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Beer Butler Dream Come True for Guzzlers

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 February 2006, 18:00 CST

By JULES CRITTENDEN

3500 B.C. - the earliest known wheel is made in Mesopotamia.

1436 A.D. - the printing press is invented in Germany.

2006 A.D. - Japanese engineering geniuses develop the beer-bot.

In what may be the greatest technological advance since the TV remote, Japan's Asahi brewery is giving away 5,000 personal bartending robots. New Scientist's Web site reports the electronic wonders store up to six cans of beer in a refrigerated compartment in their bellies. Simply push a button, and your own personal R2Beer2 will retrieve a can, open it, and pour its golden sudsy loveliness into a glass.

The astonishing labor-saving marvel currently is only available in a Japanese Willie Wonka-style beer promotion. Starting this month, Asahi drinkers must collect 36 tokens on specially marked beers to win their own beer bot.

Naturally, the innovation already has its detractors. Ronald Arkin of the Georgia Institute of Technology told New Scientist the beer bot is not particularly impressive. "Home robots are already present. Roomba and Aibo are two good examples - the former for cleaning, the latter for entertainment." He dismissed the beer bot as "just an example of what people can do with robots to gather attention towards a product."

Source: Boston Herald

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