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Amazon's much-heralded convenience store of the future, Amazon Go, may seem like a crazy experiment. But the company plans to open as many as six more of these storefronts this year, multiple people familiar with the company's plans have told Recode.
Some of the new high-tech stores are likely to open in Amazon's hometown of Seattle, where the first location is based, as well as Los Angeles, these people said. It's not clear if Amazon will open up Go stores in any other cities this year.
In Los Angeles, Amazon has held serious talks with billionaire developer Rick Caruso about bringing a Go store to The Grove, his 600,000-square-foot outdoor shopping Mecca, two of these people said.
And in Seattle, Amazon had identified at least three locations for additional Go stores as of last year, according to one source.
[...] News of the planned expansion of the Amazon Go concept is sure to set off fresh concerns about the great societal challenges that come with the type of automation that Amazon is inventing. Since the Amazon Go model does not involve customers checking out, there are no cashiers working in the stores.
Source: ReCode
Also Amazon reportedly plans to open more of its futuristic, cashierless stores this year
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Monday February 26 2018, @02:21AM (1 child)
Such as having to buy your own "credit card" device, having to replace it every couple of years, having to worry about compatibly issues, having to worry about dead batteries, having to worry about always having an available good signal, having to worry about it getting stolen more than a piece of plastic, having to worry about it getting hacked, having to worry about if it breaks and the cost of replacing it, having to worry that it tracks more than your purchases, and more.
That's just dumb.
We can do better than a magstripe these days, but when I need it I will take the free piece of plastic with a chip in it instead.
(I don't know exactly how these work, so if it doesn't absolutely require a dumb smartphone then it is not clear how)
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Monday February 26 2018, @11:17AM
I haven't been able to find documentation online how the communication occurs, but what I observe in person is the smartphone presents a barcode/qr code to identify the user. The vendor scans the code which calls home and presents the user with the sale, which then is confirmed in the app. I agree with your concern on changing smartphone technology; NFC for example still hasn't gained much traction, so the barcode approach provides one of the lowest barriers to entry: a screen and a data connection.
I also am paranoid about dead batteries, however I cannot dream up an alternative without depending 100% on the vendor's infrastructure. Having a confirmation come through a device I control should decrease the chance for fraud, as the mobile would need to be compromised or spoofed.
I do not actually have an account with any of the mobile payment vendors and I do not know what the best electronic transfer system would look like. There clearly is demand for next generation transactions as so many different systems are cropping up, and I suspect that countries like China where credit cards are not established will dominate this innovation.