Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

thedailybeast.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 474 posts

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#31

Post by Kluny »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

How about a dishwasher that holds all your dishes, and the dishes just stay in there? Eliminate the step of putting them in cabinets.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#33

Post by thaumaturgy »

kayhi wrote: post #16
MollyR wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That first recommendation is pure genius!

I’ve thought about getting like 5 and replacing all cabinets. A lower end dishwasher is about the same as a custom cabinet $150-$300).

Assuming an average repair rate of one fault every five years, you'll be needing to service or replace one of those dishwashing cabinets every single year.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#34

Post by soft_freak »

beaconstudios wrote: post #6
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

for 1, a dishwasher covers (wash) and in some cases (dry) - the putting away is the least time-consuming step so I'm not convinced a robot would be a massive innovation over dishwashers unless it also collected not-in-use washables but that's robot butler levels of complexity. for 2, I don't know about the US but in the UK you can get small local companies that will wash and iron a sack of laundry for you, and return…

For 1 if it collects dishes from sink/dirty tray and clean with dry and puts in clean tray, Put and get clean dish back in max 90 secs? Sort of instant cleaner?

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#35

Post by crygin »

MollyR wrote: post #10
CapitalistCartr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Get two dishwashers. Alternate them clean/dirty. Think of them as self-washing cabinets from sci-fi. 2) Get a laundry service or maid service. Save thousands of dollars.

That first recommendation is pure genius!

I saw it done with a stacked pair of dishwasher drawers (e.g.: https://www.remodelista.com/posts/appliances-dishwasher-draw... ) in a small apartment in Switzerland recently, with "clean" and "dirty" magnets that got swapped around -- there was no other dish storage. Pretty great.

My other favorite is the Italian dish drainer (a few examples here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/759138080911631519 ) -- basically the cabinet above the sink is a dish drainer with an open bottom.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#36

Post by kbutler »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #17

I used to work in the event services industry and CES no longer needs to exist. All of the major companies can hold their own press events and promote their products. Why buy an exhibitor booth at CES when you could take the same money and DIY. Apple , Google and Microsoft get this. Also, things like Kickstarter do the same. In a few years CES , E3 won't really exist anymore they are already dead.

CES and E3 exist because many people, especially the press, are willing to go.

Apple, Google, and Microsoft have a big enough draw that people (the press) will pay to go see what they provide. Smaller, less-dominant companies don't inspire the same level of desire. What good is saving money by providing your own show if nobody comes?

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#37

Post by kbenson »

MollyR wrote: post #10
CapitalistCartr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Get two dishwashers. Alternate them clean/dirty. Think of them as self-washing cabinets from sci-fi. 2) Get a laundry service or maid service. Save thousands of dollars.

That first recommendation is pure genius!

There exist single dishwashers that provide this capability, and they may suffice depending on your dishwashing needs and average load.

1: https://www.fisherpaykel.com/us/kitchen/dish-washers/dishdra...

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#38

Post by jandrese »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #17

I used to work in the event services industry and CES no longer needs to exist. All of the major companies can hold their own press events and promote their products. Why buy an exhibitor booth at CES when you could take the same money and DIY. Apple , Google and Microsoft get this. Also, things like Kickstarter do the same. In a few years CES , E3 won't really exist anymore they are already dead.

CES is for brand recognition. There are thousands of products that come into existence and disappear every year. Having to find the website for all of them would never happen. Even aggregators like this site are going to miss most of them. Walking the floors of the convention is a great way to get a huge infodump on what people are planning to sell.

I agree that a lot of what goes on there is a stupendous waste of money, but you are guaranteed to see dozens of products that you've never heard about when you walk the show floor.

The other reason people set up booths there is that they're looking for distribution partners and investors. It's a long shot, but it's better than every distributor and every investor getting a call from every company that wants to make/sell products in the US. This is why you see a ton of Chinese companies with tiny booths with names like Shenzen Happy Fun Heavy Industries just waiting for someone with an investor badge to walk by and make an offer to sell their phone cases and USB cables.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#39

Post by flukus »

Pxtl wrote: post #30
flukus wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Personally I'm hoping for some kind of telescopic arm in the ceiling, bipedal robots still take up storage space and get in the way, ceiling arms could work around me, are probably easier to deliver and are probably better to interact with "hey arm, can you give me a reading light and put my book away when I fall asleep".

Why ceiling? Is your floor not flat enough for wheels? A Roomba with arms would suit me.

My floor isn't flat enough for my roomba clone, it get's stuck on a lip. More importanly though, my floor has all sorts of stuff on it, the clothes I wore yesterday, that box I haven't thrown out and various other random things, along with myself.

My ceiling is remarkably free of obstacles and has a lot of unused space.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#40

Post by eismcc »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #9
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

1) Get two dishwashers. Alternate them clean/dirty. Think of them as self-washing cabinets from sci-fi. 2) Get a laundry service or maid service. Save thousands of dollars.

I doubt the dual dishwasher strategy works, as it’s unlikely that the clean dishwasher will get completely emptied and you’ll end up with both washers with dishes you want but sometimes mixed with dirty dishes.
Post reply on HN