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Unfortunately there is no practical application for them. They're incredibly capable, but they're also expensive, fragile, and difficult to maintain. This is, i

by jpm_sd 10y ago

Unfortunately there is no practical application for them. They're incredibly capable, but they're also expensive, fragile, and difficult to maintain. This is, in a nutshell, why Google decided not to hold on to the company - no consumer market whatsoever.

aeleos 10y ago
They were never actually sold, the only news related to it was back in march 2016 where alphabet said they were looking to sell. Afaik nothing has come up about it since.
- elsewhen 10y ago
  and their about-us page still says that they are a "wholly owned subsidiary of Google, Inc." http://www.bostondynamics.com/bd_about.html http://www.bostondynamics.com/bd_about.html
  - return0 10y ago
    That should be Alphabet by now.
mabbo 10y ago
I spent five years in software for Amazon's fulfillment centers. Let me assure you, there is a market for this sort of robotics. I can think of a few jobs currently handled by humans in the FCs where this robot in particular could do the entire job. Lots of kinks to work out I'm sure but that's what the software team is there for. Google would probably never sell to their biggest competitor at a reasonable price though. Plus, Amazon already has a robotics company in Boston (Kiva).
nikofeyn 10y ago
that is not why google decided to "not hold on to the company". it was far more due to culture and direction conflicts. in general, it seems google does not really understand what to do with the companies it purchases. http://www.businessinsider.com/why-google-and-boston-dynamics-are-parting-ways-2016-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/why-google-and-boston-dynamic...