Hmmm. You could be right. I find them to be a great convenience and time saver. But it does allow business to hire fewer people. Our Wal-Mart hasn't gone that far yet; there are still plenty of cashier lanes open, but I guess I like the self-checkout lanes because I usually only buy a few items, not a cart-load.
I guess I'm a people person. I hate those self-checkout things and I hate the credit card pay things on gas pumps. I refuse to use them. I go inside and make the clerks work for the money. Ha.