In the robot vacuum world, thereâs Roomba and thereâs everybody else. iRobotâs autonomous cleaner may not have been the very first of its kind, but it was the first one most people knew about, and for many years it was clearly the best one you could buy. But now, more than three decades after iRobot started building its futuristic bots, both the product and the company appear to be in big trouble.
On this episode of The Vergecast, The Vergeâs Jennifer Pattison Tuohy tells the story of iRobot. She walks us through the companyâs beginnings in Massachusetts, its work on military bots, the early success of the Roomba, and its long reign at the top of the market. But then, when competition heats up and a potential acquisition falls apart, the story changes. Now, all iRobot can do is try and compete â and hope that the Roomba name still means something.
After that, we chat with Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn about the state of e-readers. Michael has been working on E Ink devices, and competing with Kindles, for many years. He has thoughts on how the business has changed, the challenge of making great devices at the right price, the pros and cons of competing with Amazon, and w …
