Yet another robot is forcing its way into sacred coffee ground, with the full assistance and compliance of humans. Roasting Plant Coffee Company of New York introduced the Javabot in April of 2007--in Manhattan, no less, the Atlantic Gateway to this fair land--and has opened the door to complete automation, from roasting to brewing.
Operating within a small retail store, Javabot uses clear pneumatic tubes, a kitschy delivery system designed, no doubt, to distract from the true intelligence of the machine and lull consumers into total obedience. Members of the flesh-based race are needed only to feed the bot, take payment and hand over the finished drinks--ooh, where do I sign up?
The company’s founder, Mike Caswell, is--surprise!--a former engineer for Starbucks. Oh, what seeds of coffee horror have ye not sown, Goliath?
One must wonder exactly who is in control of this operation, the humans or the robots. This snapshot from their web site, for instance, clearly testifies that even their promotional material seems to be computer generated as it appears they've recruited HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey" to serve their photography needs.
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