The future is now.

• Position: What's new? Holiday gifts galore - Fisher-Price Inc.'s Kasey the Kinderbot - Brief Article

* All those science fiction movies that gave the littlest member of the family a robot companion which served as a combination nursemaid/mentor/best buddy may have been prophetic after all. Fisher-Price, Inc., East Aurora, N.Y., has created Kasey the Kinderbot, proclaimed on the box as "Your get-ready-for-school friend." This robotic learning system is designed to teach preschoolers reading and math readiness, phonics, problem-solving, manners, and even thinking, although we would hope that, at that age, youngsters would be showing signs of doing the latter by themselves!

Meanwhile, Kasey ($64.99)is eerily lifelike with its (his?) moving head, arms, hands, eyes, and waist, supplemented by a friendly smile, surprisingly realistic voice, and an electronic screen to display interactive games and activities to help teach colors, shapes, counting, numbers, and letters. Kasey's "curriculum" was created by a panel of educational experts to provide social skills and "prepare kids for success in school," though one would hope that...