that cloud-based systems have in hardware costs, by offering systems compatible with tablets. SelbySoſt can be used with a tablet as the primary register monitor. On the other hand, these providers say the advantages of tablets
are overrated. Spence points out that when a tablet is the primary register, it almost invariably is wired into a cash drawer, a printer, a scanner and other peripheral devices, limiting its mobility. As for cost, Spence says that the subscription fees charged by most tablet-based system providers would wipe out the cost advantage of the cheaper hardware in two to three years. Casio America, a POS hardware supplier, recently
introduced the VX100, a tablet-like POS terminal that operates as a touchscreen and functions as a flash-based system—i.e., no hard drive. Glen Deal, sales development manager of Casio's electronic cash register division, says the VX100, which runs on the Android OS, combines a tablet's ease of use with the robustness of dedicated hardware. "We've taken in that 10-inch tablet look and added in a
Casio's new VX100 POS terminal incorporates the look and feel of a tablet, even running on the Android OS.
printer, a customer display along with all the necessary comm ports" to connect additional devices, Deal says. "All that's been integrated into one box." Deal admits that the advent of Square and other cloud-
based POS systems is giving him pause, but says POS systems with built-in soſtware still have an advantage.
have all the robust functionality that we have on a point of sale, because we've been doing this since 1978," he says. "We can't compete price-wise with these tablets and handhelds, so we're kind of hoping that it's a phase, but little by little [the market will] realize that durability is going to be an issue, the functionality is going to be an issue as well, and they need connectivity to other peripherals, you start adding stuff and you're getting up to the cost of a point-of-sale.
"Our answer right now is that these small applications don't " SCR
17
