Self checkout systems at supermarkets and hardware stores are becoming ubiquitous. They all deliver a horrible user experience. I was in Lucky recently and after swiping my credit card I was prompted “Credit 6.98 OK?”. It took me three three tries to get it right (I know – I’m slow). But here’s what went through my mind:
- The Debit button’s arrow it pointing toward the “OK?” on the screen. I’ll press the Debit button. Fail.
- Are they asking me, “Debit or Credit?”. I press the Credit button. Fail.
- I press the green Enter button. Success!
But I have to ask myself:
- Why is “OK?” the approval phrase? The button they want me to press is labeled Enter AND Yes. Why didn’t they use either of those words?
- In addition to allowing the Enter button to be a valid input, is there any reason not to have Debit and/or Credit be a valid button too?
- And they couldn’t be bothered to add a dollar sign to the display? To wit “Credit $6.98”
Purchased two Blu-ray discs last night from Best Buy. It would have been 10% cheaper ($4) for me to purchase them online and select in-store pick-up then to walk in off the street and purchase the product.
These two screen grabs from The Incredibles are from chapter 2 – Helen Parr at the wedding alter. They were taken with a Canon PowerShot G11 of a Sony LCD. Disregard the poor photo quality. Instead compare the shape of the dress between the two players.
- LG BD370V
- PS3
Tonight we tried to watch Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on Blu-ray. It was unwatchable due to audio problems. The sound in the trailers and menu were fine. But when the movie played the “DTS-HD Master Audio Multi Ch” decoding was horrible. It was like a needle scratching a record. The Disc was played on an LG Network Blu-ray Disc Player (Model BD370V, Driver Version: H42301, SW Version: BD.8.16.693.A) which was connected via HDMI to a Sony STR-DA5400ES Multi Channel AV Receiver. I have access to the same Blu-ray Disc Player connected via HDMI to an Onkyo TX-SR806 AV Receiver I will try out in the coming days and update this post.
Update 11/5: It turns out the problem is with the LG Blu-ray Disc Player. The audio scratching also happened with a different LG (same model and software revision level) in a different setup. The disc played fine in a PS3. I tested chapter 1 and chapter 19 to rule out the possibility of a localized disc defect. I have contacted LG and they are escalating.
Sunday Public Service Announcement: Do not spend more than $1 a foot for an HDMI cable. $2 tops. NOT $17.50! BestBuy Circular 10/25/09
- Best Buy Circular 2009-10-25
Musings of a software engineer in Silicon Valley