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Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

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Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#201

Post by amanaplanacanal »

trinix912 wrote: post #124
amanaplanacanal wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It appears that it was the EU which blocked the deal rather than the US.

Do you have a source to back this up or you're just assuming? So far I've only seen FTC statements on this and they wouldn't have been too pleased with the merger.

Yeah, iRobot's press release:

https://media.irobot.com/2024-01-29-Amazon-and-iRobot-agree-...

"Amazon's proposed acquisition of iRobot has no path to regulatory approval in the European Union, preventing Amazon and iRobot from moving forward together—a loss for consumers, competition, and innovation."

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#202

Post by jve »

bob1029 wrote: post #153
ghaff wrote: post #41

My brother has a house that is pretty much custom-made for a robo-vacuum. One level, no transitions, they have pets. And they like it well enough (not an iRobot)--and it still gets tangled up in stuff from time to time. I have a 2-level house. Even after some house work, one room that probably still has too high a transition. A lot of different surfaces (And I'm not religious with cords and the like.) I'm guessing th…

> custom-made for a robo-vacuum If I was going to custom build a house around vacuuming, I'd get a central vacuum system, not a robotic one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_vacuum_cleaner

I was also dreaming of an opening in a wall where I can brush my dust into and it magically disappears... Since having cordless vacuum I no longer dream about that.

I mean even a plug which would let you plug in an elephant nose - I think that is more cumbersome than the cordless vacuum. I mean having to get that hose and hook it up every time I want to vacuum something? Meh. Easier to pick up the 21th century broom that makes dust disappear when you roll over it.

And manual brooming makes you give n passes over the same place to do the job... juck.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#203

Post by probably_wrong »

furyg3 wrote: post #136

Are there any good robo-vacuum cleaners that will still clean your floor if the internet is down? I've had my Miele vacuum cleaner for 15 years now, and I bought it second hand. I can still buy bags and filters for it, and when the floor roller piece broke (something heavy fell on it) I was able to buy a replacement one for cheap. I see no reason why it can't go another 10 years. It feels like a very low probability…

For what it's worth I never connected my 5-years-old Xiaomi Mi to the Internet - I just push the button and it starts. A wheel stopped working this year but I bought the replacement and installed it without much fuzz.

As for modern vacuums I have no idea what happens if you never set up their WiFi.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#204

Post by mlrtime »

aurareturn wrote: post #142
simonjgreen wrote: post #81

This is the cost of complacency. They were ahead for so long then the likes of Roborock just left them in the dirt. I remember the first time I tried one of the Roborock devices, and until then I have been a long time Roomba user (like, 20 years). I just couldn’t believe how much better it was. And iRobot just stubbornly refused to iterate on their fundamental products.

It is complacency or is China just accelerating? It's not surprising that China wins in these things. Just go to Shenzhen. Hardware designers, parts, machines that make the parts, factories, etc. are all within driving distance. You can't compete unless you also have offices there, hire Chinese workers, compete in China. American companies need to start designing in China, not just made in China. Ford themselves said…

And then the Chinese end up stealing any actual IP that may get the US company ahead by being there.

Also, is it still difficult to bring profits back to the US?

Damn'd if you do, dam'd if you don't.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#206

Post by mlrtime »

p0pularopinion wrote: post #188
devsda wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know people like to say that it is American companies that innovate and Chinese companies just copies. This may be true in certain areas, but I think some Chinese companies do take the idea and then they iterate on the product to the point that it outshines the original product all while the original company refuses to act. Sure there are initial product R&D cost overheads but I don't believe that's the only reason…

I generally think both attitudes are a too simplistic look. Basically, the most common pattern with „commodity“ tech seems to be like this. Western companies go ahead and expend a lot of R&D to establish a new market or validate a market need. Chinese companies go ahead and flood the market with slighly worse but significantly cheaper versions of said product (often forcing the „inventor“ company to take a significan…

That makes sense, are there any expamples of the Chinese leading in a market + R&D yet?

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#207

Post by haritha-j »

closewith wrote: post #199
moooo99 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would happily overpay 3-4x for the good vacuum without the cloud and the need to do some hacking with valetudo, with an official service and support for the device. Yet nobody is willing to take the money. They'd rather go bankrupt.. I feel like you are over estimating market demand based on your own preferences. Been there, done that. Most techies under estimate how little normal folks care about privacy, cybers…

> Most techies under estimate how little normal folks care about privacy, cybersecurity and stuff like that. Most techies vastly overestimate how much money most people have available for nice-to-haves like privacy, cybersecurity and stuff like that.

this. Thank goodness i'm a broke phd student.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#208

Post by arnvald »

olivierlacan wrote: post #34

If you've used any non-iRobot vacuum alternatives in the last 5 years and ever owned a Roomba in the past there should be nothing surprising about this headline. It's shocking to me how good Roborock mop-vacuums are for example, Eufy vacuums are nice as well. They still run into unavoidable issues, but they're: much quieter even at their highest setting; show you how they map out the space; allow you to easily custom…

I had a Roomba+Braava Jet for a few years and I constantly had some issues with both devices, but the worst part was that in theory they should be working well together. There's this function "linked cleaning" where Braava mops the floor right after Roomba finishes vacuuming. But in practice it often didn't work, either the automation didn't trigger, or Roomba got stuck somewhere, cancelled the cleaning, and then Braava started mopping floor that hadn't been vacuumed.

Eventually I moved to Roborock with vacuum+mop in a single device. It still has its issues, but it is ten times better. It's able to lift the mop on the carpet, the mop is self-cleaning, and it has a large tank so that I only have to refill the water once a week instead of every other day. Day and night. Roomba eventually introduced a similar model, but it's been years after competitors had them.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#209

Post by mlrtime »

Sl1mb0 wrote: post #127
nine_k wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anybody who played Doom, or Quake, or Counterstrike knows: if you are not moving, you are dead. And if you try to show a counterexample, and say: "Look, I'm not moving, and I'm alive all right", it's an illusion, because the rockets, grenades, nails, and plasma charges that will slay you are already in flight, you are just failing to see them.

> sits for hours playing a video game > if you are not moving, you are dead. I understand the point you're trying to make, but there is some irony here.

The metaphor still works, it's just the timeline changes.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#210

Post by mlrtime »

jack_tripper wrote: post #108
RGamma wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently looking to make my living space robot friendly, I wonder: can they clean hard to reach spots behind doors or under the ledge of a sofa (I can't remove every obstacle)?

>can they clean hard to reach spots behind doors Robovacs aren't a drop-in replacement for a maid, they aren't a fire and forget cleaning solution for a house that's already dirty and messy or have constant spills and stuff left on the floor, but more for regular maintenance of an orderly place that still gets cleaned or maintained in the tough to reach places every now and then. But if your place resembles a crack h…

The newest ones have arms to pick up objects on the floor. Your comment is still valid, but it may pick up that crack vile ;)
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