The IBOT is Dead!

[Marc P.]

Originally Posted by KarenH

The other thing to keep in mind-- If Congress and Medicare are this bad now, just think what it'll be like if the U.S. gets nationalized health care!

I'm sure Congress is well aware of the benefits something like the iBOT provides people with disabilities. Rhode Island congressman Jim Langevin has come to the Boston regional a few times to sing it's praises, and always delivers an inspirational speech about how technology and engineers make lives better through innovation.



The real challenge is making these innovations more accessible to a wider range of people. When the first computers were built, they took up hundreds of square feet, and were only capable of a few specialized tasks. They also carried a hefty price tag, and were only predicted to become larger and more expensive over time. To quote Professor Frink from The Simpsons- "within 100 years, computers will be twice as powerful, ten thousand times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them. M-huy."

As I get ready to leave for work, I put my iPhone in my pocket and think back to the '50s, '60s, and '70s. I wonder if anyone back then could imagine the possibility of a device hundreds to thousands of times more computationally powerful than the systems running the Apollo spacecraft, in a size smaller than a wallet.

Looking back at how much life has changed over the last 50 years makes me think ahead to the inventions and innovations that are just now making their way out of development, and wonder what the next 50 or 100 years will bring. The iBOT is a fantastic piece of equipment, though prohibitively expensive for many. Material and manufacturing breakthroughs may one day make such things more accessible, just as it did for cars and computers.