discount lunch plan

so this here advanced technology has found a flaw in my discount lunch plan at the Giant supermarket. (Giant refers to the brand name of the store, not it's actual size, btw). i bought a bunch of apples on sale for 99cents/lb and threw in a bunch of super fancy organic apricots ad plums as a treat. when i typed in the code for granny smith apples, the machine says "este articulo requiere ayuda!" (always choose spanish for the angry voice, and because no one will know what you're trying to do). but the machine knows about my fruit! and the light above my aisle started blinking and a big fat old Giant employee (actually, in this case, 'Giant' described her size as well) came and scolded me for mixing my fruit and stayed while i punched in different codes for everything. it call came out to over 15 bucks. but what i want to know is, how does the machine know that the items in my bag are different size and densities? does it see or feel varied shapes? is there a human inside there? technology such as this will never cease to amaze me.

**oh, and special thanks to the express for a shout-out yesterday...i love that paper. i would read it more if i didn't get the washington post delivered to my door everyday, for almost free (and express, you've got two crossword puzzles and a style section to compete with).if i start biking to work again, i'll be lost...lost...