I don't care much for Self-Checkout because every time I run my Merlot bottle over the scanner, the voice immediately informs me that now I have to go ahead and "See the employee". After it says that, I can swear, I can hear malicious laughter in the background. Plus the damn things get broken way too often. The whole "Remove your item and put it in the bag" for six times in a row on the same item that's been put in the bag already and possibly stumped on by my feet (I have zero self-control) gets just slightly annoying.
I don't think they will die out though. I think they will get "upgraded" instead. Like they will make you go through a metal detector first to prevent shoplifting... Or an X-ray machine... Or it'll shoot laser beams at you just for the hell of it... Who knows...

self-checkout will last. I got irritated with it at first because of the same reasons you just stated... but, personally it's been faster for me to go in and out the grocery store. that, I like. since people are always standing in line for the cashier (bc they normally have a lot of groceries whereas I always have just a few), the self-checkout is empty and I just zip outta there.

Of course it is a way for people to steal easier, some places have one employee standing at a podium "watching" everybody but that doesn't really help. My boyfriend loves the things, I don't really like them, I would much rather talk to an employee and let them do their job than use it.

Haha, I hate the self checkout.  I generally put them in Spanish; somehow the voice is less irritating.

Speaking as a former cashier at a few grocery stores, these are worst contraptions know to man. Maybe it's because I'm used to my scanner working, not taking 5 seconds to find the item in the database, and the godawful Graphic User Interface, but I cannot stand the sight of them in grocery stores!

Oh and don't get me started on that evil voice.

Honestly, you have to have someone monitoring it from a screen at the end of the register most times, not to mention the inability to scan liquor and tobacco products yourself. Why not just have a live cashier? We're generally faster, plus we know the produce code for bananas :D

Personally, I love self checkout for a variety of reasons. As much as I hate the "place the item in the bag...place the item in the bag!" voice when you don't move quite fast enough for the machine...I have to say that it is a huge improvement 90% of the time over dealing with underpaid, disgruntled employees that bag your stuff in a way that inevitably smashes your bread and mixes meats and dairy in the same bag. I like self checkout because I control the scanner. No double scanning me now! I've been double scanned soooo many times!

Uh. I like it. I just tune out the voice.

I have to say I love the Self-Checkouts.  I am usually faster than the cashier with UPC items.  Produce get's me from time to time, but if I have alot of produce, I always look for the real cashier.  That and most of the cashiers today don't bag correctly.  Take our local superstore for example.  They don't put as much money into training them.  My produce get's clunked and bruised.  Eggs end up on the bottom of the bag with onions, meat, etc...  In the end, you get the person who pays with a check, is counting pennies, and can't seem to find their credit card. 

With self-checkouts, there are always more than one, so they don't hold up everything.  It just is frustrating when you get people who don't know how to use them and then they create a bottleneck.  But most of the time, they save me time and I actually know how to bag things so they don't break.

Self-Checkout makes shoplifting UNBELIEVABLY easy. My friend and I occasionally take food from Meijer when we are hungry and have no money- using self-checkout.

Either use a completely wrong UPC code to ring something up, or simply swipe the item over the scanner without actually ringing it. If the ONE attendant to about 6 registers comes up and asks questions, that's when you start to act confused and not "intune with the new technology".
I'm not proud of doing that and it is rare I do it, but I'm sure others are much worse.

Ring up starfruit as bannans. 

I dun it.

You get rid of jobs, I reap some form of benefit.

I was born in 1970, and I'm an electronics engineering assistant - so
I've a bit of history on most posters here, and I'm not a, "let's get
back to the dark ages" old phart.

Jobless rates in America run an average of 9.5% - and growing.

In some regions, the recorded unemployment rates have climbed as high as 15.5%. Look it up! These sums do not include those who have simply given up on job searching by customary means; the actual rates may, indeed, be even higher than recorded. But I digress.

With people in general becoming more accustomed to computer-automated service ["Dial 'one' for English...Dial 'one' for customer service...], that is at least three layers of jobs eliminated from American opportunity - until Customer Service connects you to India.

But you are talking about automated checkout counters and "convenience". Right. Same jobless rates apply: between 7.5% to 15.5% of your personal neighborhood is without a job, food on their table, for this "convenience". Breaking it down:

Once upon a long ago, there were separate duties: stockers, baggers, cashiers/clerks, and janitors. Nowadays, floor care maintenance is outsourced, cashiers take care of the stock items, bagging,and light cleanup - that's three duties, rolled into one person with a pulse.

Now, with self-checkout, we have eliminated more jobs from the workforce: there are no baggers, the cashiers are now checkout-assistants, stockers, and light maintenance - for up to four lines, rather than the customary single line.

In the old days, the four lines would hold eight jobs, and the remaining aisles preceding the checkout would be detailed by both baggers and stockers.

Ten starter jobs - eliminated in one fell swoop. This is progress? People haven't stopped having kids, since I was a kid. The general population hasn't suddenly stopped dead in its tracks, last I remember...

But, hey, those self-checkout lines are convenient, aren't they? If they become efficient - and favored - enough, businesses can lower the amount of human staff to less than the current skeleten crew present, at this rate...

I love the self-checkout line because I can bag my own stuff, simple as that.  It really bothers me when 'full-service' checkouts put my tomatos in with the canned goods.  Deli meat underneath melons.  And don't get me started on how they bag bread!  Plus if I bag I know ALL my stuff goes home with me, plus I can check the price while I'm ringing it up.  Yes, I would much rather check myself out thank-you very much.