this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Troubled robot vacuum-cleaner maker iRobot, abandoned by Amazon after regulators effectively doomed the web giant's takeover offer, has warned investors it may not survive the next 12 months.

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[–] endofline@lemmy.ca 8 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure somebody will buy the data iRobot robots collected during their cleaning time :-)

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

I wonder how valuable that data even is, or to who. I figure the data consists of accumulated cleaning time, location, surface area which could be used to extrapolate some socio economic stats and offer insight how to best market these devices. And also technical data about the devices. Both of which I'd wager are probably useful to companies in the same business.

We'll see who buys them in a year :D

[–] mlg@lemmy.world 11 points 8 hours ago

https://valetudo.cloud/pages/general/supported-robots.html

iRobot not even on the list despite being the original de facto vacuum robot OEM

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 16 points 10 hours ago
[–] RabbitBBQ@lemmy.world 14 points 10 hours ago

The movie wasn't very good either

[–] Alpha71@lemmy.world 15 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Well obviously, they need to get into the lucrative back alley robot vacuum cleaner fight rings. Strap on that knife iRobot vacuum, and lets go!

[–] skozzii@lemmy.ca 58 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

Oof, as an American company the rest of the world is boycotting them too.

Yup, they are toast. I dont think the Americans have realized how much permanent damage Trump has caused.

[–] NightCrawlerProMax@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

I highly doubt his voters will ever realize it. People who voted for him have single digit IQs. Other Americans warned them before hand.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 10 points 12 hours ago

Not only boycotts, it'll also be a prime target for retaliatory tariffs. So for even those that don't care about the boycott, a Roomba will cost at least 25% more than the equivalent robot vacuum made in Korea.

[–] Global_Liberty@lemmy.ml 24 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Democrats have known from the moment he was elected. Republicans are starting to figure it out now that they are feeling the effects. Of course, they were the ones who caused it so....

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 10 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

They're really not though, maga fascists, actually believe this is a mere speed bump on the way to the promised land...

[–] limelight79@lemm.ee 7 points 11 hours ago

"Many economists are saying that the market was due for a correction..."

I've seen that comment a few times in the last few days. They'll say ANYTHING to support Dear Leader.

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[–] aldfin@lemm.ee 27 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

We need decent European alternatives for robot vaccuums.

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

Chinese mop vacuum combos with dust and water bin are going for $500 these days. It is bonkers how cheap they go. Trying to compete in that market is a lost cause. Better install Valetudo on a Chinese vacuum. Maybe a European OEM could do something similar.

[–] witx@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

We need open source alternatives

[–] Knoxvomica@lemmy.ca 11 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] witx@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 4 hours ago

Valetudo, though an absolutely amazing software, is no the replacement I was meaning. I meant we need a fully open source robot, from software to hardware, and that can be adapted. Of course there's always blobs which are not open source, but that's the case already for many things

[–] skysurfer@lemmy.world 30 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Will certainly be a bummer if they do go under, I really appreciated their serviceability. Have several in the immediate family that have been going for over 7 years at this point though all kinds of calamities. Each time can I just pop out all the components clean/replace as necessary and get it back in service, good as new.

Agree. While I think there's been little effort to evolve their products at the same pace as their competitors, I have very much appreciated their servicability.

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[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 20 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

Once they are cut off from the parent company they will go rogue and attack in the night...

[–] Toribor@corndog.social 20 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

When I got my first robot vacuum I was too impatient to wait for the battery to fully charge before trying it out so when I started it up it was only able to clean a small area before it had to go back to charge. Very exciting though!

Anyway I went to bed not realizing that once it was fully charged it would resume cleaning. So approximately 1am the vacuum wakes back up and starts cleaning. In my sleep-addled delirious state I had absolutely no idea what the fuck was going on. Suddenly it sounded like there was a jet engine in my room and I couldn't even tell where it was coming from until I jumped out of bed and there were red lights coming at me.

Saw my life flash before my eyes. Little fucker might as well have been a terminator.

[–] Cyber@feddit.uk 5 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

And clean up the crime scene...

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

You saw nothing

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 47 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

The free market is supposed to make this happen. The problem is that we have also built a system that just generates mountains of junk and e-waste. Because our government is feckless and refuses to actually regulate, ya know, anything with a shareholder attached.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 hours ago

Also because section 1201 of the DMCA means that otherwise useful things become e-waste.

[–] StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml 36 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

So the Roomba I bought in 2021 is gonna stop working come 2026... Guess I need an open source vacuum now too 😩

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 2 points 4 hours ago

It's going to become feral

[–] asymmetric@slrpnk.net 18 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml 7 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Thank you stranger! This is great

[–] TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 31 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

this comment makes me question, is there an open source sex toy community?
edit: there is lmao https://github.com/PITR-DEV/ukbutt-mod

[–] StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml 13 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Bro .. this is the best response I've ever gotten on Lemmy 🤣🤣🤣 thank you stranger, both fascinating and hilarious

Good news, buttplug.io is written in Rust so it's safe.

[–] imetators@lemm.ee 28 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Haha. Ofc with these prices and features compared to some other good Chinese and other brands roomba is doomed. Like check vacuum wars on YT. Middle model roombas are on par with your typical Chinese brand robots but price is double. Basically, you pay for a brand 🤷.

[–] KingDingbat@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

And then they go and remotely kill the vacuum after just 5 years.... (See above).... Yeah, not crying for iRobot...

[–] CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.cafe 11 points 21 hours ago (4 children)

I will check them out later! I've been wanting a robot vacuum for a while now but I also am wary of Chinese bullshit.

I want a really good one that doesn't connect to the internet in any way. 👍🏻 Even if that kills some of its smart features.

[–] imetators@lemm.ee 1 points 4 hours ago

I pulled a trigger in 2024 for their 2023 pick. Dreame l20 ultra. It has app and does connect to the net. My pihole doesn't necessary send tons of requests outside. Just occasionally and most of them is when I visit app.

If you want truly self hosted vacuum, check out valetudo and their list of supported vacs. This way you would retain most of not all features and it will be fully your own device.

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[–] pHr34kY@lemmy.world 62 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (17 children)

It would be great if more smart devices had a LAN-only control mode like my 3D printer, TV and AV receiver.

I would be perfectly happy if my iRobot phone app only worked from inside my network.

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[–] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 17 points 23 hours ago

So my vacuum will likely not work in 12 months. Niiiice.

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