One of the supermarkets I go to used to have self-scanning handhelds based on Linux but recently changed to Windows CE based scanners instead. I have no idea why. Can’t be the resilience, since I saw at least as many disabled scanners as I used to see with the old ones, if not more. One in ten, maybe.
This is how one of the new one typically looks. Motorola, Win CE and crashed. But the interesting thing is that Microsoft doesn’t seem to have bothered to actually adapt Win CE much to handhelds. The errormessages still assume a user, a PC, and the usual set of input devices. How else do you explain the recommendation to check your network settings and to see if your network card is properly seated. I mean, the average shopper…?
And grandma Jonsson, please do a warm reset. But first click the OK button with, um, with my umbrella? A mouse? (Note: not a touchscreen at all, and no mouse dangling from the handheld scanner either.)
Oh, grandma, please contact the vendor of SPB2_CE.exe. That’s, um, who?
And just for kicks, this is how the holders look when the cover is missing. Several were missing, in fact:
Yes, I know what it looks like, but I promise, it’s made of plastic and not porcelain.