I'm currently reading "The Complete Robot" by Isaac Asimov. This got me thinking about the state of robotics.

When I was a kid, I expected the future to be much more advanced than it really is today. Thinking of the next millennium involved space travel for everyone, omnipresent computers and – most important – robots.

We do have the computers, and there is a possibility to see commercial space travel in the near future. But what about robots?

And don't tell me about those “industrial robots” they use to build cars. These aren't much more than computer controlled machines. The closest to the robots of my childhood dreams are toys or vacuum cleaners.

As far as I know, there is not one robot on earth which is able to understand the Three Laws of Robotics or would even need them. Seriously, this is supposed to be the future – where is my robot to fill the dish washer?

What promised future tech do you miss most?

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