Needed AA batteries. Figured this out right as I was leaving work the other night to catch the Metra train downtown for class. On a tight schedule. Could NOT miss that train.
But. Batteries.
Home Depot is right next to the train station so that's where I went. Drove up at 4:02 PM. Parked. Walked in. Made a beeline towards checkout (knowing I'd hit a battery display on the way). Grabbed a 12-pack of Duracell Ultra AAs enroute. Almost 4:04 PM now.
Get to checkout. Every line is full. Except this new "self-checkout" area.
So here's the thing. I've got mixed experiences with self-checkout. Walgreen's has it and it works great (except some slowness on the credit card part). Jewel? Jewel completely hoses it up. Last time I used theirs it got confused about what I'd put in the bag. Basically accused me of theft. Had to call over a clerk. Never again. I refuse. Was just at Jewel tonight actually, standing in a regular line, and a clerk goes "why don't you try the self-checkout?" I said "Do I have to?" Her expression. Priceless.
Anyway. Decided to give Home Depot a shot. I know from various IT articles that Home Depot is a total master of technology. They run one of the largest data warehouses in the world. They can reroute inventory to any random store that has a blip in sales of Acme anvils. So I figured they probably have self-checkout nailed.
I was right. Flawless. Swiped the battery pack. Dropped it in the bag. Swiped my credit card. Grabbed my receipt. Out the door. Maybe 45 seconds.
Back in the car and on to the train by 4:06. Four minutes total. Four!
When it works, technology is sooooooo cool. Anyone else had experiences like this?