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by James Robertson.
Original Post: Re: The Human Element
Feed Title: Cincom Smalltalk Blog - Smalltalk with Rants
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Via Phil Windley, we learn the limits of Business Intelligence software:
So I'm waiting in line at Safeway to buy groceries. Like most supermarkets these days, they've got a loyalty card program and offer reasonable discounts at checkout for cardholders. An older man in front of me wants to purchase items that are on a card special, but doesn't have his card and can't remember his phone number. The clerk says, "hmm, wait a minute." He starts punching in phone numbers at random, and after a few tries gets a "hit" and uses it to apply the discount. I wonder who just had hemorrhoid cream added to their past-purchases profile? Gotta love that inevitable weak link in business intelligence systems.
You can see the confusing results of this for yourself by buying books for yourself on Amazon - followed by a few unrelated gift purchases. The recommended reading list then gets to be "interesting", to say the least :)