Shopping Trolley Rage

By Andrew Impey

What do you want from a shopping trolley? My guess is that if it manages to travel in a straight line down the supermarket aisle you’ve got yourself a keeper. But this is the 21st century; an era of technological advancement; surely we can do better than that?

The simple answer is, “yes we can”; U.S. technology services company EDS have just outlined their plans for a new concept trolley. These new ‘intelligent’ trolleys will be fitted with a computer screen and barcode scanner and will warn customers if they are buying too much junk food.

According to EDS’s consumer department "Shoppers want trolleys to calculate the nutritional content and tell them when they have blown their calorific budget."

Exactly which ruddy shoppers have they been asking – the clinically insane? Who in their right mind wants a four-wheeled metal picnic hamper to dictate what you are going to have for tea?

EDS also claim that the trolleys will provide detailed information on ethical sourcing and the environment. Despite being a committed environmentalist, if my trolley tells me to “put the burgers back on the shelf” the first place it’s going is the nearest canal.