2012 has been a year of really great inventions, silly ones, temporary solutions (like the new tethered drone from CyPhy Works), and diversions. All happening seemingly simultaneously, without moderation, guidance and little direction. And most are transitional (or at least incremental) with better solutions in the labs or courtrooms waiting for breakthroughs.

But there are also toys and other robotic items that have withered because the developer didn’t want to be diverted into a business when all he/she wanted was to build something fresh and fun. Many of the tele-presence devices getting crowd-funding in recent months are fun-tech gimmick products with no long-term business plan or even interest in having one.

One could make a case that with strategic guidance and management, robotic development could happen quicker. That we could truly fill a need instead of feeding a diversion. Read more.

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