Insider: Retailers appear to be facing a self-checkout reckoning

Christopher Andrews, a Drew University sociologist who wrote “The Overworked Consumer,” told CNN last year that, far from being the autonomous money collectors retailers were hoping for, self-checkout stations required supervision, maintenance, and IT support.

Self-checkout “delivers none of what it promises,” he told the outlet.

I’m certain at least one Silicon Valley start-up has pitched a “cook your own meal” restaurant where you punch in your order at a kiosk, a little robot gathers and preps your meal, and then delivers it to your cook station where the appliances have been properly programmed. Just think of all the labor cost savings.

Now that I’m thinking about it, is there someone out there making an automatic cocktail dispenser? I may have to call up some of my VC friends if there isn’t.