Ree: Coroware and MS...
Quote:
"as for future of bot software, the barrier to entry that MSFT creates should not be underestimated imo."
I do not see a barrier, instead I see the wall(s) coming down. Vendors have already proved what they can do on the 'back' of MS...and they normally surpass those native apps...if you're looking for the next standard in robotics, it's right in front of you and it's called Robotstudio. You're going to see a stream of Coroware-s very, very soon. So they need to make a footprint in that market space before they have to either share it, or get pushed aside.
Quote:
"and regarding the soft-money recruiting, of the pool of kids getting excited by robotics, a portion of them will proceed to engineering, IT, etc. educations. perhaps some of them would not have otherwise pursued math/science without the bot geek experience. and note how the OTS adaptations have begun w/video game controllers used w/bots."
Kids have been showing a natural impulse towards this stuff already without soft money pushing them in one direction or another...life imitating art...it's gone on for centuries, or at least since Jules Verne...
Quote:
"as for the head start Japan currently has... the U.S. used to have an enormous, and to some, an insurmountable head start in auto manufacturing. it took one generation for Japan to catch up (from Hiroshima and Nagasaki) to surpassing Detroit in building cars."
And we should take the blame (not discounting Japanese ingenuity) for that squarely on the chin...we promoted the culture in that industry...we fed that beast...and it in turn devoured us (in many ways). It is still burping us up, because there is more courses on that menu...it's gonna get worse.
Quote:
"who can say the U.S. won't turn the tables w/automation tech in the next generation? i have tremendous faith in the capabilities of America (at least in some respects). and as for private capital? there's a TON of it in the U.S. waiting for "proof of concept" on the future of bot business models imo."
I would have to agree with the point you are making here...it's hopeful and that's fine. The money quote is "proof of concept"... there is indeed a lot of venture capital in the wings waiting for the real deal...and the fact is, they are looking beyond traded companies...I would say you can take those 10 you mentioned, and multiply them by 10 and you have the number of other private companies (and small outfits) who are doing work on this....easily.
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