baracooda wrote:

David Maynard wrote in message ...

baracooda wrote:


One of the problems with your 'explanations' is you incoherently jump all
over the place at random. LAST message you were talking about in the
"living room" and now you're roving "college courses" for some unknown reason.


Robotic PC will enable you to take college courses from the comfort of
your living room, provided that you have a robotic PC on both end. It
is another way of interacting with people and things in this world. In
this case robotic PC=two way mobile videoconference machine.

So does a camera and a TV set. PBS has been doing it for decades, and
without a roving robo-desk I might add.


Such broadcast version provides little or no real time interaction
before during or after the class. Which is a very important part of
the learning process.

Then show UP for class.



The fact of the matter is, for what most 'normal' people use a camera for
it's just fine to hold it in your cute little fingers and take the
pictures: no 'robot' needed.


With robotic PC as a camera server, user can login to this server and
take pictures from miles away with out any travel time. There are
certain spots in this world where such service might be welcome.

Watch the Travel Channel if you don't want to 'go there'.


There are many ways to find out any particular location of interest.
Unless you are the owner of that travel channel. The odds are against
you finding exactly the information that you need.

The fact of the matter is, no one is going to buy a robot and pay travel
fare for it to go and 'check out' a vacation spot.


After
all these decades, one still have to use a finger to take a picture
one by one?

Because it's convenient, cheap, and does precisely the job I want. And
you've not provided any benefit to doing it another way; just that it
'could be done' another way.

And I don't need a robot to wipe my butt either just to be your version of
'modern' vs the 'decades old way'.


There are already toilet seats that spray water right where it is
needed. Quiet common in Japan and rest of the Far East.

It ain't a robot, must less a roving desk.


Because it is a 'solution' looking for a problem and in the finest Rube
Goldberg tradition (especially your obsession with 'a desk'): "Look mom, I
made a 10 grand 'roving desk' to carry my 200 buck camera." And I imagine
the typical reply would be "what on earth FOR?"


I have disclosed this idea to many others before. The responses ranges
from one end of the spectrum to "I wish to remain an Amish". A few
begins to explore the possibility even beyond my imagination.
Basically, what I trying to say is that the whole is greater than sum
of its parts. This machine has the potential to do many new things
that can't be (easily) done before.

You seem to miss the point: Just doing things a 'new way' isn't a goal, in
and of itself, nor necessarily desirable. There must be some BENEFIT to
doing it the 'new way', and it must be practical (which includes cost), or
else it ends up in a TV show about "crazy ideas that never made it." (all
of which were 'new ways', 'modern', and 'did things'.)


Agree, new way aren't necessary the better way.


To which you list off supposed 'features' (what it 'could do') but no
benefits. E.g. Why would someone want "a prolific picture capturing
machine" when what most people want are 'good pictures' of specific things
(not to mention their own creative input in taking the picture), not simply
a million of them? Why would someone want to sit in a room navigating the
'roving desk' to "tourist destinations" when the point of taking 'tourist
pictures' is to show where THEY'VE been and what THEY saw? (otherwise, stay
home and watch the Travel Channel.)


Robotic PC will be a good way to help you choose your next travel
destination.

A 10 grand robot, plus airfare for it, to replace a free travel brochure?
And don't bother with descriptions of how much 'better' than a travel
brochure it is because I can hear the average person's reply right now
"hell, for THAT price I could GO there mySELF!"


This is like comparing the price of an automobile with the price of a
single bus ticket. No one buys a car for any particular trip. And
nobody buys a general purpose robot for just one single purpose. In
practice, if a robotic PC can indeed provide a real time active travel
brochure, the resort of that particular travel destination will likely
to provide such robot.

Why? When all they need provide is what they're already providing.



No machine can replace an actual vacation, at least not
yet.

Not yet? WHY in god's name would ANYone EVER want it to 'replace' their
vacation?


A travel channel only shows what the producer wants you to see or what
the camera man happens to point the camera in that particular
direction. With the robotic PC, you are in control of the camera, and
interact with whom ever in the picture in real time. Sort of like your
own personal live broadcast system.

'Interact' with? Bloody well GO THERE if you want to 'see', 'interact', and
have your vacation.

Given the current state of the art, the kinds of 'features' you're talking
about are pretty much useful only for places humans CAN'T (at least easily)
go to, like Mars or the core of a live volcano.


Once proliferated, robotic PC will give human the power of virtual
omnipresence.

Nice buzz word but with no practical meaning.

Not too sure about if there is a demand to see live
volcano super up-close.

Since they've already made some for that specific purpose I'd say you've
underestimated the need.

snip of old stuff