CHECKING OUT IS GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME (11-2003) When I was a kid, I could often be found at the little grocery store around the corner from my house, buying stuff that kids often buy, like candy, ice cream, and soft drinks. The store was called Shelby Avenue Market, but we all just called it "Ralph's." When it came time to check out, I would put my goodies on the wooden counter top and Ralph would use his adding machine to determine how much money I owed him. Far from the relatively speedy and hi-tech express checkouts at today's mega-marts, Ralph's adding machine didn't have a display screen for showing the price of each item. It wasn't even powered by electricity. Ralph would punch the cost of each item into the device using its mechanical buttons; then he would pull a crank. A paper tape showed only the price of each item and the total. No item was identified. He added the tax as a separate item after looking it up on a tax chart that he kept taped on the counter. Larger stores had cash registers that were larger and used electricity, but were otherwise very similar to Ralph's. The cashier would punch in the price and the numbers would be displayed at the top of the machine. They were also printed on paper tape. Most of these machines allowed the cashier to identify the type of item being purchased, such as "grocery," "meat," "produce," or "tax." The first cash register I can remember that actually identified the specific item was at the Steak and Shake restaurant in Indianapolis. I was quite impressed. It made me wonder how the machine knew what I was eating. It could also calculate the tax automatically. By the late 1970s, a really nifty checkout device was being employed at a few stores. The now-defunct toy store, Children's Palace, used a little metal wand to scan the prices from a funny- looking symbol that was stamped on the price tags. It was the first time I had ever seen the prices of items being added to the cash register without anyone having to push any buttons. Not too many years later, many of the larger supermarkets were scanning the prices of items using a laser embedded under the counter top. Eventually, this system became so widespread that the technology even came to Edinburgh. Today, it is the standard method used at many retail outlets, especially those who sell high volumes. The lasers get their information from a UPC (Universal Pricing Code) symbol that must be attached to each item for sale. It is a group of parallel lines, some thicker than others. But embedded within these lines is the code for not only the price of the item, but its identity as well. But the UPC symbol may one day be replaced with yet another technological advance. Wal-Mart has set a deadline of January, 2005 for its suppliers to start adding radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to all its merchandise. RFID tags use low radio frequencies to identify the product. It can deliver far more information to the scanner than can a UPC symbol. It is expected to aid merchants in keeping track of their inventories. But analysts say the 2005 deadline is more of a first-step attempt to jump-start the new technology. RFID tags are now too costly and buggy to be put into general use. However, when the technology is perfected, cashiers may be able to scan your entire shopping basket with one sweep. It will be a major step forward in helping to alleviate the long lines that plague many large supermarkets and discount stores these days. And pulling a crank will not be required.