Kuala Lampur, Sept. 18 -- During a visit to China in July, I ordered something while staying in a hotel. I expected to collect it from the lobby. Instead, a small robot entered the lift, travelled to my floor and stopped directly outside my room. It even called me through the guest phone in my room! It was efficient, polite in its own mechanical way and wonderfully convenient.

Yet, after the door closed, another thought remained: if almost everything can come to us, what reasons will we have to go out?

A friend in China told me that many people around her increasingly order their everyday purchases online. When they go to a shopping centre, it may be to eat or spend time with friends rather than to buy necessities. Her comment was a per...