[Updated May 17, 2018 with new article link.]
Chatty robots, cocktail-shaking computers, pen phones wow CeBIT crowds (AFP). AFP – A chatting robot, a BMW that can make dinner reservations and a computer server that can mix a dry martini are among the gadgets drawing crowds at the start of the CeBIT, the world’s biggest high-tech trade fair.
– Original source: Yahoo! News – Technology; 3/18/2004; 1:23:04 PM
Now bartenders are going to be replaced by robots? Call Marshal Brain!
One tip for spotting future trends and appreciating progress is to pay attention to the small, insignificant discoveries and inventions mentioned in media. Incrimental changes build on each other until their mass effect is apparent, even if each individual change did not seem to be a big deal at the time.