Steve, you sure about this?

In my review of the new Apple Store that opened on Saturday in my local mall, I made mention of the special cashier stations and how they looked like something out of 1970s science fiction. Turns out I was slightly off; those cashier stations were self-service.

Perhaps the most interesting element of the new store is the two self-service check-out stations about half-way back into the store, mounted in either wall. The stations are intended to allow busy customers to simply grab their merchandise off the shelf, scan the barcode, and use a credit or debit card to complete their own purchase.

However, during the grand openings, the stations weren't available for customer use, since the necessary touch-screen software hadn't been installed. So, store employees used the "easy pay" stations to process purchases during the grand opening, leaving the promise of self-service for a future time.

Jeez, I'm not sure about that. They seem to be taking out all of the self-service cashier stations in my neck of the woods; I clearly remember the local Kmart and A&P had them, then got rid of them (I'm guessing for security and/or technical reasons), which pissed me off because I would've definitely used them to buy the more embarassing personal items.

"PRICE CHECK ON HEMORRHOID CREAM, AISLE SIX!"
*sigh*

So, I'm not sure if these are the best things for software.

Then again, they are in the back of the store, and I would imagine you'd need an employee to get you started.

Besides, if you wanted to steal software, you could just download it off the Internet(s)...