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Robots Without a Cause

Posted by michael on from the second-law-applies dept.

WG55 writes "Have you noticed that more and more technology is more ingenious than useful? Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian writes in his article Robots without a cause that much technology produced today will change our lives little, if at all. He writes, 'Our response to being bored and rich is not to discard our possessions and live more simply, but to buy more stuff to reduce the space in which we might contemplate our shame.'"

1 of 450 comments (clear)

  1. Don't knock the wind-up radio by Hittite+Creosote · · Score: 5, Informative
    but I want a wind-up radio even less. If it isn't likely to sell, who will pay for development?

    ~The wind up radio? Trevor Bayliss developed it at his own cost, and Christopher Staines and South African entrepreneur Rory Stear put up the finance to make production a reality. Previously, people had to spend more on batteries than they did on the radio. Batteries are more expensive and less reliable in rural Africa than they are in the rich parts of the world.

    Are they any use? Read this and make your mind up. But I'd say they're a damn sight more useful to many more people than a 3G phone.