A GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND

In a major breakthrough for robot technology, a team of experts from a major US university have taught a robot how to pair socks.

(Thanks to Horace LaBadie)

Comments

[wiredog]

Some internet commenters have suggested that there is something rather obscene in the robot's sock-inverting motions. We advise you to ignore them and their depraved minds.

Good thing this is a classy blog. No sex, violence, or obscenity here.

[Cheesewiz]

If this were a Steven Wright robot, it would pair the socks by thickness.

[Siouxie]

Hah!

[Betsy]

The ability to match 2 socks doesn't impress me. Try it on a week's worth of your son's athletic socks: 53 individual socks, all white, with 42 different numbers and arrangements of wide and narrow red stripes at the top.

(Fortunately, said son is now 42, with a wife who assumes he'll do his own laundry.)

[Suzie Q. Wacvet]

Thank God we now have something to help us with this exhausting task.

[Siouxie]

Not only that, Betsy. Wait till the robot tries to wash and DRY those socks and THEN see if he can pair them again!

[Horace LaBadie]

Maybe they can teach one to interrogate the washing machine to find out what happened to the missing sock.

Until then, when they teach one to fold a fitted sheet, let me know.

[bonmot]

Wang loves getting his dowel polished.

[Jeff Meyerson]

As a person who has always done the laundry and paired the socks I'm amazed there haven't been any "now if we could only teach guys to do this" comments.

I commend the female bloglits.

[NotSherly]

Jeff, I assumed that all guys knew how to do what was on that video.

[Scott]

Jeff: I thought the same thing. I was the sole laundry-doer in our house for a number of years, so I greatly appreciate the value of this technology (and the hard work of those whose job it is to sort those 53 individual socks, Betsy!)

[trustf8]

*snork* @ Jeff 'The Sockificator' Meyerson

[Alyzabeth]

Pounding Socks WBAGNFARB.

[Coconuts]

Been there, done that for years. Now Mr. Coconuts and I don't wear socks anymore. Flip flops are the footwear of choice. *hops back on.......

[Horace LaBadie]

Matching socks is easy. The colors with bleach spots are mates.

[Schadeboy]

I'd like to see a robot actually do the laundry from start to finish.

[Ralph]

The best theory is that socks are larval coat hangers, which explains why you have missing socks and too many hangers in the closet. Once robots start matching socks, the household ecology will be upset.

[bonmot]

When I used to sell fine men's clothing, including luxuries like cashmere socks, I would encourage customers to "Buy two pairs. That way, when you lose one, you still have a pair."

It worked, occasionally.

[Loudmouth]

Just buy black and throw them all in the drawer.