The MSFT of robotics?

People who invested in Microsoft in the early 1980s made a huge killing.

If only there was a similar company to invest in now to take advantage of the coming robot economy.

Comments

[Eugenick]

Just make sure to invest in a Japanese company; it is a safer bet long-term HBD-wise.

Check out these guys: http://suidobashijuko.jp/

You can't go wrong with a robot like Kuratas! Nerdgasm is guaranteed for customers!

[ron]

fanuc

[DaveinHackensack]

This is another topic where bloggers aren't ahead of the MSM. From 2010: "Becoming the Microsoft of the Robot World" -- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2010/tc2010111_884564.htm

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't it be better to be the AAPL of the robotics world?

Also, why isn't AAPL interested in robotics?

[Hank the plant]

DDD, SSYS. 3D printing companies.

[jaakkeli]

You seem to think robots are something new but they've been taking over the assembly lines for half a century now. The big industrial robot boom when the big dogs of robotics were made happened in the 1970s and 1980s. We already live the robot economy: your car, your computer, your phone, all that has been built mainly by robots for decades.

Is there some reason to think there's something happening with robotics besides just the steady progress of computers making it easier and easier to build versatile and programmable robots (instead of the early assembly line robots which were basically built to repeat the few motions they did forever)?

In the other threads half of the people thought that robots mean the coming of Terminator clones but that's going to be science fiction for a very long time...

[MRM27]

Seems like zero hedge provided some investment opportunities to line up with this post:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-death-jobs

They mention the robots of the future.

[Sjdjd]

IRBT
ADEP

the single most common robot type product is the washing machine, which simulates what used to be human movements and directly replaces manual labor. Try whirlpool and Electrolux for that.

If there is ever a laundry folding robot they would probably make it, and the first buyers would probably be hotels in expensive cities for their towels.

[Kiwiguy]

OT, but related to future developments an Oxford Professor has caused a bit of a stir by advocating for designer babies.

"Surely trying to ensure that your children have the best, or a good enough, opportunity for a great life is responsible parenting?" wrote Prof Savulescu, the Uehiro Professor in practical ethics.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9480372/Genetically-engineering-ethical-babies-is-a-moral-obligation-says-Oxford-professor.html

"Modern eugenics, from testing for diseases to deciding whether you want a girl or boy, is voluntary. So where genetic selection aims to bring out a trait that clearly benefits an individual and society, we should allow parents the choice. To do otherwise is to consign those who come after us to the ball and chain of our squeamishness and irrationality.

Indeed, when it comes to screening out personality flaws, such as potential alcoholism, psychopathy and dispositions to violence, you could argue that people have a moral obligation to select ethically better children. They are, after all, less likely to harm themselves and others. That doesn’t necessarily imply that people should be coerced into making a choice, but we should encourage them.

http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/magazine/readers-digest-main/the-maverick-its-our-duty-to-have-designer-babies

[Alex]

"Is there some reason to think there's something happening with robotics besides just the steady progress of computers making it easier and easier to build versatile and programmable robots (instead of the early assembly line robots which were basically built to repeat the few motions they did forever)?"

So, one possibility is a robot that you could train to perform the task, so you can have it work without doing any programming at all.

[superdestroyer]

Microsoft sold millions of copies of software because everyone would use it. Virtually everyone is a potential customer for Microsoft.

How many potential customers are their for manufacturing robots? Not that many and many of them have already purchased robots.

The market is not big enough for for a Microsoft/Apple type company to come out of the robotics world. At best, there may be enough business to create a Cisco type company.

Also, Microsoft benefited from the market having an advantage of everyone using the same software. There is no reason for everyone company to purchase robots from the same company. Besides, the same robots do not build consumer electronics versus precision engine parts.

[HS: And IBM once thought no one besides big businesses would need to buy a computer. Everyone could use a robot that could do useful stuff like cook and clean the house for you.]

[GIlbert Pinfold]

Hank, I'm interested in the 3d printing and desktop manufacturing idea. It sounds lo-tech compared to personal R2d2 home slaves, but baby steps...

[superdestroyer]

HS,

The robot that will clean your house is very different than the computerized machine tool that cuts metal or ceramic parts for the aerospace indsutry. Aerospace companies and individual users use the same operating system and actually benefit from using the same operating system.

The computer operating system or the office automation is a natural oligopoly market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopoly
There is nothing to keep a start up from coming up with a better computer to make something for one type of industry (like automotive manufacturing) while another company can try to sell home use robots on the consumer market.

Microsoft got lucky by becoming the dominate operating system company. There is nothing in the robotic world that is the same as the as operating system where everyone benefitted from using the same operating system.

Also, the Apple model does not work for robots. Why would a business want to pay a premium price for a robot like Apple consumer product users do? It the higher priced robot adds nothing to the bottom line, the is no reason for a premium price.

[FirstComment]

Invest in Better Place, perfect for you. They use robots to switch 300 kg batteries for electric cars extending their range. The companies value should skyrocket as peak oil hits us.