You may already be familiar with this high tech gizmo. It’s a telecommuting device of sorts, controlled by the owner, who uses an iPad or computer remotely to drive this rolling iPad around his or her office. It becomes the owner’s surrogate in a distant location.
When I first saw one of these a few weeks ago on “The Good Wife,” I thought it was a joke, a bit of humor dreamed up by the writers. They had the user running into walls, asking for help to open doors to get into meetings, etc.
Then Stephen Colbert featured one on his show, “The Colbert Report,” and at some point mentioned the product name or website URL. The silly thing is real, as it turns out, and its appearance on “The Good Wife” was good ol’ product placement.
Then this evening, on “NCIS: Los Angeles,” it showed up again. Not cute or engaging or new. Just really, really annoying. And it was portrayed as such, I’m happy to say.
The manufacturer, Double Robotics, calls it the Double. And for a mere $2,499 you can have one of your very own. Now, now, don’t push. Don’t all speak up at once. I’m sure they have enough for everyone.
I think the Double is silly. I think it would be annoying as hell having one rolling around one’s workplace. I think teleconferencing and Skype already have the situation under control. Taken to a humorous extreme, though, I can imagine dozens of Doubles zipping around an office, bumping into walls and each other, trying to conduct business with nary a human in sight.
Of course, I thought Twitter was a silly idea too …
wow, and i must admit i am a bit afraid of it )
Yeah, it’s creepy.
The Big Bang Theory did a pretty good job of showing just how silly this idea is in an episode from at least a season or two ago. Sheldon couldn’t go to work for some reason, so he jury-rigged a similar contraption because he just couldn’t imagine the world going on without his annoying “presence” to keep things in order. Logically, that should have been the end of that, but I suspected there may be hoards of geeks out there scrambling to make their own anyway… 😕
Now that you mention it, I do vaguely remember that episode. I wonder if that’s where Double Robotics got the idea. Or maybe vice versa.
Who knows PT? With all the geeks watching, and no doubt helping with the writing, I’m sure that show’s had its share of Geekloops! 😆
But, I wonder, might this be useful as a robotic avatar for a paraplegic? Calling Stephen Hawking . . .
Possibly. But again, wouldn’t teleconferencing or Skyping cover that?
Partly. However, this would allow the user to roam through the house or office independently of reception devices.
Yet another way for irritating bosses to become even more irritating….telecommuting – quickly!
That’s how it was portrayed on “NCIS:LA” — as the boss zipping silently around the office watching and listening to employees, to their very great displeasure.
I find this very creepy. Stalker-status!
OMG… it’s a good thing that Will Ferrell hasn’t thought about using one of these to promote Anchorman 2. Lately I’ve been feeling link Ron Burgandy has been stalking me. Every time I turn around, change the channel, watch the news, Burgandy is there. Not that I had much of an interest in the movie to begin with as I don’t care for this type of humor – although I do like the group sing of “Afternoon Delight” – I have NO desire now to see this movie after it comes out on video. I’m sure not going to pay good money at a theater to see it.
The first Anchorman was on TV yesterday or the day before. I’d never seen it, so watched for a while to see what all the commotion is about. Boring! Not particularly funny. Glad I didn’t pay money to see it. I can’t imagine the over-hyped second one being any different. And yes, I can easily see the Double appearing in such a movie.