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One of the strangest things about the Apple Stores, in my opinion, is how they always used Windows based PDAs for customer checkouts not at the register. Sure, Apple didn’t want or really need to make their own system, but it was just a little strange to me. Now that Apple has the iPod Touch—a very mobile device capable of many features—it only seems fitting the company would transfer to this type of platform for checkouts. Instead of using the Windows based EasyPad systems, Apple will now be using iPod touches combined with barcode scanners and credit card readers.

According to a reader of AppleInsider, the Valley Fair Mall Store in Santa Clara is already using these devices and, “These things look really cool, much smaller than the Windows-based ones and faster too. They seem to be running a trial at that store, Palo [Alto] did not have them.”

This transition will certainly make checkouts easier for the Apple Store employees as the old EasyPad systems were large, clunky, and required a stylus to operate. They also have black and white screens and commonly lost wifi signals in the middle of a transaction. I’ll definitely be looking for these new systems next time I’m at my local Apple Store.