Rhoomba extremis

[mm]

I don't know how to spell Rhoomba, the robot vacuum cleaner** for people who don't get around to vacuuming their house, or Scoomba**, the one that "scrubs" the floors, or even how to spell I-Robot, the company that makes them.

But if you want to hear very interesting stuff listen to Talk of the Nation, Science Friday for today, June 23, the last 15 or 18 minutes. It's at

or maybe or com, and their archives work real well. It takes I think 5 minutes from the broadcast, which ended 5 minutes ago, to reach the archives, maybe an hour. Helen someone is the guest.

It's not your grandfather's robot anymore.

**Which I can't believe work very well, but what I heard today more than makes up for it.

[MaryL]

I don't want to go looking through the archives. However, I have a Roomba and can give you some first-hand experience. I am very pleased with it and have found it to be very useful, as long as you recognize some obvious limitations. First, it clearly will not do any deep-down cleaning, but it does an *excellent* job of picking up surface debris. I particularly like it for picking up cat fur! Second, the floor needs to be clear of papers, electric cords, etc. However, it really will "learn" the contours of a room and vacuum over and over until the entire room has been cleaned. It goes under furniture that most traditional vacs cannot reach, and it is "smart" enough not to fall down stairs -- it will simply back away from stairs and go back to the room. It is *very* pricey, especially since this needs to be a "second" vacuum and not the "primary" vacuum, so this should be considered.

MaryL

[Jeff Wisnia]

Didja catch the Saturday Night Live "Woomba" parody sketch?

ROTFLMAO for sure!

Jeff

[Steve B]

I do, and I also can spell SPAM.

Steve

[RicodJour]

The NPR show the OP mentioned was an interview with the head of i-Robot and was mainly concerned with the use of robotics in warfare. Rather intellectual way of foisting spam upon us, no?

R

[Abe]

self-pleasuring angle, but it was still really funny.

[HeyBub]

SPAM(tm) is a trademark and service mark owned by Hormel. It stands for SPiced hAM.

If you meant unsolicited commercial email, it is properly denoted as "spam."

[mm]

You're too suspicious. I don't give a darn what sort of vacuum you use, and I certainly wouldn't recommend a Rhoomba.

And a bit on other stuff, but it had nothing to do with Rhoombas, except it's the same company. They spent maybe 10 or 20 seconds on their consumer products. All I remember they did is give their 2 product names.

Would you have thought I was spamming if Steve hadn't said so first? Am I trying to talk people into buying bomb-detonation robots? I don't think so.

Are you saying you heard the NPR show but didn't find it interesting? Very interesting?

[mm]

BTW, That's why I called the thread Rhoomba *extremis*. Those things are so far from Rhoombas... they're as far as Iraq is from Springfield.

[rosebud]

What odd quirk of fate caused mm to generate the following ::

Very interesting broadcast. Their military robots have saved many lives. And I do own a Rhoomba. I absolutely love it. I does a wonderful job (and I own 2 dogs and a cat). For the convenience, it's a bargain. Before purchase I was skeptical but it really is great.

But I do not own a Woomba.---very funny clip.

bonnie

[mm]

Tnanks. My dial-up or my processor is not fast enough to play video with sound. The video was running about `1/5th normal speed and the sound was coming in very short segments. I still thought I would watch it, but when I went to full screen, it started again at the beginning, so I gave up.

[Abe]

Just DL the whole clip and then play it from your PC.