As someone who has worked in computers and tech for some time I have seen the birth of the internet to the progression of technology ruling our lives. Technology seems to always be attractive to children. I was mesmerized by “K.I.T.T.” in Knight Rider as a child. Now that I’m an adult, I don’t think I would be fond of a car that drives me places. That takes the enjoyment of driving away from me. It also takes freedom away. We are headed down a road where, at the end, we are going to find ourselves being controlled by the very technology that we thought was so “innovative”.
Amazon has just announced “astro”, priced at $1449.99. This is a robot for your house that moves around, on it’s own, and can even follow you around. You can tell it to deliver something to someone else in the house. It will know who the person is because it takes a photo of whoever you teach it to I.D. It has a tablet for it’s “face”. It also has a telescoping camera that you can use to see into your house while you are away. Who else is able to see inside?
This robot in which Amazon gives it the name “astro” to make it more personable (think the Jetsons) will not bring families closer. It will will serve as a way to actually teach children to bond with technology instead of humans. It will serve to continue to make people lazier by telling the robot to take things to other family members, as Amazon touts as a selling point. It’s sad to think how many people will buy this like a toy.
As much as I have always been into tech, I am despising it more and more each day.