The Social Credit System

 "A bloke goes into a Tesco store to buy a sarnie with cash, only to find that there’s no checkouts with humans anymore. Instead he has to use a self-serve checkout that uses cameras and weight-sensors to work out what items the customer wants to buy.

 These self-serve things have been around for years, but now Tesco has gone one stage further by insisting that customers can only buy their items not only by signing up to their loyalty card, but also to download their data-intrusive app to your phones and pay electronically.

 Tesco is trialling these new cashless stores – calling them “GetGo” – for people who don’t have time or inclination to pay with cash. In other words its probably aimed at the smartphone generation who don’t care about what personal information is being farmed whenever they use the loyalty cards or the Tesco app via their phones.

 Critics also feel that this is going to be the “dystopian” future with all supermarkets and retailers shedding hundreds of their staff in favour of self-serve checkouts. At the same time valuable personal information from their customers will be used and probably sold to third parties so that the shopper will be assailed with spam and cold callers.

 Returning to the bloke who couldn’t buy a sarnie the old fashioned way, Tesco responded in a rather aloof way, more or less implying that if he doesn’t like it he can fuck off elsewhere. Quote:-


 “We want everyone to feel welcome in our stores and we’re really sorry to hear that Mr Rowson was not happy with his experience at our GetGo store in Holborn, central London. This store trial uses technology to offer a checkout-free experience, giving customers the opportunity to shop and pay without scanning a product or using a physical checkout. This saves time for those who want to pop in to pick up something for lunch or grab dinner on their way home.”



 This is all very well, but technology quite often fails, especially during power outages (which could be on the way come winter). And then what? How do you pay without power?

 If anyone has seen Tom Cruise’s 2002 sci-fi film “Minority Report” you’ll recall that pedestrians/drivers were being constantly monitored and tracked via CCTV and shoppers electronically data-farmed by what they were buying, how much and where from.

 20 years on and here we are…"

"Self service, cash machines, etc
Putting people out of work.
Refused to use them for years.

Some tart in the bank,
Just paying in?
Use the machine!
Told her I don’t approve of them,
She looked at me like I was a fuckin nutter.
Well,
It’s gone from about 15 staff members to 4.
And she’s not one of them.
Replaced by a machine.
The stupid mare."