Japan’s Smile Scanners a Classic Misuse of Technology

As pointed out on the Freakonomics Blog:

Japan’s Keihin Express Railway Co. has set up “smile scanners” at 15 of its stations, where railway employees have their smiles assessed by software in the hopes of perfecting a customer-friendly look.       LINK

This is such a classic misuse of technology by a corporation.  The goal of the company is to provide more positive and friendly customer service but their technique of using a “smile scanner” is going to have the opposite effect.  Nobody likes to be forced into happiness and the employees will end up resenting the scanners, their bosses for making them use the scanners and the customers for expecting them to smile.

Instead, a smart company would try to figure out how to make their employees genuinely happy so that they smile because they want to smile.  This would create endless positive outcomes for the company, the employees and the customers.

Sometimes technology can look like it provides a quick fix when, in fact, it is just an illusion.

3 Comments

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  By Jeff Title, July 28, 2009 @ 10:17 am

  How true.

Other Links to this Post

1. Japan’s Smile Scanners A Classic Misuse Of Technology | nuze.me — July 30, 2009 @ 11:21 am

2. Japan’s Smile Scanners A Classic Misuse Of Technology | PHP Hosts — August 5, 2009 @ 10:35 pm

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