Remote-Controlled Robot Could Browse The Stacks

An anonymous reader writes "A Japanese team of researchers has developed a robot that could help browse for books in a library by receiving instructions via the Internet, a team member said Friday. The robot, a wheeled vehicle measuring 50 by 45 centimeters with a digital camera, mechanical hand and arm, follows orders received through the Internet." This reminds me somewhat of Sonoma State University's (quite different) system profiled a few years ago in Wired.

Comments

But public domain has died long before the books

[MacFury]

With copyrights being held indefinately, public domain has all but disappeared. Even converting a book into pure text may very well land you in prison, you thought mongering criminal!

Books are meant to be burned. Long live the digital revolution!

Re:Of *course*. The *Internet*.

[TexVex]

Ok, here's the first HALF of the article:

TOKYO -- A Japanese team of researchers has developed a robot that could help browse for books in a library by receiving instructions via the Internet, a team member said Friday. The robot, a wheeled vehicle measuring 50 by 45 centimeters with a digital camera, mechanical hand and arm, follows orders received through the Internet.

So, the first paragraph of the article (two rather unspectacular examples of writing to begin with) rather redundantly explains that the robot takes its orders from the Internet. You're so special for pointing out what an insensitive fuck I am for not caring about poor housebound Internet users who want to go to the library.

Let me ask you something. Why go through all the trouble to design, build, and debug a digital camera wielding box of bolts with a D-Link wireless Internet gateway jammed up its rear just so homebound people can visit the library, when existing technology known as "scanners" and "permanent storage" could store and make available every book in that library on the Internet? Not only that, there would be no queue to use the freaking robot, and the robot wouldn't be running over human library browsers' toes. Oh, "scanners" and "permanent storage" aren't experimental technologies either. Hmm!!!

Go ahead and mod me down for pointing out UTTER STUPIDITY. I just call it like I see it.