I enjoy rereading http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/robotandbaby/robotandbaby... from time to time, I still wonder how plausible it will be that we'll end up with laws that require robots to be somewhat menacing-looking to avoid people (especially children) getting too attached to them. (In the story, household robots have "the shape of a giant metallic spider with 8 limbs: 4 with joints and 4 tentacular. ... They spoke as little as was consistent with their functions and in a slightly repellent metallic voice not associated with either sex. ... Also robots were made somewhat fragile on the outside; if you kicked one, some parts would fall off. This sometimes relieved some people's feelings.")

Some of us will always want these robots to look even more horrifying though. \m/ And for myself I've always found each of the BD robots somewhat cute and always sympathetic whenever hockey stick man bullies them.