Following the Sony Corporation FY05 3Q announcement, the production of AIBO Entertainment Robots will be discontinued as of end March 2006.
You can say it’s stupid and absurdly expensive (last price was $1599) but has been the first serious attempt to build a real robot pet for the rest of us. Aibo, the Sony robot dog, dies in 2006 leaving thousands specimen moving around searching for spare parts and software upgrades without the hope to see a new generation.
You can say I’m strange, but I’m sad. After all, Aibo idea comes from the Golem’s dream, a dream that is part of the human race from ever and ever: creating life from lifeless, becoming God.
Someone say Aibo means nothing simply because a real dog can make the work much better, but imho it’s not true. We can’t live without impossible dreams and when a dream dies we all lose something.
Aibo is not a dog and don’t want to mimic a dog. It’s an hybrid, a new species that moves a little like a dog, but can say some word and sometimes sing. And I can love it like a real dog.
Moreover with Aibo you can say strange things like “Enough! Turn off the dog and go sleep!” or “Wake up, go walking, turn on the dog”.
Long live, Aibo…