Sorry....i'll stick with the real live breathing version.

Besides the nearest location is about four hours away.  The
local cat shelter is minutes away.   (And probably a lot cheaper
and they actually are alive, eat, breath, and do the other stuff
a real live cat does.)

Gee I wonder when they will come out with the baby version for wanna
be parents? Give me a break. Have you had a look at the pictures of
the puppy versions. Notice how both of them are in cages? Ok fine, if
you are one of these pet owners who decided to get a puppy even though
you work all day and leave your puppy in a cage all alone, then this
is for you. You can still be at work all day, say hi when you get in
the door, admire your living property, eat, and then go to bed. Other
than for that situation, nothing will replace a real puppy/dog. I will
gladly accept the hassles.

My girl Hollywood and her two boys Champ and Lucky...
http://24.101.203.113/hollywood/

And I can go to my local shelter and adopt a real cat
for half the price, it uses NO BATTERIES, eats real
food, and climbs where it wants to go when it wants to.

Take a look at these, they don't even look real.
http://www.perfectpetzzz.com/templates/group.asp?GroupGuid=11082

Note if you go to the adoption center they  have all of two cats to
choose from.    I can go down to my local animal shelter they
will have 30+ LIVE CATS to choose from.  Cats that really purr, eat
real food, move around on their own without batteries.   The only
thing you need to give them is cat food, water, love, and attention.

I'll continue to stick with the real thing.

While these might be OK for people who are allergic to or arent
allowed to have pets in rented flats etc, I would much prefer real
cats.

Personally too, I believe that the "bad things" such as having to
provide food, cleaning litter, cat fur in the house etc are a part of
life, and if you cant handle these things or won't do them then you
probably shouldnt have a cat.  I do enjoy feeding them actually - they
get so happy and purr a lot and rub round my legs as I get the food
out for them too :).  

They have one point though, I don't like the part where pets
ultimately get old and die, and relatively soon compared to a person

You get a lot more back from them, years of love and affection and as
a bonus I have had a vermin-free house and garage ever since I have
had my 2 'boys' :)

I much would prefer my 2 live little darlings.
Here they are cuddling up to each other on the bed :)
http://www.geocities.com/kenreed1999/pussies.jpg

Perfection is overrated.  I'm not perfect, no one I know is perfect -- I
don't want my pet to be perfect either.

This makes somewhat less sense than buying a life-size inflatable doll. I
mean, at least a life-size inflatable doll can handle some of the mechanical
aspects of a relationship. But, assuming no unusual personal inclinations,
this product is presumably meant to satisfy only an emotional appetite. That
doesn't work. I'm bound to my cats because there's an actual creature there,
with joys and desires. I look into their eyes and they look back into mine,
and we both know the other is real, and we're together. Yeah, if I were
trapped on a desert island, I think I'd like one of these. Kind of like Tom
Hanks and his pal Wilson in the movie Castaway. But I'm sure he'd rather
have had a cat, and so would I.