As Nicki Minaj once said, “Starships were meant to fly, hands up and touch the sky, can’t stop ‘cause we’re so high, let’s do this one more time.” That last line really hit me, so I’m back writing another article about my beloved Starship robot babies.
Since their launch in January, the Starship food delivery bots have been everywhere. Whether they’re practically tripping you as you walk to Cathy, spinning in confused circles somewhere on Forbes or patiently waiting at a crosswalk, you’re bound to encounter the little guys at least once a day. Personally, I’ve heard varied responses to the new robot presence on campus. Some students find them to be adorable little puppies that you just want to steal and keep as pets in your apartment. (Okay, maybe that’s just me). Other people have told me that they’re just a hassle, and I can’t argue with that. In a poll of Her Campus Pitt members, 12 said they’re cute, while four argued they’re annoying and three admitted to being scared of the robots. Despite the novelty of the bots having worn off by now, these mixed reviews left me with a few questions to clear up.
Do they have names?
A recent Reddit thread got me thinking: do the Starship delivery robots even have names? Seeing as they’re Pitt students’ collective pets, we should be able to name them, right? One commenter said that they put a sticker on a robot, but it was gone the next day (sad). I’m just putting it out there: name tags on these little guys would be adorable. I want to know who’s delivering my food!
Does anyone actually use them?
I see them rolling up and down Fifth and Forbes all day, but where are they going? Who actually orders food delivery from these guys? No one that I know, at least. (Conspiracy: maybe they’re just roaming around to create the illusion that business is booming).
Are they more trouble than they’re worth?
As cute as I think they are, I have to admit that the robots can be kind of annoying hogging up the sidewalks and almost running into students. Plus, with speeds maxing at four mph and the fact that they constantly get stuck in the sea of students flowing in and out of Cathy, I can’t imagine that it would take any less than about 45 minutes to get your food from them.
Will Pitt students ever stop harassing them?
I think it’s the funniest thing ever to see the robots “confused” or asking someone to move out of their way, and I’m not alone. Just scrolling through TikTok, I’ve seen so many videos of people either helping or provoking the Starship babies to test their limits (exhibits A, B and C). I mean, come on, Starship should’ve known this would happen.
Perhaps the only purpose of the food delivery robots is to cheer us up. And as struggling college students suffering through a grey Pittsburgh winter, we need that.