Slashdot Mirror
Sony to Publish Aibo Specifications
teambpsi writes: "According to this CNN news report... 'In addition to the new hardware, the company has also begun publishing details of Aibo's system architecture on the Internet in an attempt to get developers to work on independent software for Aibo and generate more interest in the products.' This from the same company that used the DMCA as reported here on slashdot last fall to shutdown one fan/hack site."
I think initially they were worried about loss of control/dilution of their product. Now I think they realize just how powerful having open specs on their product can be. Instead of having to hire dozens of progammers/managers/support personal, they can rely on the opensource community. :)
Now if they had a program where by developers got cheaper units, in return for producing code...... that would catch like wild fire, for the shear coolness factor
This from the same company that used the DMCA as reported here on slashdot last fall to shutdown one fan/hack site."
Yeah, and they should be applauded for being Reformed Assholes. Instead, every article about them on every tech site includes a little disclaimer like this after it, much like the ones that follow Current Assholes like Senator Hollings ("This is the man that supposed --insert evil bill here--") or any of the other Slashdot enemies of the week.
We should be patting them on the back for reforming themselves, rather than pointing out their past failures every time they pop up in the news. We're not going to get anywhere with these companies if we push and push against them, but then keep pushing once they come over to our side.
Good to see the fact that they are opening up their architecture reported in a mainstream story, but this is really a repeat of an earlier posting that had some really good links to the developer site and some of the hacker sites:
Teach An Old Aibo New Tricks
My next sig will be ready soon, but friends can beat the rush!
I'm going to write an Aibo virus that should prove quite profitable... here is a brief rundown of the algorithm for those interested.
1) Direct Aibo to pick up its things (manuals, charger, etc)
2) Walk Aibo from owners house to my house carrying its things.
3) Take picture of itself and post a listing on ebay.
4) Wait for auction ending and payment.
5) Walk to new owners house.
6) Repeat.
If you're looking for Sony's motivation in opening the specifications, I believe it's here. In the absence of additional software sales, Sony sees opening the platform as a method for selling additional hardware.
With the new approach, you can sure bet that Sony is going to put off the price drops that had been part of the plan for the second generation Aibos for some time. There's good money to be had in finding a new audience at the current pricing before Sony tries to earn new customers with a price break.
Says the RIAA: When you EQ, you're stealing bass!
Maybe we'll see AIBOs actually used for something useful. A snip here, bolt there and maybe you can turn your aibo into the ultimate chimney sweep. Anyone have useful ideas for an AIBO other than as a toy?
-- Button up, your ignorance is showing
finally, now someone can program the aibo to play counter-strike with me and it can replace my 7 year old brother
This from the same company that used the DMCA as reported here on slashdot last fall to shutdown one fan/hack site."
:) So, screw 'em!
I wouldn't critisize them for taking a turn for the better. On the other hand, how many chances should mega-corps get.
Ansi's and stupid tricks!
Sony makes so many really nice looking consumer
devices -- it's a real shame that the company's
official position is that the vaio is for windows
only. It runs linux really well. But don't call
Sony and tell them -- they will be annoyed.
How do we know that they won't try to shut down someone doing something that they don't expect or like later?
Fool me once, shame on you....Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fight Spammers!
The reason why I don't hack an Aibo is because I cannot afford one, not because I don't have the API specs. Reverse engineering hardware is not hard, if its cost is so low that one doesn't mind risking breaking it.
"So, how are the sales of the Aibo?"
"Lousy. People finally figured out that paying thousands of dollars for a toy dog that doesn't do very much is a losing proposition."
"Hmm.. How can we create buzz and get people with too much money to buy it again?"
"I KNOW! We'll open-source it!"
www.eFax.com are spammers
When a powerful company such as Sony feels that a grass root movement will cut into their profit, they automatically take legal actions against them. Yet in the same token, because they are all-so powerful, they can just turn the other cheek and for those who has suffered from the legal battles, now they are asked to come back and help them to raise interests in a product that they originally were discouraged from using?
I think this could be described by the lyrics of Naughty by Nature: Everything gonna be alright:
Drop that, and now you want me to rap and give?
Say somethin' positive? Well positive isn't where I lived
I say eat this Sony! I'd like to see some form of apology!!!
maybe they should lower the price on the damn thing so people can afford to work on it. its working for the PS2.
I want 2D games back.
...then I will consider them reformed. Not yet. It's a principle thing - I have no urge to listen to the new Celine Dion. ;)
+5:offtopic,but anti-American
Hey, this makse me thenik...any chance we'll got a open sorce ABIO?!?!? THatd be sweeete
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
i think a robot doing the robot would be sah-weet.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
I think this is true in a lot of industries. It seems like engineers inherently have this natural desire to learn more and more about anything that they can (ie "hack"). But it is the management, sales, and the b-school grads that are looking to maximize their investment.
If the world was run by engineers, I'd think we'd be a lot more advanced than where we are now. Just as a single example, OIL! Science has proven that there are more efficient alternative energy that are out there than OIL. But the big oil companies don't want to see this happen.
_______________________________
"I'm not Conceited...I'm just a realist..."
Why is Slashdot wasting its time talking about a stoopid robot dog when honest companies like Google are releasing useful technology such as Google Voice Search ??
cpeterso
I wonder whether some ingenious hacker manages to make Aibo rival this real dog.
The Celine Dion CD is from Sony. I was not aware of this and I stand corrected. If you have moderator points, please do me a favor and mod the stupid crap that I wrote above right down into obscurity.
Aside from the obvious question of "is this for real?" It is good to see thing kind of development, even if it might be temporary. It makes aibo a good platform for smart teens to do some pretty advanced stuff.
I don't know, but I bet he could do some pretty creative things with these oranges....
hardware companies have developed this strange notion that they're going to make money off of software add-ons. that age has passed. time for Sun, Philips, etc to realise that. the only company that will profit directly from software in the long-run will me monopolies.
I can just see it blue screening as it lifts its leg on you.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
See this post i made to the last sony article.
Anyone interested in an open, co-operative robotics platform please see that post instead.
Sony, as a record company, is still using things like the DMCA to force destructive and damaging music cds into the consumer world. Sony is one of the biggest backers of "copy protection" schemes... the same ones that can be "anti-copy protected" by marking the outer track of the CD with a sharpie marker.
Just because Sony is swinging one way in regards to their doggie, who's specs were already freely available through reverse engineering, doesn't mean you should sway your opinion of them and think that they are a changed company. Sony is a VERY dangerous company... Possibly fourth behind Microsoft, AOL-Timewarner, and the Bells.
Ever need an online dictionary?
What's more efficient than oil?
Yeah, it's got to be a single phone line, like how else would they know who made which query when you click on a link?
Complaining about others inactions, helps no one's goals except those you both seek to defeat. Educating people on the subject, does far more then telling them they are wrong in what they are doing. Simply not buying a product does nothing. Telling people why they shouldn't buy it, educating them on how they can effect some change (no matter how small) is empowering....
just a thought.
This from the same company that used the DMCA as reported here on slashdot last fall to shutdown one fan/hack site
Just like the same company that produced his car is guilty of ozone layer depletion? Not that I care, but it serves as a useful lesson in hypocrisy.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
I haven't been able to find pictures-- but an article is available here. No pics, though.
I haven't been able to find pictures-- but an article is available here. No pics, though.
(should have previewed that last post. sorry)
Like vendors revealing to public the secret keys to bring up secret characters in games in a hope to boost sales. What we'd see in Aibo's spec:
Tip its left ears, clap left left right right up up up up down up down down down - THERE YOU GET A SUPER-AIBO WITH A STRANGE SYMBOL ON ITS BACK!!!!
Now they can just accuse anyone who releases software for it that they don't approve of of violating the DMCA and not fulfilling the restrictive EULA they place on the specs. Call me a pessimist, but history seems to be screaming that in my ear.
Not to detract from stuff like hydrogen and batteries, but alchahol is one very good fuel. You can convert a car to alchahol just by reprograming the fuel injection to put in less fuel to air, or by replacing the carberator. Most other alternate fuels require costly conversions or even a new engine.
Alchahol can be aquired by fermenting almost any plant matter. People could not only grow stuff you but also make fuel from grass clippings etc. All that needs to be done is stock it in gas stations.
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." -Plato
You're in the third grade, and you go up to a big fifth grade kid and ask to play with him. He kicks the legs out from under you, then stamps on your head for a while. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, he stops, says "Gee, I'm soooo sorrrrry," and offers you his hand.
You'd take it, right? Right? Hmmm. Perhaps not.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
From Merriam-Webster OnLine: Main Entry: 1 shear Pronunciation: 'shir Function: verb Inflected Form(s): sheared; sheared or shorn /'shOrn, 'shorn/; shearing
Etymology: Middle English sheren, from Old English scieran; akin to Old Norse skera to cut, Latin curtus shortened, Greek keirein to cut, shear, Sanskrit krnAti he injures
Date: before 12th century
transitive senses
1 a : to cut off the hair from b : to cut or clip (as hair or wool) from someone or something; also : to cut something from c chiefly Scottish : to reap with a sickle d : to cut or trim with shears or a similar instrument
2 : to cut with something sharp
3 : to deprive of something as if by cutting
4 a : to subject to a shear force b : to cause (as a rock mass) to move along the plane of contact
intransitive senses
1 : to cut through something with or as if with a sharp instrument
2 chiefly Scottish : to reap crops with a sickle
3 : to become divided under the action of a shear (the bolt may shear off)
Main Entry: 3 sheer Function: adjective Etymology: Middle English schere freed from guilt, probably alteration of skere, from Old Norse skærr pure; akin to Old English scInan to shine Date: circa 1568 1 obsolete : BRIGHT, SHINING 2 : of very thin or transparent texture : DIAPHANOUS 3 a : UNQUALIFIED, UTTER (sheer folly) (sheer ignorance) b : being free from an adulterant : PURE, UNMIXED c : viewed or acting in dissociation from all else 4 : marked by great and continuous steepness synonym see STEEP - sheerly adverb - sheerness noun
Hence, it would be the sheer coolness factor :-)
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
Not necessarily "more efficient than oil," but Hybrid-electric cars will dramatically increase the miles per gallon for the cars and also reduce pollution. Back in March, the oil companies and car companies lobbied congress to kill a bill that gave rebates for buying a hybrid car.
_______________________________
"I'm not Conceited...I'm just a realist..."
Oh, ok, thanks. I wasn't disagreeing, I just didn't know of any real (as in I didn't know of any details) incidents where the oil industry tried to do sleazy things (aside from the whole artificial shortage thing, to raise prices; that's pretty sleazy.)
Somehow I got the urge to check on the Aibo
development kit just a few hours after they
apparently set it up.
https://www.jp.aibo.com/openr/
Already 12 postings in their English BBS.