There’s only so much a company can give away without extracting payment of some kind. Perhaps the world’s biggest provider of free stuff, Google, “gives away” its search tools, but in exchange users are offered less than democratic responses whereby the highest ranked terms are paid for. And in fact, the cost of “free” search is underwritten by copious amounts of advertising.

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How many stories can a picture tell?

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Ever heard of Pepper? Referred to in marketing promos as an “emotional android” and resembling something akin to a hard white plastic version of E.T., it will make eye contact, ask questions, and even move its arms while it speaks. When released in Japan last June, the initial 1,000 unit lot of the $1,600 robot sold out in less than a minute.

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