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Underwhelming Robotic Future? — Parallax Forums

Underwhelming Robotic Future?

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
edited 2011-01-05 05:08 in Robotics
PCMag's bleak robotic forecast from 2009: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347358,00.asp

So what have YOU done in a year and a half to make Lance Ulanoff eat his words?

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-01-03 23:02
    From the cited article:
    We recently lost two pets in our home and Pleo seemed to fill a gap. Doesn't everyone want a pet like this—one that you can feed that same plastic leaf to over and over again? How about one that you can turn off when you have to go out, or one that will never run away or get into serious trouble? For many, these are the perfect pets.
    That is an absolutely abhorrent point of view. How are children supposed to learn empathy and responsibility for other living beings if their only example is a pet that they can turn off whenever it's convenient or they get bored with it? It's this very lack of empathy that's already showing up in today's college generation. I say "good riddance" that these products were discontinued if that was the market they were aimed at.

    -Phil
  • BrowserBrowser Posts: 84
    edited 2011-01-03 23:29
    i agree phil. kat beter than robbot. now change litter plez.

    -b.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-01-04 04:17
    Underwhelming because his assumptions are based on the current day archaic level of robotic technology. This will change in the future.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2011-01-04 18:07
    I disagree that it's a crying shame that robots will be "nameless, faceless, and coldly efficient." I mean who wants a give me hugs and smiles robot overlord anyway? See this In the Know Segment for a discussion of the topic:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGxdgNJ_lZM

    In all seriousness though, dull is good. Keep the robots fetching beer and vacuuming and let people do the nurturing, entertaining, and brightening our lives.
  • lardomlardom Posts: 1,659
    edited 2011-01-04 21:18
    If Lance Ulanoff had been around when the internal combustion engine automobile was invented he would have been one of naysayers who asked, "Do you really think you're gonna get people to sit over an explosion?"
    Robots will definitely become more common. The ones that entertain us may lag in popularity behind those that have a job to do but so what?
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-01-05 05:08
    If you look at where the money is in some regions of the world, future robots will undoubtedly be finessed into those areas. I think it will be a bright future for robot doctors, robots doing surgery, heavy and dangerous construction jobs, secretary placements, in addition to entertainment and home care. Also growing food, building homes, delivering food, and operating taxi. A home robot to wash dishes, clean the home, prepare meals, baby sit, dispose of garbage, keep things organized, and memorize things while providing a world data base of knowledge will be very useful and popular.
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