Uhm... eek?
If it's Terry Pratchett-style, does that mean it'll have a tendency to eat people?
And where are all the legs?
Reports out of Russia indicate that a battery-powered motorised suitcase which automatically follows its owner will be on the market in 2009*. The robot luggage No escape from dirty laundry. Russia-Infocentre says the Terry Pratchett-style mobile, smart luggage will track a "sensor-card" carried by its user. The …
It's a cute idea, but in a crowded airport or Tube platform, there is no way something like that is going to be able to follow its owner through the crowd without being kicked over. Its size is such that I don't see why you wouldn't just carry it.
If you made it much, much bigger, it might be worthwhile. If it was big enough you could carry luggage around the airport without using trolleys, and it wouldn't get knocked over.
But people are just not going to let small bags alone to their own devices, no more than they would small children. Small children are capable of following you as well, and they can go up stairs, but you still hold their hand and don't let go until you get out of the Tube.
They should put a seat on it or have some kind of foot platform like a segway so it could move the person around as well.
It always annoys me when I'm running for a flight when people come past me at high speed in those carts when I still have 10 minutes of walking to do with only 5 minutes to go.
"What's the point of something that can carry 30kg of gear when the airlines charge you an arm and a leg for anything over 20kg (or in some cases 15kg)?"
I imagine that if you've got the funds to buy an automated rolly bag to keep from having to drag it yourself, you can take the fee. Then again it might be cheaper just to hire someone at each end of your flight to carry / drag your baggage to your limo.
So I guess what I'm saying is that if it can't catch sharks, then theres no point in buying it.
...at least in Los Estados Unidos, where it would not be allowed through security...and the short walk from the taxi stand to the curb-side check-in isn't worth the hassle. Especially since there are still Red Caps to be had for US$2 per bag.
On the other hand, if they were £96 instead of £965, I'd get a half-dozen and have them ALL following me through the aeropuerto just for the giggles it would cause. Take a circuit around the check-in desks, banging folks feet and causing general mayhem. Well worth £300 just for the You-Tube opportunity...
@ Seat: in most US airports, the guys with the golf carts will pick up ANYONE that flags them down, and for a tenner, give you a ride to your gate. This is VERY key knowledge in places like Phoenix (PHX) or St. Louis (STL) where connecting flights may be as much as 1.5 MILES (3KM) apart (yeah, I measured it), all within ONE terminal. Now, FINDING the golf-cart guys is a challenge, but I use 'em all the time - when they're there.
So there you are, at the airport and the droid luggage hasn't had Service Pack 2 yet. You find yourself attracting all the other droid suitcases due to non-filtering of other signals from mobiles and the like and end up looking like mother duck.
Or some bright spark with laptop picks your bag up on wireless and starts driving it around the terminal. Hmm, now there's something to while away the hours -- bag racing.
" a tenner says I can get my bag round the waiting area and back quicker that you can get yours to do the same"
"Nah, lets play human bowling with the queue at Macdonalds"