Shenzhen-based Picea Robotics, its lender and primary supplier, will acquire all of iRobot’s shares.

Shenzhen-based Picea Robotics, its lender and primary supplier, will acquire all of iRobot’s shares.

  • HurricaneLiz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    5 hours ago

    My partner’s 5 yr old is obsessed with Roombas. If he were old enough to read this news, he’d cry 😢

  • Jhex@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    8 hours ago

    time for one final, multi million dollar bonus for the CEO that brought it there

  • witty_username@feddit.nlEnglish
    231·
    11 hours ago

    Isn’t the real problem here that many companies aim to be bought out as a strategy? They focus on growth to secure a sizeable market share. They often do this without regard for sustaining the business. Equity holders like this because market share inflates company value and selling the company will yield even more money. The downside is though, that at some point, the company can no longer sustain this and must be bought out.
    I don’t think irobot really needed to go this route or that they weren’t competitive any longer. They chose to go for market share and big bucks rather than a long term strategy.
    This is why we need more cooperatives. They are better at long term planning, make better products and don’t fall prey to predatory value extraction

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOPEnglish
    62·
    16 hours ago

    Yet another example that the firms that actually make the things are the ones that matter in the long run.

    Apparently Picea makes Roomba, Shark, Anker (Eufy). Maybe also some Dyson.

    • Brewchin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      141·
      10 hours ago

      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. 🤷‍♂️

      • dmtalon@infosec.pubEnglish
        3·
        5 hours ago

        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.

        • Brewchin@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          39 minutes ago

          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… 😅

          • dmtalon@infosec.pubEnglish
            1·
            12 minutes ago

            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!

      • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        7·
        8 hours ago

        I’ve had a dumb roomba for 8-9 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.

    • TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zipEnglish
      5·
      8 hours ago

      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.

    • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      7·
      10 hours ago

      Hopefully work on opensource firmware getting going like https://github.com/koalazak/dorita980. Seems more movement in the server side though https://github.com/ia74/roomba_rest980

      Another option is hardware hacking it https://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.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      41·
      15 hours ago

      Unlikely. Their ODM bought them. Our home maps would however become part of their property. While I’m not happy about it, I think I prefer that than Amazon having it tbh.