How imperfect technologies spread
Imagine an invention that is worse at what it does than humans, threatens jobs and increases the potential for crime. You might think it would go nowhere fast. In fact, the supermarket self-checkout machine is a parable of technology adoption—how something can spread despite imperfections—and also one of management: how real-world trade-offs affect rates of change.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The parable of the supermarket self-checkout”
From the January 17th 2026 edition
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