A while back there was a discussion of robotry having a too-small impact, and one remark (John Nagle?) was that labor is too cheap, noting the disappearance of "hands-free" car washes in favor of a crowd holding rags. The presentation by Rodney Brooks at a maker faire
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labor costs in a larger context. The whole talk is very exciting, setting a view not seen by me as a learning voyeur, but confirming my firm intuition that roboticists are way more important than they games they "play".
Listening is a half-hour well spent.