WHY THE YEAR 2000 REALLY LET US DOWN AND WHY KIROBO IS A BIG FAT BOO BOO HEAD
I don't know about you, but when the year 2000 rolled around all I could feel was disgust and tremendous disappointment. I mean, where were the flying cars? Where were the jetpacks? Where were the robots?
Now some of you were mere babes in the year 2000, and don't even realize what kind of expectations people from the previous generation had about the turn of the century. You youngsters have had plenty of imaginary robots in gaming, anime, graphic novels, comics, even toys! So you may not know that those of us older than twenty actually thought that by the year 2000 we were going to have FLYING CARS! RAYGUNS! AND . . . ROBOTS!
Why, you ask did we have such unrealistic expectations of a year that was, after all just the turn of another century? The people in 1900 certainly didn't have any expectations that their century would provide them with television, telephones, electric washers and dryers, microwaves, COMPUTERS (Rufus, what the hail is a com-poo-ter anyway?). Nope, they were just living their lives, maybe wondering what the new century would bring, but the common man or woman didn't have their heads plugged full of -- the future!
WE had such thoughts (and some people, I admit, in 1900 must have had similar thoughts or we would not be where we are today) because back in the fifties and sixties, the possibility of space flight, introduced by science fiction writers, produced a whole smorgasbord of not only grade B Sci-Fi movies, but an entire generation of really cool futuristic-inspired furniture, pillowcases, lamps, and best of all, film shorts and cartoons telling the public that the year 2000 was gonna be the year that EVERYTHING CHANGED!
Houses would vacuum themselves! You would be able to program your house from far away, turn off lights, lock doors! You could fly around in little Jetsonesque air cars! Push a button and have a machine that materialized food, steaming hot and yummy! You would be able to VACATION ON THE MOON! BEST OF ALL -- ROBOTS!
Oh my gosh!! Even if you weren't around in those days, the "legend" of what was to come by the year 2000 permeated our society's views on the future, especially after we actually went to the moon!! (Or did we? hmmmm.) So kids born in every year after the "Atomic age" grew up knowing, really expecting, that the year 2000 was gonna be the year that we went truly Jetson-High-Tech!
So when 2000 rolled around and all we got was a conspiracy theory and near worldwide panic over how computers all over the world were going to EXPLODE when the New Year rang in and 1999 switched to 2000 (thanks to some short-sighted computer programmers--really guys, that was so unlike you!) it was ... disappointing. No it was FREAKING FRUSTRATING!
I mean, really. No computerized houses. No jetpacks. No flying cars. NO ROBOTS! And don't get me started on microwaves. They were NOT equivalent to the food replicators on Star Trek!
And even though within the next ten years we had a lot of cool stuff: gaming systems almost as good as the holodeck, flip phones (Star Trek!), houses that do everything except live in themselves, and a computer in every pocket (that's one we didn't see coming), there are still no flying cars and no robots!
Well, there are robots, like the kind that build cars and stuff but I'm talking GUNDAMS. I'm talking Rosie the Robot, who not only helped around the house, but was our friend, our confidant, our playmate!
And then, suddenly, the news came last week (a mere thirteen years too late!) A little guy named Kirobo has been created to KEEP ASTRONAUTS COMPANY IN THE SPACE STATION!!
According to NBC news, "The Kirobo space robot is a diminutive mechanical person just 13 inches (34 centimeters) tall, built to converse with astronauts on long space voyages."
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/japanese-cargo-launch-sends-tiny-talking-robot-space-station-6C10840002
Wait a minute. 13 inches tall? You mean, like BUZZ LIGHTYEAR? You mean they made a TOY ROBOT for the astronauts to play with? So you know what this means, right? This means this isn't about ROBOTS. This is about MERCHANDISING. I mean, the Japanese guys created this "robot" and as we all know, they are the BIG KOHONAS of merchandising. I mean, look at this cute and cuddly little robot guy! You'll want one right? Your kid will want one too. Only it won't be the REAL ROBOT WE WERE PROMISED! *sob*
""I want to help create a world where humans and robots can live together," Kirobo told reporters when the project was unveiled in late June." - NBC news.
Uh huh, sure you do, Kirobo, sure you do.
NBC NEWS: The International Space Station is currently home to six astronauts representing three different countries and space agencies. Its Expedition 36 crew consists of three Russian cosmonauts, two American astronauts and an Italian astronaut representing the European Space Agency.
NASA officials said the space station crew watched the HTV-4 launch via a live video link while soaring 260 miles (418 kilometers) over southwest Russia. The Japanese cargo ship will be captured via robotic arm on Aug. 9, at 7:29 a.m. ET and be attached to the space station at about 9:30 a.m. ET. You can watch the Japanese cargo ship's arrival live on SPACE.com on Aug. 9, courtesy of NASA TV.http://www.nbcnews.com/science/japanese-cargo-launch-sends-tiny-talking-robot-space-station-6C10840002
NASA officials said the space station crew watched the HTV-4 launch via a live video link while soaring 260 miles (418 kilometers) over southwest Russia. The Japanese cargo ship will be captured via robotic arm on Aug. 9, at 7:29 a.m. ET and be attached to the space station at about 9:30 a.m. ET. You can watch the Japanese cargo ship's arrival live on SPACE.com on Aug. 9, courtesy of NASA TV.http://www.nbcnews.com/science/japanese-cargo-launch-sends-tiny-talking-robot-space-station-6C10840002