An Exclusive Bartertown Daily News Interview with Robotics Mogul Steve Gates:

I met with Steve at his exclusive home in Bartertown Heights. There, we discussed his humble beginnings, his marriage to his wife Melanie, and his most recent philantropy work.




Tell me about where you grew up? When did you come to Bartertown?
I was born in Fairhaven in 1985. Fairhaven then was a small, one stoplight kind of town. My parents think its "quaint". I hated it. I always dreamed of the big city. A place where there was action 24-7. As soon as I graduated high school, I left my parents to make my mark on the world. I moved to Bartertown to go to university. At Barterton U. I had trouble meeting people at first (I was such a slack jawed yokel), but eventually found a close group of friends who were really just like me. After I graduated from BU with a dual major in art and computer science, a group of my friends and I all moved into an apartment.

Sounds like a story common to most Bartertown residents. I myself came to Bartertown almost 15 years ago to go to BU. Times for me as a young journalist were rough. What was it like for you as a young professional in the big city?
Because we were new graduates we couldn't really afford alot. Six of us crammed into a tiny converted speakeasy in Bartertown's Little Havana. Little Havana is on the other side of the river, near the old power plant. It was a interesting neighborhood, a mix of old factories and abandoned warehouses. The rent was cheap, but I got really tired of living with 5 guys. It was such a pigsty. The dishes were never done, and the bathroom always smelled like something dead. But, the office for the new dotcom I was starting at was just around the corner on the "silicon peninsula" and I used to ride my skateboard to work. I think now the area has gentrified and it's filled with little bistros and boutiques. I think the speakeasy we used to live in has turned into "luxury studios".

Wow, from rural Fair Haven to Little Havana to Bartertown Heights. Did you meet Melanie during this time in the Silicon Peninsula?
Melanie and I had met at one of the new clubs that catered to the influx of young professionals in Bartertown. She was a few years younger than me and was starting a new job with First Key National Bank of SimCity in the Financial District. In 2011, we got married and moved into a cute brownstone that was just a few blocks north of her office. The commute took longer for me, but I was making more money, so I bought a small car and made do.

The very next year, the tech market crashed and my dotcom laid me off. Melanie was making decent enough money, but this meant that she was the primary income now. The next few months were a real test of our relationship. Our rent and bills were almost too much for Melanie to handle. I was offered jobs at several companies outside of Bartertown, but Melanie was really advancing in her career. And to top it all off, we were expecting our first child. We decided that instead of leaving the city we loved to pursue other opportunities, we would move to a cheaper neighborhood at the outskirts of the city. Melanie would commute downtown for work on the train, and I would stay at home with our new son. Our brownstone was too small for the three of us anyway, and we could afford to buy a small townhouse, rather than continue paying rent in the brownstone. The schools were better, the neighborhood wasn't so crowded, and there was enough room in the townhouse that I could try and launch my own home business: selling small robots online.

I was wondering when we were going to get to your company. How did you come up with the idea of a robotic domestic servant?
A few years of changing dirty diapers, washing dishes, and picking up the laundry taught me a thing or two about housework. I channeled everything I learned and loathed into my robotics, which were just a hobby at the time. I started with just small servo-bots that had singular tasks: washing dishes or making meals. But I kept trying to expand my design and grow it's intelligence. After a few Beta versions, it seemed like I finally succeeded with Isaac, the first fully operational robotic Servo. Isaac could cook, clean, take out the trash *and* contribute to the household income. Melanie had just been promoted to vice-president of corporate accounts at First Key, when our son Harrison was starting kindergarten, and our second child, Holly was learning to walk. Isaac took care of all the household chores so that I could expand my website www.roboguy.com and STILL have dinner ready for Melanie. Overnight Isaac became a household name. Everyone wanted to have their own personal robot to do the chores.




What gave you the idea to expand Isaac’s programming to include more than just house chores?
I had left Isaac at home with Harrison and Holly during the earthquake of 2023. I was at Thunderdome Stadium for the ceremony to rename the team to the Bartertown Robots and Melanie was out of town visiting her parents for the weekend. My car got trapped under some falling rubble from the earthquake and I couldn’t reach anyone since the cell towers collapsed. It was Isaac who came to my rescue. As you know the first law that all robots must follow is that they cannot harm, or allow harm to any human being. Because of this law, Isaac’s programming dictated that he should protect the kids from all falling debris: he used his own body to shield them! After the immediate shockwave, the three of them, two kids and one robot, walked downtown to find me. When they finally found me, Isaac was able to pull the debris off the car so I could escape.

Sounds like a harrowing experience.
yes it was. But it was that harrowing experience that made me realize the true potential for Isaac. The earthquake left thousands of people trapped in Bartertown. I wanted to contribute to the rescue operation, so I released the hundreds of Isaacs I had in my factory into the city.

And then obviously we know what happened then, as we’ve all seen the CNN footage. Those hundreds of Isaacs not only saved thousands of lives, but then they also contributed to the cleanup and restoration of Bartertown. A process that may have taken decades for city officials, took only a matter of years for the Isaacs. And now, Bartertown is well back to becoming the booming metropolis it once was. I believe Time Magazine even voted Bartertown as the “#1 Most Living City.”
A title that’s somewhat ironic considering the circumstances. Isaacs now account for 2% of the population.

Indeed. We're almost out of time, but I want to talk more about your philanthropy. Was it the site of these hundreds of public Isaacs that inspired you to create the Steve and Melanie Gates Foundation?
It was Melanie. After Isaac saved both her kids and her husband, she started the foundation to provide a single Isaac for every public school. The Foundation is still young, but in three years we’ve given out 750 Isaacs to schools across the country.

And those Isaacs are continuing the legacy that you and your wife had hoped for them. I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Obviously you, your wife, and your Isaacs have all become synonymous with Bartertown’s future and prosperity.
It was my pleasure.