Plus, can you imagine how difficult it's going to be walking across a busy street, dealing with people not just engrossed in their cell phones, but literally looking ahead and focused on inanimate objects?

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"Retailers are still trying to figure out what the heck it all means, but they know their customers are engrossed in digital commerce so they need to be there, " says Tom Furphy, a venture capitalist and former Amazon executive who played tour guide for a handful of executives from supermarkets and consumer-goods companies at a recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

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