ABOUT TIME SOMEONE ELSE NOTICED. Self-checkout systems were developed to lower labor costs by offloading work from employees to customers.

I guess it takes time for the obvious to sink in to the cluelessness of the customers.

What does surprise me (a little) is that the comments about self-checkout systems are mostly favorable. I use self-checkout, but only for a few items and only if there's nothing that requires weighing or looking up. I much prefer a manned (personed?) line for the human interaction with the checker and others waiting in line.

The reactions I see indicate that there are more than a few people who prefer talking to other people rather than robots.