Amazon wants us to believe the robots are coming — but most people won't find them useful

Electronics companies have for years paraded around flashy, futuristic prototypes of consumer robots. They've pointed to a not-too-distant future where people will have roaming robot helpers around their home that can do the dishes or even act as a personal masseuse. So far, few of those predictions have panned out, and they largely remain the stuff of science fiction. 

Last week, at Amazon's re:MARS technology conference in Las Vegas, the e-commerce giant and other technology companies in attendance showed off the latest in robotics. 

I noticed there weren't bold marketing proclamations of "robot butlers" or "AI dogs" as I walked the show floor. The robots were designed to look more practical, and many of the devices could only do a few simple tasks. 

Take Amazon's Astro robot, for example. The company last September unveiled the long-rumored home robot, which costs $1,000 for invitation-only shoppers. It will cost $1,500 once it launches publicly at a date yet to be announced. At re:MARS, Astro greeted visitors of a mock smart home tricked out with an array of internet-connected devices.

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