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January 28, 2006
Waves Goodbye To Aibo
Sony officially pulls the plug on its robotics program so it hurts me to wave goodbye to Aibo and QRIO, mainly Aibo.
In the past 5 years, Aibo has managed to grow from a simple and slow robot to a sleek advance simulation robo-puppy that has more tricks in the bag than a magic bunny. So why would Sony kill it?
Obviously, Sony is going thru tough times. They are bleeding money and as the old saying goes, "don't have all your eggs in one basket", Sony had the opposite problem. They spread themselves too thin trying to do everything and in the end, when quarter profits don't meet up with project revenue, it's time to streamline.
I suspect the Aibo and QRIO programs cost Sony a shit load of money in the R&D department and since they are niche products, better to lay those to rest and tackle what people the world over know Sony for - household electronics, an area that Sony is losing to Korean manufacturers.
On a positive note, Sony promises to continue it's A.I. research so in a way, Aibo's spirit will live on, ready to be reincarnated into other gizmo goodies.
Bye Aibo, we'll miss you!
Posted by tranism at 8:56 AM | Permalink
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Comments
I am gutted! I really wanted an Aibo and now I will never get my paws on one :( This is a sad sad day.
Posted by: Trunk Guy at January 29, 2006 8:29 AM
DAMN DAMN DAMN
I vowed to get me my Aibo in honor of year of the dog, and wrote Sony twice inquiring (i had concerns lil' Aibo would not play well with my Mac).
no wonder Sony never wrote back.
maybe i have to get a shiba afterall.
Posted by: A.J. at January 30, 2006 6:06 AM