[throwwit]

The most prescient comparison to be made is the increase in self checkout lanes; the human element is left to frantically supervise while the customer has all the social interaction equivalent to using a DVD player. The future should be bringing people closer together.

[zimpenfish]

If the social interaction equivalent of using a DVD player means I can get my shopping totalled and paid for in 2 minutes instead of 10, I'm all for it. Human checkout operators - whilst skilled - generally have much lower throughput (lower space density, one customer can back up many, etc.)