I’d never thought of the topic before but I think you’ve got me convinced. Outside of the inevitable pornographic applications, humanoid robots just make no sense. I’m not sure a monstrous teddy tank of doom leaning in to lift my feeble corpus in a long-limbed embrace of terror makes much sense either, at least from my own emotional perspective, though the mechanics of the situation are certainly more sound.
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EAT THE ICE CREAM.
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I did not expect to see a commercial today that made me want to swear off ice cream forever, yet here we are.
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Are there humanoid robot fights yet?
With 3 finished floors, we have 3 robot vacuums. Each week, or more often, we release the robot army to suck up all the dust and dirt on each floor. They dutifully collect the dirt and deliver it to their self emptying bases for disposal every few weeks. Occasionally, they’ll complain that they have been overcome by hair and require assistance to free them.
However, they are all thwarted each time by the surface left holding the most dog hair in our house each week.
Completely defeated by the stairs. Powerless to clear any dust from even the lowest of stair steps.
A humanoid robot is probably overkill to solve this problem, yet the problem still exists with no ready solutions. A humanoid robot could at least use the stick vacuum (or be a stick vacuum) on the stairs for me.
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Still not released yet (and honestly not sure how trustworthy this particular company is), but I expect it or a similarly-capable model to hit the market sooner than a humanoid robot that could do the same thing.
Or you could always just build a Roomba with treads. Like I said, we’ve had treaded robots capable of ascending stairs for several decades now.
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elevate!
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Well that just makes ED-209’s faceplant even more embarrassing.
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It says “Estimated Delivery in August, 2023” and the YouTube video and Kick Starter page are both gone. Not looking promising.
Could probably give the stick vacuum to the new Boston Dynamics robot and have it working faster.
Could probably attach a vacuum to the old Boston Dynamics robot dog and have it working faster.
Both are probably overkill for a vacuum specific robot.
A humanoid robot walking a robot dog vacuuming the stairs would be wicked cool though. 
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I puppy sit my kids dog which is an Australian Shepard mix. Most of the floor is hard but the bed room is carpet and I hand rake it with this brass comb thingy made to get hair and fuzz out of carpet and furniture - works amazingly well.
Blase. Rockets! Though probably not ideal for carpeted areas.
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Problem solved?
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Perhaps rescue/repair operations too hazardous for humans?
There are lots of robots designed to go into places that are too dangerous for humans. They just aren’t shaped like humans, because there are a few if any tasks that are best accomplished by a machine with a human form factor.
Even the folks at Boston Dynamics basically admitted that they have no idea what kinds of tasks their machines might actually be good for, they are waiting for the market to figure out a use for them.
That goes without saying, but there are things a humanoid with hands, legs, beyond human flexibility, and much greater strength can do and in one package, such as clearing its own way for access to the things it needs to do, such as operating critical process controls (valves/levers/switches) to help make conditions safer.
Yes, but as discussed upthread you wouldn’t need a humanoid form factor to do any of those things. If anything it would be artificially limiting compared to what you could do with a robot that was equipped with many specialized limbs and that didn’t have to balance itself on a pair of humanoid legs.
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Well… time will tell. 
Embarrassing to some is comforting to others. Seeing these prototypes and noticing the lack of a really big off button/switch makes me nervous. Watching them successfully navigating stairs and getting up undamaged from a fall leaves me feeling like options for escape are becoming increasingly limited. 
Another concern is who has the deep pockets here. Will they profit more by supporting mililary and law enforcement functions or helping people with mobility issues, caregiving, and/or performing housekeeping tasks? 
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That need will be shock troop soldier. At some point that robot and all his compatriots will be carrying assault weapons. The manufacturers are just waiting for the military to get comfortable with the idea.
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