Remember When Android Meant Human-like Robot?

Remember When Android Meant Human-like Robot? Author: Eric Everson, MBA, MSIT-SE

Google’s latest Mobile Operating System (MOPS) dubbed Android, has all but wiped the original connection of the term android – a human-like robot- off the grid. For good measure, simply open a second browser tab and perform a search (on your favorite search engine) and see what it returns when you type in “android”.

As you have now seen for yourself, the days of an android being just a human-like robot are somewhat extinct. For those with a genuine interest (or career for that matter) in robotics or more specifically the niche robotics market of androids, this has made everything from ordering parts to collaborating with like-minded peers a nightmare. Beyond the sheer inconvenience, could this carry a greater implication than what meets the eye?

Consider for a moment that from 2002-present, the android niche has seen explosive growth from the Albert Einstein-like android of Hanson Robotics to the EveR-1 of KITECH. As computing speeds continue to soar and processors continue to drop in price, now is an incredibly bad time to lose momentum (scientifically or otherwise) with regard to this technology.

Android robotics is becoming increasingly infused with modern medicine, opening bionic possibilities that where once only dreamed up for low budget sci-fi films. The truth is losing “android” to the marketing prowess of Google hurts. It does not just hurt those in the software or robotics industry breaking new ground within AI or embodiment machines respectively, but it hurts everyone at large that looks to a future of growth and development for android technologies.

Is this a case of a lesser technology choking the progress of a greater predecessor? I will let you decide, but something tells me the window industry suffers some very similar hurdles.

Eric Everson, MBA, MSIT-SE Software Engineer, Founder, MyMobiSafe.com