Robot Articles On The Rise: Omen or Red Herring?
There's a very unique category of magazines published in Japan that seem to focus exclusively on the promotion of consumer products. Their names are usually very cute wordplay and include titles like "Goods Press", "Trendy", "Mono" (the Japanese word for 'thing', "Dime", and the like. Some of the magazines do a fairly good job at providing balanced and often comparative reviews of new products and trends, while others (who will remain nameless) never have a bad or even critical word to say about a product in print.
We usually thumb through the magazines, stopping to read and translate any articles that catch our interest. Recently we've noticed that something strange is going on...
Articles carried in these magazines are often an early trend indicator - though it isn't clear whether they are reporting on the signs of a new trend, or driving by creating mass market interest.
Nevertheless, the sequence of events seems to be fairly consistent. A few years ago all the magazines ran articles featuring new cell phones equipped with digital cameras, and within the next few months the adoption rate of the new phones soared. More recently, the magazines carried numerous articles on SLR digital cameras, and sure enough now everyone seems to be rushing out to buy one of the new cameras.
The reason we bring this up is that over the past three months the number of robot related articles, and in some cases whole feature sections in Japanese magazines, has increased dramatically. Goods Press, for example, had extensive robot coverage in their most recent issue. This month, MONO is following the same lead and has articles covering all types of robots including Wakamaru and even the Murata bicycling robot (see image above). We've even seen the launch of a brand new 140 page glossy bi-monthly journal titled "Robot Life" that is dedicated 100% to hobby and consumer robotics.
Is it just a flash in the pan, a fad that will fade away as quickly as it appeared? Are robots finally ready to go mainstream?
It's hard to tell. However, we can truthfully report that several of our Japanese friends from all walks of life (not just the robot fanatics we love to hang out with) have gotten really curious about robots. We've even had a 50+ co-worker at the office, who happens to be a woman in a secretarial position, ask us for advice on what robot kit to buy and where to find accessories.
You might also enjoy:
- Roller Skating Robot Makes Magazine Cover
- Project M: MANOI Robot Demonstrated For The Press (Video)
- "ROBOT LIFE" Magazine Introduced
- Humanoid Robot Popular in the Japanese Press
- Good Timing/Bad Timing
