I thought this was an elaborate troll at first. I guess this is baby steps toward the future, Minority Report style.
They've had retail in U Village for a couple years now. It's about 100 yards from the site of one of Barnes & Noble's flagships, the place all UW students studied at one point or another.
...I'd be willing to head up to Seattle and test this out for Hubski...
Dude it's 7th and Blanchard. Back before Amazon that was like Jones Soda Co and Westlake Electric Supply and light manufacturing. Go hit streetview. This is a store and a business model that exists solely for those Amazonians /r/Seattle is always bitching about - the ones that stick around just long enough to take all the parking, drive up the rents and crowd out the bars that normal people go to. I like the checkout counter. It makes me feel like someone gives a fuck if I'm there.
To be fair, every single person and every single thing about Seattle is what /r/Seattle is always bitching about. How long is just long enough?
Its interesting that they chose a model that tracks your every move in the store over RFID at checkout. I wounder if its possible to confuse the sensors by having two people wearing the exact same clothes come very close to each-other or by transmitting a bunch of garbage data on the smartphone. Hackers are going to have fun with this. Great idea for a convenience store kind of shitty for a grocery store due to all the extra wasteful packaging.
Amazon is a kick ass company. People idolize google and apple and all them for their success on the internet, but amazon is that creature that lurks in the shadows. You don't see it, but it's there and it's smart and it knows it's got you by the throat. This company, despite all the bullshit you hear about the crap companies do, has a low stock price because it is continually re-investing profits into itself. I need to find a job there, or invest in them, or something. This is the new Standard Oil or wal-mart of our century, I'll bet on it.