Well, this kind of takes the fun out of going to the grocery store, but it does open up a lot of possibilities it sounds like. Of course, that’s assuming that people want their groceries to be gathered by machines since there are plenty of folks out there that still don’t trust machines this much and would gladly go to an old-fashioned supermarket. From a technological standpoint, this definitely would appear to be one of the best ways to go since it wouldn’t rely on humans as much and might even go quicker, but that could be relative since if the bots are taking on so many different orders it does sound as though it could take a few hours to assemble a list of orders since a building the size of seven football fields would take a while to navigate, and there’s no telling how many times a bot might actually encounter a bit of trouble in a given day. It does sound like a fairly well-run system in the video, but at the same time being able to figure out remotely what’s going on sounds like it might be kind of an iffy prospect unless they can use a bot to diagnose a bot up close.
Otherwise, it feels as though being an engineer in this place might be kind of difficult given that one would have to find a way to navigate the grid in order to reach the bot or have a system set in place that could allow access to the bot in order to service it. There are arguments for a hive-like system such as this, but there are also plenty of arguments for the old way that has to do with humans and the imperfections that come with being human. Technological wonders such as this do serve a pretty decent purpose, but there are times when they feel a little too extra, even if they do work.
There’s still something about going to the grocery store to pick out your own products that feel more appealing since it carries with it the ability to pick out your own items and make decisions only to make them again and put something back upon realizing that you don’t need it. Or there are the impulse buys that can be a good or a bad thing but are still a part of the human process since something might appeal to those that are in line to check out, or are passing by certain displays that might grab at them in some way and get them to spend more on something they didn’t know they wanted or needed. This would be one argument to use, that traditional store might make more since when people can see ads, promos, and various other marketing gimmicks they might be tempted to spend more. More consumer products that can be seen tend to equal more money. From the displays to the items that are on hand at the checkout stand, people are bound to spend money on things they didn’t want at first but can’t do without when they actually see them.
But then, one could state that the automated service saves money on not having to pay the workers, apart from those that are there to help maintain the bots. But one has to imagine that each bot costs a certain amount of money, and keeping everything running has to create insanely high overhead. It does feel as though this hive and a regular store might be pretty close in terms of overhead, but the numbers would need to be revealed in order to really know. It feels as though some folks would be all for this style of shopping, while others would prefer the carts with wobbly wheels and the teenage cashiers that are simply passing the time and hoping to earn enough money to have a good summer vacation or go to school at some point. Something about this style of shopping feels so impersonal, as though it’s all being ground down to a matter of numbers and preferences that have been filed into a database that will be remembered later. In fact, that’s kind of what it is and really, it’s a little disturbing to go down that road.
But it’s something that’s happening obviously, and people are into it, so one can’t help but think that this is one of the things that might continue to take off as the years go by. It would definitely revolutionize grocery shopping in a big way, but it feels as though it would also put a lot of people out of a job if it continued to dominate. Going to the grocery store is still a joy at times, but doing it this way feels like people are being turned into numbers based on their preferences.
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