iRobot has now filed for bankruptcy. It's actually something that I find quite sad. The first time I ever saw a robot vacuum was at my friend's house in elementary school. It was mesmerizing to watch this little thing on the floor bounce around sucking up dust. The irony was that it was a Neato robot vacuum, a brand that has already been dead for a little while.
The reason I am sad about the fall of iRobot is that not long ago, they seemed to be the first truly consumer-facing robotics company. In middle school, I was obsessed with robotics, and I remember combing the iRobot website for all the cool projects and research it contributed to. In fact, here is a pull of its website from the Wayback Machine on December 21st, 2013.
If you think the iRobot website is still like this, it isn't at all. Here is a screenshot of the sterile site as I am writing this:
The biggest positive for iRobot was the fact it was American. I have no idea how much data it collected, which is kind of a problem for smart devices. But now that iRobot is becoming Picea Robotics, a Chinese company, privacy concerns about that data are even more heightened. Also, basically all competition for robotic vacuums comes from Chinese corporations, so it's not like the pickings are much better.
The worst part is that Amazon was going to buy iRobot last year but was shut down due to antitrust concerns. Usually, I would have agreed with this stance, but iRobot was basically on life support; Amazon could've injected it with a lot of capital (and ecosystem lock-in) to make it a stable company with a more appealing product. Now we basically have nothing, as we are robot-vacuum-less.
But here is my solution to all this: just buy a good vaccum. My family owned an iRobot, and to be honest, I was quite let down by its ability to clean. Also, it would constantly get stuck; it basically parked itself in our Christmas tree skirt every day during the holidays. For how expensive it was, it created a new chore of taking care of it and keeping track of it. But you know what actually improved my cleaning experience? Dyson vacuums. Bear with me as this is going to be a bit of a Dyson love-fest, but this really applies to any manually operated vacuum.
Dyson vacuums are sleek, light, powerful, and enjoyable to use. That last part is why most modern products really suck: they inspire no joy in their use. When I use a good product, it makes the task it is supposed to improve 100x more enjoyable, to the point where I don't dread it and am not bothered when I have to do it. AirPods are so popular because they get rid of the fuss of wired headphones and connect so quickly you thought they were plugged in. Microwaves made cooking an almost instantaneous task. We keep trying to innovate our way to full autonomy, but what happened to taking pride in our tools?
I honestly have become so enamored with Dyson that I now watch their product launches on YouTube. Something the reader can determine is sad or not.
Watch this and tell me you don't want to start vacuuming.
I will miss iRobot, or at least the company it once was. But if you are looking to buy a robot vacuum to make life "easier" I would recommend you look at a cordless Dyson or Shark vacuum you might find that is best product of all.