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Posted by pogo on April 22, 2008, 1:55 am
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> BRW wrote:
>> I was wondering the same thing myself. Some have predicted that we
>> are in the "Steve Wozniak working in the garage" phase of personal
>> robotics, and it's about to take off like a rocket. It does seem
>> likely to me. Perhaps iRobot is the Apple Computer of our time.
>
> We've had this period come and go a couple times since Apple II days.
> Last one peaked at about 1999 or 2000. For whatever reason it never
> quite catches on for robotics as it did for computers. The mechanics are
> still pretty expensive, and not as subject to Moore's Law as silicon.
>
> Let's see if the interest can be rekindled, and hope it will last more
> than a couple of years, and will bring with it some definite movement in
> the adoptation of robotics in home and small industry (rather than just
> research).
>
> -- Gordon
For what its worth - the latest Wired magazine issue has an interesting article
on an ex-employee of iRobot ripping off their
PackBot design. Hopefully the military will keep paying for the hard science &
research and some form of it will filter down to
the consumer ... like GPS has.
One thing I just thought of is that robotic appliances could be liability
lawsuits waiting to happen. Can you imagine if the
family robot mistakenly puts the cat in the freezer? Brings Grandma the wrong
pill ? Shorts out while drawing a bath and causes
flood damage ? These sort of fears could stall otherwise enthusiastic (consumer)
robot manufacturers from offering products.
Just a couple of cents worth ...
JCD
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