkets ...
  • Instead of making all kinds of noise about privacy, tracking, profiling, etc., consider this: I would think an awful lot of slashdot's readers are pretty savvy people in the technical arena. This includes networking, programming, electronics hardware, software, etc.

    With all these smarts running around, consider all the different kinds of fun and mischief that could be had if said smarts were to be pooled into finding a way to broadcast one's own messages to these chatty carts.

    Think about it: You're pushin

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