Comment on Roomba maker iRobot swept into bankruptcy
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Great now everyone who has one will suddenly become bricked.
I’ve had a dumb Roomba (560? 650?) for years. The worst they can do is stop making replacement batteries and brushes available, and there’s plenty of third-party alternatives.
Who buys a smart device when a dumb one is available and does the job just as well. 🤷♂️
I’ve had a dumb roomba for years too, and I was decently happy with it, but i switched to a new roborock this year…and holy shit, the roomba sucks ass compared to the roborock. It absolutely does not do the job as well, comparatively it hardly does a job at all.
Interesting to hear the feedback, thanks.
Ya, hard disagree here, while 100% the new features could have been kept in device, vs cloud but the difference between our (770?) that just bounces around until it runs out of battery (and gets stuck in the SAME place Everytime it hits that spot vs. the newer one vacuums the whole floor and can be told to avoid the problematic area(s) is pretty huge.
Now, the new one has a host of its own issues but when it works it’s a much better product that produces much better results.
All that said I think the software has gone to crap over the years and the newer (i7) actually is less reliable than it was the first 6-8 months we owned it.
I certainly see the appeal of being able to make it avoid certain areas. Sounds better than arranging furniture or using those little battery-powered outposts to repel the Roomba (can’t remember what they’re called).
But, for me, I don’t see that outweighing the risks of cloud dependencies (and the inevitable expiration date).
Even assuming a solid internet connection, reliable cloud service and perfect software updates, you may still only get a year or two out of it before they decide to yank it or make it a subscription service. The last decade or so of shitty manufacturer behaviour has permanently jaded me, I think… 😅
Ya, I get it, and anything smart now needs to be able to work with home assistant locally.
If we had to do it over again we’d have likely gotten something different, but the features you do get can be useful!
Hopefully work on opensource firmware getting going like github.com/koalazak/dorita980. Seems more movement in the server side though github.com/ia74/roomba_rest980
Another option is hardware hacking it github.com/meech-ward/roomba/tree/main
Tbh the amount of cameras and microphones we have that upload to external unaudited servers (“the cloud”) is insane to me. This is just further worry about it since the scheme allowed their ownership over our devices and privacy, which means they can also sell that.
All they have to do is to stop maintaining the mobile app that controls the robot. Sure, you can still start it manually, but it won’t do anything smart.
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Unlikely. Their ODM bought them. Our home maps would however become part of their property.
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
You don’t think the data isn’t for sale and anyone with a check couldn’t acquire the data?