The music was great, but Britain in the 1970s was generally iffy. Strikes and power cuts were common. Personal, portable state-of-the-art treats included naff digital watches and giant Casio calculators. Only reasonably well-off folk could afford to own or rent colour TVs and VHS recorders for their maisonette homes. AM Binatone radios, cassette tape players or eight-track sound systems were for the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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But by the end of the decade, Fiat bravely stepped up and revolutionised the car and television worlds with its bold, ahead-of-the-game attitude and accompanying two-minute TV commercial telling unsuspecting punters its cutting-edge cars (mainly Strada hatchbacks) were being \u201cHandbuilt by Robots.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ten years after that, Toyota shipped me out to Japan for a ride in one of its robotic\/self-driving cars. Then, another decade later, it was Honda\u2019s turn to demonstrate its robo car prowess. After being shaken and stirred by the scarily high-speed driverless experience, tea was suggested and a cuppa was duly handed to me by a robotic four-foot Honda \u2018employee\u2019 wearing unfathomably squeaky trainers and introducing him\/her\/itself as Asimo.<\/p>\n