Tech pets: Another dumb 'smart' idea
Published: 12 Jan 2001 09:42 GMT
Now it looks as if Max and his fellow four-legged friends are about to get a run for their money. Although the sales figures are still being compiled, anecdotal evidence suggests that one of the big winners at retail this holiday selling season was the robotic toy.
Sega's robotic dog, affectionately named Poo-Chi, can sense light, reacts to being patted and even does tricks. Maybe with a little extra circuitry, Poo-Chi will one day also be able to qualify for a billing on the dumb pet tricks segment of the David Letterman show.
If that doesn't do it for you, there is Meow-Chi, which doesn't really do all that much. Still, it proved sufficiently attractive to convince thousands of well-to-do parents to shell out beaucoup bucks to bring one home for the kiddies.
And then there's Aibo the robotic dog, Rocket the Wonder Dog, Tekno the robotic puppy, Biocybie, Lupus, i-Cybie, Mega Byte (cute), Me & my dog Shadow, and I-Dog, among others. Some are already in the market. The others will be here very shortly. 
All are part of the move to turn robots into consumer goods. My immediate reaction: What's the point?
After all, there's a serious deployment of brainpower going on here in an effort to bring to "life" a concept that dates back to Karel Capek's 1920 play "RUR," which introduced the word "robot" into the world's lexicon.
But what exactly is going on here? These folks sure aren't doing anything to advance the public good. Lining their pockets is another matter.
Some marketing wizzes figured that enough yuppie parents would buy these dopey presents for their kids to make a profitable go of it. And they were right; this being a commodity-driven world, robotic toys are off to a strong start and are likely to become a permanent feature in our constellation.
One can only hope they turn out to be just another fad, like the pet rock. Call me a curmudgeon, but I'm not alone. The Alliance for Childhood has slammed the proliferation of robotic dolls and other so-called smart toys, such as robotic baby dolls. They worry about the risk of blurring the distinction children make between machines and living beings.
To be sure, there doesn't seem to be a lot of thought being put into meeting the developmental needs of children; I don't think many parents would encourage their kids to work up strong emotional attachments to robots.
For all the tsuris he causes, my Max is a million times more lovable than any robotic cat. And I wouldn't trade him for all the Meow-Chis in the world.
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