check out the "hobby" robotics coming out of Japan at Robosavvy. They have self-contained power sources and are flexable enough to lie down completely flat, then stand up again. they can walk, kick, stand on one leg. their flexability and sense of balance is incredible. in my lifetime kids will have 'supertoys' (from the movie AI) and probably many people will have them as companions or side-kicks. There will be robot recycling and repair stores - a freegeek for robots. even though their not necessarily any more complex than a PC, because they resemble animal life and have capabilities of locomotion and memory, they affect people unlike any other machine.