Can any of the giz guys find sales data for this thing in japan? I just have this nagging feeling that even though this thing is pretty stupid it probably sells well and might actually sell well here if sony markets it properly.

Rolly polly round my toilet bowly...

i dont understand why anyone would buy this. beacuse it moves?

you know i cant believe they actually went through with making this thing. Is it just me or is this gizmo pretty pointless?

alot of people buy gizmos, even gizmos that they dont even need. The correlation between the gizmos that the average joe purchases is that often, they are devices that they can use. i may not entirely NEED a second laptop, but i would like one. and if i have the cash, i might get one, providing that i am in position to. However, a little "fergie 2.0" that follows me around in the house, dances, and plays my music for me? I'm not even sure about that "following you around part" so at very least it dances and plays your music for you. This might be all well and good if it cost somewhere in the area 50 to 100 dollars, but the damn thing doesnt. As i recall, the price is around 250 dollars. For sony's sake, i hope i'm wrong about the price. If i'm not however, the only people who are going to be buying this damn thing are paris hilton wanna bes.

If sony ever made a device that could handle all the various types of urban terrain, would follow me around everywhere, even being able to keep up with me when i was on a busy sidewalk and/or was crossing the street, could connect to local wireless signals and read my e mails and RSS feeds and even weather feeds to me, as well as could record audio and take commands via microphone, and could stream radio, recorded audio, and/or my music to my headphones, i would buy it.

The following you around on a busy street and crossing the roads is a little bit of a stretch (for now) but all the other stuff you could totally pack into a relatively small box.

If you keep up with some of the projects that the military is doing, the R2D2 wannabe that i stated above will at very least be feasible within 10 years.

Is this the new Roomba?

what a waste of raw materials

Anyone with kids will see a use for this thing, tons of fun for the little ones.

@theorie:
Not as bad as a pack of five Wiimote "sport" attachments. Or 357 different iPod docks (including one with a washing machine attached).

@dna
I was in Tokyo on business and brought my family, we went to the Sony showcase building and saw a nice Japanese lady give a demo of the Rolly. My 8 an 10 year old kids were unimpressed, in fact, they left the demo immediately to check out the PS3 and huge t.v.'s. I was able to see this thing up close and have no clue why anyone would pay $500 for it, which is what it cost in Japan. Perhaps the Japanese gadget lovers have been buying it, but I can't see America getting behind this thing, at least not at that price point.

I actually dont think this is targeted at children at all. I think its going after the 18-35 demo. If you look at japanese animes that are set in the future you'll see tons of these totally pointless robots. Im not sure what the allure of these things is but its there apparently.

When confronted by our new mini mamboing overlords, the safest response is: "Domo aregato Mr. Roll-bato."

it's brining a sense of childlike wonder that has been lacking from the mp3 player market

But does it vibrate?

The only suppository that can please the likes of Richard Gere. Gerbils don't stand a chance.