"Do you remember the first time you used a robot vacuum? I remember mine. It was one of iRobot's early Roombas. I was transfixed, watching this chunky black disc whiz noisily around, bashing into walls and furniture before zipping off in seemingly random directions like a hockey puck slapped haphazardly across the ice. It wasn't good at its job, but in a way, its clumsy sort of chaos made it charming."
"But it feels like manufacturers have made a collective decision to ignore the R2-D2 of it all in their quest to turn their products into Very Serious Appliances. Why that might be is anyone's guess, but I suspect either it hasn't occurred to them to make a robot vacuum fun or they want people to see their products as sophisticated, advanced technology."
An early Roomba elicited fascination with its clumsy, charming behavior despite poor cleaning. Modern robot vacuums favor uniform, serious industrial design with flatter shapes and protruding sensor clusters for better navigation. Newer models use advanced components like independently lifting wheels and periscope-like sensors, and docks now handle mopping solution swaps and self-cleaning. Despite increased intelligence and fewer entanglements, many models still fail basic cleaning tasks: they get disabled by small objects, leave visible debris on carpets, and occasionally miss commonplace messes. Manufacturers appear to prioritize sophistication and safety over playfulness, producing appliances that are technically advanced yet often lack practical cleaning reliability.
Read at gizmodo.com
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