If lower operating costs doesn’t lead to lower costs to the consumer, it’s not the fault of the self checkouts. Then it’s a lack of competition which would keep margins low. It’s your government at fault for not regulating the market properly.
In my neck of the woods grocery stores all operate with razor thin margins. So I’m fairly sure they’d cut prices if self checkout allows them to. There’s so many people chosing grocery stores primarily based on price.
Why would I care about doing the cashiers work? We don’t have baggers where I live. The work is essentially the same as bagging. In many cases I explicitly want to use self check out because it’s more convenient and saves me time. If I need three items I can scan them and put them in my bag and be out of the store before I’d get half way through the checkout line.
As for theft, in principle I see the problem. In practice I’ve never heard of anyone being charged for it around here.
If we can operate shops with less labor I think that’s just good. We should instead focus on creating other more meaningful jobs. Again, a government issue IMO. We need more teachers and nurses but we don’t pay them well enough.
Your comment is the first I’ve seen even hinting at the thought that the foldable iPhone or the touchscreen MacBook is revolutionary. Even Apples own announcements and marketing seem somewhat subdued on this.
Where are all these people claiming it’s actually revolutionary?
The call to lower prices seem a bit odd after the MacBook Neo. Apple can provide good value. Sometimes it’s through good prices. Sometimes it’s by building quality products that last a long time and get software updates for a long time. Though it should be said they often mess up on the quality part of this (hello butterfly switches… and now the iPhone Duo hinge?).
I see comments all the time now writing how their M1 MacBook is still their primary laptop. Hell, I myself have a 2015 MacBook Pro I still use occasionally.
Yes, they can also sell you $700 Mac Pro wheels. If you want to waste money for a status symbol they will gladly let you. But generally, it’s just a matter of avoiding the vanity items, avoid the upgrades, and perhaps don’t buy the first gen products when they’re brand new.
The other side of Apples focus on image (and on providing software updates) is that their products generally retain a lot of value in the second hand market. That’s actually a rarely acknowledged pro-consumer effect IMO. It’s good for both those buying and the ones selling. It lowers the effective price of those who buy new, if they want to upgrade after a few years. That 2015 MBP I mentioned was second hand btw.