From Ars Technica:
It's like other Amazon Go stores, only bigger. But it's a meaningful difference.
or how far and wide Amazon's digital footprint reaches, the company clearly wants to advance into real-world space as much as possible. And to that end, Amazon runs some of its most ambitious experiments in its headquarters' city before rolling them out nationwide.....MUCH MORE
As our staff's sole Seattle resident, I pull the short straw of testing these by default.
In 2015, I shopped at Amazon's first stab at a brick-and-mortar bookstore (you know, those old things Amazon has been accused of putting out of business in the first place) before that chain's eventual nationwide launch. In 2016, I delivered Amazon packages as a gig-economy driver, before this kind of contract employee became a commonplace part of the nationwide Amazon Prime Now network. And in 2018, I picked through the first "cashierless," camera-filled Amazon Go convenience store before the same concept landed in other major metropolitan centers.
This week, when I got word that the latter concept was expanding into something called Amazon Go Grocery, complete with a much larger selection of items to buy, I knew what I had to do. I had to steal from its newest product line, one that's much harder to carefully track with a mix of RGB and infrared sensors: produce. Could I pilfer some plums? Wrangle some watermelon? Bag a banana?
Skynet above the stroopwafels
Because Amazon Go Grocery revolves around the same creepy, watch-you-shop system found in smaller Amazon Go shops, I encourage anyone unfamiliar with the concept to rewind to my first look at Amazon Go from early 2018. Functionally, the newest store works identically. You can't enter the shop without entering your Amazon account credentials—complete with a valid payment method—into the Amazon Go app on either iOS or Android. Which, of course, means you can't enter the store without an Internet-connected smart device.
Once the app has your Amazon information, it will generate a unique QR code. Tap this onto a gated kiosk's sensor, and after a pause, a gate will open. During this brief pause, the shop's cameras capture your likeness and begin tracking your every step and action....
No. Not going to tell Jeff Bezos I want some super sharp, super aged Provolone.
Not even if some weird virus out of China locks everything down and cheese shops with human cashiers have to close and Amazon is the last place open and...oh who am I kidding we all have our price.
Previously on the Seattle/Redmond conurbation channel:
What Fresh Hell Is This? "Windows 10 could start bullying people into using a Microsoft account to install" (MSFT; EVIL)
Microsoft Is Moving To Svalbard
