On Sun, 2006-12-10 at 18:41 -0800, Jason wrote: > From: "Herbert Graf" > Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2006 4:13 PM > > > Which would fail since the cart would detect the RFID tag of the first > > item, note it's weight, and then determine the actual increase in weight > > doesn't match. > > First, not when 1 item is a 20 pound bag of flour and the other is a 2 ounce > memory stick. Second, now you're talking about a scale in every shopping > cart along with the computing infrastructure to support it and probably and > RF link. How much are stores going to pay for shopping carts, especially > when carts are stolen all the time. Well, that depends on the store. As I've said before, shoplifting CANNOT be eliminated. The extent a store will go to to "get rid" of shoplifting is completely up to them. There are already stores out there that have LCDs on their carts with maps of the stores, so adding an RFID reader and integrating a scale isn't that big a deal, especially if it's done in volume (i.e. Walmart). > > Checking out in 5 seconds vs. 10 minutes? HUGE advantage IMHO. > > > You're kidding, right? MOST people never even look at receipts, they > > just pay whatever the cashier says to pay. > > Everyone I know checks their receipts. Everyone I KNOW also checks their receipts, but the people I know are NOT representative of the populace. I'm certain it's the same with the people you know. > Even if most don't now, they're > going to start when they repeatedly get home with items in their cart that > were added by pranksters and hear horror stories of all the items people > paid for because the scanner read a stray tag. But "pranksters putting items in carts" is something that can happen right now. Sure, there is the "added" check of the person unloading the cart, but I can't imagine the "threat" of a prankster doing this in the "RFID world" is enough for you to COMPLETELY dismiss it?? Plus, almost every store I go to will likely GLADLY except "prankster" items for return. > Also, you can wait in line behind me and people like me a few minutes each > while we check the receipt :). Then you lose the speed advantage anyway. As I've said, the majority of people I've OBSERVED at the checkout don't check every item on their receipts. Even so, fine, put a screen on the cart that updates, the person will be "checking" their receipt as they add items to their cart. Again, I'm just ONE non expert, and I'm coming up with solutions. The fact that you think the problems are SO insurmountable confuses me. TTYL -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist