Woman Has Ingenious “Robot” Standing in Line for her

G'day to you! You aren't a robot, are you? Oh good. Can't be too sure these days. Great to see you, whether you are or not. Assuming you are not, help yourself to a mug of coffee (robots don't drink coffee) and a virtual doughnut, muffin or anzac cookie. Talking of robots...

Believe it or not, the day has finally come when people can have their iPads wait in line every time a new iPhone is released! A woman named Lucy Kelly was the first to try it out – she sent an iPad robot to stand proxy for her at an Apple store in Sydney, Australia, just before the launch of the new iPhone 6s.

The robot, also named Lucy, consists of an iPad attached to a Segway-type device. Created by Californian company Double Robotics, it allows a person to be virtually present anywhere without actually having to be there. And the company that Kelly works for – Atomic 212 – happened to order six of these robots to play with at their office. 

“We use them for everything, just to show new technology,” Kelly said. “It is a cool demonstration of what the future of technology will be. We are obsessed with them.” So on the eve of the iPhone 6s release in Sydney last Thursday, Lucy the robot arrived to take the fourth place in the long line of Apple fans.

 “I wanted to be one of the first people to have the iPhone 6s, but obviously because of work I can’t spend two days standing in line waiting for a mobile phone,” she told Mashable Australia. “So my boss said ‘Just take the robot down, you’ll still be able to do your work, but you’ll still be waiting in line.”

According to Kelly, an app allows people to communicate from anywhere through the iPad. So she used it to make friends with other people standing in line, answer questions from inquisitive passersby, and ultimately purchase the phone. The device waited in line for the entire night, in a special tent that kept her charged and safe from the rain. And Kelly’s face was on the screen the whole time.

She revealed that none of the others in line seemed jealous or resentful of the robot. “Everyone thinks it’s pretty cool,” she said. “They were happy to let a robot go ahead.” 

So there you go. Can the robot stand in line at the bank? Not so many people are actually going to the bank any more, though. On the topic of banks, I had to go to mine yesterday. The day before, I reached into my pocket for some money and pulled out one of the new 20s...and it was torn completely in half... right through that new plastic strip. It probably happened because I happened to have a loonie in the same pocket...the only sharp object.

See ya, eh! 

Bob

PS: Yes, the bank did exchange my torn apart 20 for a new one. They did not seem surprised which leads me to believe...