In a 1970’s paper, roboticist Masahiro Mori noted that people are disturbed by robots
that appear “almost” human. However, they did not react negatively toward robots
that display no human characteristics or robots that mimic humans exactly.
Between the two extremes of perfectly human and completely non- human lies an
“ Uncanny Valley ” that elicits feelings of disgust.
Now, tablets rule. Time magazine has quoted Apple CEO Tim Cook as stating”… that virtually every Fortune 500 and Global 500 company is already using the iPad in their businesses and adding more each quarter.” What makes this especially remarkable is that Apple envisioned the iPad as a consumer, rather than a business product.
Are keyboards dead? In view of their ubiquity, and proven usefulness, this may seem to be an absurd question, but some people are considering this possibility. The success of the keyboard-less iPad in penetrating the business market was one of 2011’s big surprises.
