At least I felt like I did. I recently visited my local library here in Edinburgh and I have to say that they have the most futuristic way of taking out books that I have ever seen. Now, you may think that I am being overly dramatic here, but I contend that I am not. I see myself as a rather savy person when it comes to technology and new gadgets, but this machine has baffled even myself. My library has a self-serve check out, which I had never tried before so I thought it would be an adventure (rather like the self-serve checkouts at supermarkets like Tesco) and I wasn't to be let down. I set my books on top of the desk and the computer asked me to scan my library card which I easily accomplished using the scanner on the desk. Next, I was asked to enter my library pin, which again was easy to do. What happened next is what surprised me. Suddenly the titles and authors of the three books I had just happened to set on the desk appeared on the computer screen! I did not scan them or touch them in any way, and there was no obvious way of detecting them that I could see. How did the computer know what books I wanted? If I hadn't set them on the desk by accident, could the computer have still detected them? The whole process was most impressive and slightly overwhelming all at the same time! I look forward to my next trip to the library as I try to discover the secret to the all-knowing computer!
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