Think about it. What IS the exit strategy to emotionally detach owners from their Pleos? Taking a page from the Twilight Zone book of solutions, there just may be a market for a 5 kg, Cretaceous Period asteroid to put these pesky little Pleos down realistically… a new, functional, 21st century version of the Pet Rock. It’s just a thought. Pleo will sport SD memory expansion and will set you back a mere $200.
For more information visit: Ugobe.com .
Matt Largo is a Philadelphian whose passions include Music Composition/Performance, Technology, Film, Armchair Philosophy, and Creative Writing. He believes in the Holographic Universe, Anthropic Bias, and the Singularity while dispelling the existence …
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Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Super cool, Matt, great piece! I can see Pleo being a major seller.
2 - Phillip Winn
There was a reason that Furby was essentially block-shaped. That neck looks ready to snap right off!
3 - kurtkilgor
I already form personal attachments to machines. Usually when someone flips over a car, I feel worse for the car than for the occupant.
4 - Matt Largo
I think that some children, who get Pleo will run into some social problems. With the Pleo, Internet, Playstation, and XBox, who needs really hang out with friends? Everything will be Virtual and A.I.
5 - ash
Of course, a robot's personality can be backed up and transferred into a new body if and when the original breaks down, making the robot immortal (to all intents and purposes). Companionship with robots would therefore fix the main drawback of companionship with pets and people (namely that they leave or die, forcing us to grieve).
In other words, Corry could simply have transferred Alicia onto an SD card (what ? you mean they don't have them in the future ?) and slipped it into his pocket, leaving her deactivated body behind.
6 - Matt Largo
Ash,
Good point. I think that Corry may have been too busy playing checkers with Alicia and never got intimate enough to find her SD Card.
7 - Daron Jones
Of course you wont be able to break emotional attachments. You'd be crying after you spend 200 buxx on a robotic dinosaur! For that price it should be able to make love to you or do something useful like do your shopping!
With 7 processors one of them best be an mp3 one so i can stick my headphones in its buttocks and feel happy i didnt use that money for an ipod!!
8 - William Cox
I'm covering Pleo and news relating to Ugobe at my site, http://PleoBot.com.
Ugobe has been pretty silent on the little guy since they first announced him. I think they need to release some more vidoes to keep folks interested.
9 - jk
i agree with william cox
10 - Robby
Yes, it's a absolut fantastic toy. And now it wons the „Sonderpreis Innovation“ of Internationalen Spielwarenmesse Nürnberg.