Bye Bye Aibo

Sad news for all lovers of electronic pets: Sony has announced that it is to end production of Aibo.

Aibo the robodog was one of the most advanced pieces of robotics available to the consumer. Unfortunately since its 1999 debut only 150,000 had been sold and the robotics division generated "only" around $40m to $80m revenue - tiny numbers for a company the size of Sony. Production of Aibo will now end in March 2006 and support will cease in 2013. Development of QRIO, the humanoid "Sony Dream Robot", will also cease.

This is a great disappointment to me. Aibo has for ages been on my "must buy when I win the lottery" list. Now there simply won't be any new ones made and the second hand price is also bound to shoot up.

I'd like to think that this is all a publicity stunt: Sony will suddenly change their mind in the face of public protest and announce a reprieve for Aibo. Unfortunately that's probably just wishful thinking.