"When I got my Roomba in 2005, I felt like I was a step closer to my dream of living in a Jetsons-style home where a robot did my chores for me. It was expensive, around $300 for a small black disc on wheels that sucked up dirt, but its promise to do one of my most-hated chores while I was at work was compelling."
""It's a blow for robotics and a tragic day for American innovation," he said in an interview with The Verge. "This was our freaking market - we invented consumer robotics. We built this thing, we put it in a box, wrapped it up, and handed it to someone else. We did this to ourselves; this was a choiceful action that was not based on the merit and charge of antitrust.""
Roomba introduced many consumers to home robots and promised a futuristic, Jetsons-like convenience despite early maintenance needs and a roughly $300 price. Early Roombas required frequent user attention but demonstrated the potential for modern, effective robot vacuums. Robot vacuums became a common household category often called Roombas regardless of manufacturer. iRobot has filed for bankruptcy and will hand control to Chinese manufacturing partner Picea Robotics while existing devices continue to function. Former CEO Colin Angle attributed the company's downfall to government regulation and regulators' blocking of Amazon's attempted acquisition amid efforts to rein in Big Tech.
Read at The Verge
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