Artificial Companionship

Japan seems to be the main culprit for the idea of mechanical dogs (a little while back) & now with these digital pets.

I think it's a dumb conspiracy to replace something "live" with something "mechanical" & expect people to buy it.

Nothing replaces the complexity of a real animal pet. Will they come up next with a lifesize digital mate? I wouldn't be surprised.

msnbc.msn.com...



[Edited on 10-2-2004 by Questor]

What if they were able to make synthetic human beings, fully programmable to your needs.

Do you want one?

Oah definitely, just think of the possibilities. It would be like being 2 places at once. You could go to your job and have your little friend stay at home and make money for you (what if you could program it to play the stock market), clean your house, prepare dinner. Just like the Jetsons!

I hate to admit it but yeah probibly

I think the main reason Japan is so interested in pets like this has to do with crowding. They simply don't have the space to care for pets. So, mechanical pets are a responsible alternative. No mess, and they don't require large areas to run and play.

However mechanical dogs dont ...

bite people
# on the sidewalk
drop hair
smell visitors crotches
eat
keep people wake by barking all night
smell
chase cats
kill wildlife
ruin the lawn
incur a regestration fee
try to hump visitors legs
get pregnant
slobber all over your newspsper
take up space on the couch
need walking
are ugly
yap
chase other dogs
chase cars / cats/ birds

.. so there might be some good points about having a mechanical dog...

The other day I was standing on a small jetty about 3 hundred feet out from a beach, in a cove. The jetty was off to one side. From the beach I could see 2 small objects in the water approaching. I coldn't work out what they were, they were to small to be human heads and one was following the other.

As they got closer I realised that the first one was a duck, paddling along, what was a the second? An alsation dog (German shepherd), trying to catch it....

The duck would paddle along for a while the dog wuld get closer and then the duck would fly forward about 15 feet, leading the dog out into the harbour.

I realised if the dog carried on swimming on out into the harbour (it was already a long way out) I would have to jump in and save it. Thankfully as it started to reach me the duck flew away and the dog turned around and slowly swam back, panting.

synthetic human beings, fully programmable to your needs.

To hell with the dogs thats what I'm talking about

hee hee hee ,

can I have a female nakked one

life size digital mate that is... Whew !

I could use a synthetic being to cook & clean.

At the end of the day, I could power it down & store it in the closet.

Hey you know the Japanese are full of crazy ideas, but also very good ones.

Why would I want a mechanical dog? Its not even near the same as having a real dog. I wouldnt trade my dog for anything much less a computerized mechanical one.

I wouldnt mind having me one of them cool little robot dogs, just to spite people.

Originally posted by Questor
What if they were able to make synthetic human beings, fully programmable to your needs.

Do you want one?

Not really. I think it would hurt

Well, David in Super Toys Last All Summer Long that became A.I., was built for this purpose.

It's all in the imprinting. No different to homo sapiens.

These may be toys that replace pets for some people. Especially kids with allergies to animal dander. I think its ok if other people want to buy them, but I dont think I would.

My little brother has a " # " load of this crap.

Its just annoying, nothing more.

Deep