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Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

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Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#91

Post by duped »

judah wrote: post #49
7thaccount wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also can't imagine a home robotics use case that I would get excited over. Can anyone think of anything? I would guess any new product would be more complex, less efficient, and a security risk. It'll be cool and trendy for a few months and then die off. Just like the Alexa and Google speakers that can tell you the weather or adjust your lights...is it REALLY that useful outside of entertaining your nieces and neph…

The company that builds a robot that can do household chores will be very, very rich. I want a bot that can do laundry (load washer, load dryer, fold, put away), do the dishes (rinse, put in dishwasher, put clean dishes away, wash pots & pans), vacuum floors, dust, clean up messes, empty garbage bins, take out the trash, mow my lawn, trim bushes, clean tables, mop floors, make meals, cleans toilets and sinks and bath…

Maids will be cheaper than robots for at least a decade

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#92

Post by alden5 »

d--b wrote: post #27

There are a bunch of things in a house that are time consuming that would benefit from the help of robots. In fact it’s all the things that rich people can afford to hire someone to do: - cooking - cleaning - taking care of kids You can be sure that a ton of people are working on those.

apple already sells a device for taking care of kids, just get them an ipad and it'll keep them entertained all day long! /s

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#93

Post by hapticmonkey »

newhotelowner wrote: post #17

I want something that cleans my bathroom and toilet. I will buy it for my business and will pay 20-30k/year. Also, something to Clean my dishes (Load in the dishwasher, turn it on, and put it away). Doing my laundry - load, wash and fold. Mow the lawn.

Tech companies: best we can do is an AI that reads your kids bedtime stories. You know, the moments we actually cherish. The manual labor is all we'll humans have left to do.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#94

Post by bobbylarrybobby »

layer8 wrote: post #83
judah wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company that builds a robot that can do household chores will be very, very rich. I want a bot that can do laundry (load washer, load dryer, fold, put away), do the dishes (rinse, put in dishwasher, put clean dishes away, wash pots & pans), vacuum floors, dust, clean up messes, empty garbage bins, take out the trash, mow my lawn, trim bushes, clean tables, mop floors, make meals, cleans toilets and sinks and bath…

Human-sized robots (arguably needed for some of the tasks you list, being able to walk stairs, etc.) will be creepy due to how physically imposing they’ll be, and with a risk of being dangerous due to how massive they’ll need to be. For example falling over due to malfunction/collision/tripping, and potentially crushing a small child. I don’t see such a product happening for home use.

If a robot is adept at washing dishes and folding laundry, it suggests our technology is good enough that they should have a decent shot at remaining upright indefinitely, or falling gracefully and righting themselves afterwards.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#95

Post by 7thaccount »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #67
nostromo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm shocked by your comment. Everyone that doesn't enjoy cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash would LOVE a home robot that really works. Of course, these are very hard problems to take on -- much harder than a "smart" light switch -- but the market is absolutely there.

> Everyone that doesn't enjoy cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash would LOVE a home robot that really works. We are far, far away from any of the remaining tedious parts of those things being done competently by a robot. - Dishes: dishwashers already do the majority of the labor intensive part. - Laundry: the washer already does the labor intensive part. - Mowing: if you don't t…

Thank you for being the voice of reason:)

Sure I'd like a personal robot butler to walk the dog and a dozen other annoying tasks, but apple isn't going to figure that out short of AGI or a quantum leap forward in more traditional approaches. What we're going to get is something like the Roomba, which was already useless in my tight house. I can't imagine too many things that would be relatively achievable that I would care about.

I guess I wasn't very clear above lol.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#96

Post by freitzkriesler2 »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #66
freitzkriesler2 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much this. We pay a cleaning service for the privilege to vacuum and dust. A robot that does it for me that I can buy for $15k and last a decade? Id be all over it.

Robots can already vacuum and mop floors pretty decently for No one is building a robot to dust your antique china collection anytime soon.

Meh those robots don't do a good job with young children . The amount of debris they have to work around isn't worth it.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#97

Post by adam_arthur »

layer8 wrote: post #83
judah wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company that builds a robot that can do household chores will be very, very rich. I want a bot that can do laundry (load washer, load dryer, fold, put away), do the dishes (rinse, put in dishwasher, put clean dishes away, wash pots & pans), vacuum floors, dust, clean up messes, empty garbage bins, take out the trash, mow my lawn, trim bushes, clean tables, mop floors, make meals, cleans toilets and sinks and bath…

Human-sized robots (arguably needed for some of the tasks you list, being able to walk stairs, etc.) will be creepy due to how physically imposing they’ll be, and with a risk of being dangerous due to how massive they’ll need to be. For example falling over due to malfunction/collision/tripping, and potentially crushing a small child. I don’t see such a product happening for home use.

Can just be a pair of hands and a camera on extendable/retractable wires, with a wheeled base. Probably much cheaper than making a humanoid.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#98

Post by KerrAvon »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #67
nostromo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm shocked by your comment. Everyone that doesn't enjoy cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash would LOVE a home robot that really works. Of course, these are very hard problems to take on -- much harder than a "smart" light switch -- but the market is absolutely there.

> Everyone that doesn't enjoy cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash would LOVE a home robot that really works. We are far, far away from any of the remaining tedious parts of those things being done competently by a robot. - Dishes: dishwashers already do the majority of the labor intensive part. - Laundry: the washer already does the labor intensive part. - Mowing: if you don't t…

If they were invented today, dishwashers would be the same product but be called dish-washing robots. It's essentially what they are. Being mobile isn't essential to robotness.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#99

Post by PopePompus »

npunt wrote: post #48
paxys wrote: post #21

I know being late to the game and doing the tech "right" in terms of design and usability is kinda Apple's thing, but lately it seems like they have been only picking areas that weren't successful for a reason, like insurmountable technical difficulties or lack of customer interest, and no amount of Apple's design or marketing magic can fix that. See – self driving, AR/VR, smart speakers, folding phones, now home rob…

One thing about Apple is things can make sense for them to explore that don't make sense for others to. They have a big enough ecosystem, enough cash to do R&D on an idea for decades , and a culture of killing things that aren't good enough that make them an ideal place to determine whether ideas are a conceptual dead end versus just haven't been executed well enough (or tied to the right ecosystem to make them work)…

Yup, Google has the attention span of a gnat. I've used Pixel Phones for years, and I wouldn't be even slightly surprised to see that entire product line dropped tomorrow. I'm very glad to see Apple's Vision Pro, because I believe that if it succeeds it will be wonderful, and if it fails it means the AR/VR product category will never (well, not for a very long time at least) be anything but an unimportant niche product, as it is now.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#100

Post by chongli »

stevage wrote: post #39
chongli wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like smart devices for their automation potential. I use smart plugs to turn on and off lights, coffee makers, grow lights, heating mats. The ability to quickly program a plug to turn on every morning at 10am and turn off again at 10pm is valuable to me. It's even more valuable if you get into hobbies like aquarium keeping where you can automate lights and fish feeders. Yes, you can do all of these things manually,…

I'm curious about the coffee maker bit. I drink espresso and I can't really imagine a benefit in turning something a device on if someone isn't there to also put coffee in it, pour it etc. How much time does it save you having your coffee maker or before you go to get coffee?

I drink espresso as well. It takes 1/2 hour to warm up the machine after I turn it on. Having it turn on and be ready for me when I want to make a coffee saves 1/2 hour. Plus I have time-of-use billing for electricity so having it turn on early in the morning during off-peak hours saves money! It takes more energy to heat the thing up to operating temperature than it does to maintain that temperature all day.
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