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Robot Family in Every Home?
cswilly writes: "Yahoo has a story that Sony wants to see a robot animal in every home. I was wondering if Sony has a total cost of ownership argument for these things? Let's see, $2500 for a robot dog + $100 in electricity oven ten years. A real dog costs, say $1/day to feed, lives ten years for $3650 on food, plus $1000 in vet bills. The robot wins hands down." But keeping it in Mom's Robot Oil isn't cheap either...
I wonder what the average life expectancy of one of these is. Cats can live as long as 20 years in some cases. I'd bet this thing would wear out in about 5 if it was kept operational all day long, as a real animal is.
...but... like someone else said, their newer model is $850, not $2500 -- *and* has all the features of the more advanced Aibo II, The newer model is cheaper, but not less functional.
Sure, this is all fun and games, but the reality is that they've managed to bring the price down from $2500 to $850 in a year. Who isn't to say there'll be more features and a bigger price drop in the years to come? Heck, a few trips to the vet can easily cost $850..
While I would never replace my dog for a robotic one just yet, I'll probably eat my words in 10 years... The Aibo's in 10 years will probably have hair, be furry, cuddly, and come in various sizes... making it hard to tell if it's real or a robot...
Anyone who has lost a pet would know... When the pet dies, it's gone, but the pain isn't. Now, consider this -- what if you could get a pet that would live forever? That's tempting...
If they could get up to the marginally useful level, like picking up junk on the floor, customers might leave them on all the time.
They should at least be able to find their recharging station.