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iRobot Cofounder Helen Greiner Interviewed
ptorrone writes "Engadget has interviewed Helen Greiner, Chairman and CoFounder of iRobot. She talks about the future of home robotics, the new self-docking Roomba Robot Vacuum as well as their other line of robots, the PackBots. iRobot's PackBot unmanned reconnaissance and bomb disposal units (the interview includes a photo of a blown-up PackBot from Iraq). Plus, for the curious, the Packbot is running a Linux OS with iRobot's Aware robot control software."
I don't think robots will catch on. A lot of home procedures could be automated by specialized applications, but a central robot I think is a failing idea.
It follows the old concept of do one thing but do it well. Dishwashers are a good example of this, verses a robot to wash dishes and sweep, etc.
The converse argument, posed here, falls apart in the final statement -- the conclusion. In the example cited, you have to realize the brother has a mental handicap.
I thought of Asimov first. With all the publicity of copyright and patent infringement here on /. and other places, I was thinking that "iRobot" will be sued because their Trademark, Copyright, or whatever infringes on the estate of Asimov. And if Asimov's estate is anything like Margret Mitchel's estate (see what happened with "Wind Done Gone"), we're gonna see a BIG fight!