What if you could program a retail environment like you program a desktop application? Miniature computers, pervasive networking, and affordable tablet interfaces make programmed retail environments seem inevitable. Instead of using the familiar mice and monitor for system interaction, a programmed retail operation like my brick-and-mortar bookstore, Lorem Ipsum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, connects cameras, RFID readers, monitors, speakers, and motion detectors to software designed to maximize customer happiness and store profit. But it's not as easy as just adding sensors and a few monitors to the store. Here's what you learn when hacking retail in real life. When Lorem Ipsum Books started up in 2003, I built a web-based inventory and point-of-sale system because that's what I knew. Then I made an architectural choice that would haunt me for years: I chose to move the Linux server from under the sales counter to a data center down the road. This simple system was run on an in-store Linux machine running an Apache web server with a MySQL database of inventory on it. Most web developers today would be familiar with this simple LAMP stack. Employees accessed the inventory system through a web browser running on the computer sitting on the checkout counter. For a cash drawer and receipt printer I went on eBay and purchased the cheapest I could find. With this hardware and a found Cuecat barcode scanner I was in business. I built the computers with spare parts, so the... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2013-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
Amazon Web Services (AWS) just kicked off its Las Vegas-based re:Invent conference with a stream of announcements, most of which involve the year’s most popular technology, AI. These news items, taken as a whole, give us a sneak peek at the company’s long-term goals for... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-11-28 20:00:28 UTC ]
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Facebook has more than doubled its New Mexico footprint with the purchase of more than 400 acres near its new data center. The Albuquerque Journal reports the social media giant confirmed this week that it purchased the land in March, adding to the 300 acres in Los Lunas, N.M., it already... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-05-16 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook has more than doubled its New Mexico footprint with the purchase of more than 400 acres near its new data center. The Albuquerque Journal reports the social media giant confirmed this week that it purchased the land in March, adding to the 300 acres in Los Lunas, N.M., it already... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-05-16 13:00:00 UTC ]
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eBooks by Sainsbury’s is launching a new national promotion offering customers £3 off all ebooks when they buy a paperback chart title in-store. All of the titles in the Paperback Chart in Sainsbury's stores will have a sticker with a unique code that gives customers £3 to spend on ebooks at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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