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From: jkonrath@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (jon)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Point of Sale
Message-ID: <1991Jan28.204538.17471@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
Date: 28 Jan 91 20:45:38 GMT
References: <9161@uwm.edu> <1991Jan28.131402.29179@com50.c2s.mn.org>
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In article <1991Jan28.131402.29179@com50.c2s.mn.org> craig@com50.c2s.mn.org (Craig Wilson) writes:
>In article <9161@uwm.edu> levine@csd4.csd.uwm.edu writes:
>>In my local supermarket the sale is scanned by the now ubiquitous
>>laser scanner with, I am sure, the data being stored somewhere.  I
>>noted at our last visit that the clerk was keying in our store account
>>number (the number we use to speed up the check cashing process) as a
>>last part of the transaction.  
>>
>>They now have in their computer a complete file.  Each item we
>>purchased, our name and address and the like.  Who gets that
>>information and for what purpose is not under my control.  Check out
>>the procedure in your favorite store.
>>+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
>>| Leonard P. Levine                    e-mail levine@cs.uwm.edu |
>
>I am curious.  Does anyone know, from experience, what the record layouts look
>like for these supermarket databases?  I find it hard to believe (not
>impossible, just hard)  that 'every' transaction is recorded with respect to
>purchaser, item, time, date, item cost, ambient temperature, etc.
>
>How big are these databases?  And what kind of equipment do they run on?
>
>I guess, I would like a more technical description of what is taking place in
>these instances.
>
>
>Craig S. Wilson           |    Democracy      |uucp path under construction.
>Com Squared Systems, Inc  |    is not  a      |craig@c2s.mn.org
>2520 Pilot Knob Road      |    spectator      |(612) 452-9522 voice
>Mendota Heights MN 55120  |      sport.       |(612) 452-3607 fax

OK, I used to work in a department store that had a rather advanced POS
system.  My department wasnt scanned (its hard to run a lawn tractor over
one of those counters) but our database was similar. in our 'base, all
it held was a 20some letter description, a big/small ticket toggle, and
a price.
the idea of the storage of these items is about ludicrous, and is totally
irrelevant.  At a grocery store with an average of 2000 transactions a 
day, and an average of 30 or so items (these are guestimates) it would
take thousands of dollars of disk space to store the relatively useless
data.  and the correlation: its like thinking your unix computer stores
your phone number when you use chfn; you can tell your personal life to
someone using the talk command; therefore the system automatically stores
your personal life when you use talk.
half the time, they cant even keep the damn database updated; you think
theyd take the time to store what kind of dog food you buy?

(interesting side story: ive seen an 18 HP lawn tractor that had a price
in the database of $00.02.....i was gonna buy 10 of em...)

jon

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Jon Konrath, Consultant                         jkonrath@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
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