Innovation and habit

I was really surprised (or even stunned) to see the comments to article that has been published to “The Sun” recently so I want to share my opinion on it.

The article told about that self scanning applications to cell phones, which were produced by Retalix(applications, not phones), are being adopted by service of one of major Great Britain’s retailers. And even in the article itself the point was made clear: no cashier will be fired, this is only an option.

Nice and small article, good photos, and the comments… And the comments felt like Luddites rebellion in time when steam machines went to production. In my opinion, this is real innovation, that saves time and can be really comfortable. Also the idea of getting rid of cash and credit cards and replacing them with cellular phone looks pretty good.

The degree of hate moved from “they’re taking our jobs” to “damned immigrants stealing our money and phones”, and looks like no one thought about progress and how it can be fun to do shopping without being stuck at cashier’s in the endless line.

People says that they’re coming to supermarket to talk to cashiers, and they’re actually thinking that service at the till will be faster then the self-service with iPhone or similar device. I can understand it, and I’ve seen this in England, but it looks like here, in Israel, no one is chatting to the man behind the till.

Here comes difference in how do people think. Some are conservative, others not. The great deal is to find right balance between innovation and habit.