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Segway vs. Roomba

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the battle-of-the-titans dept.

Jerry23 writes "We all knew it would happen. We just didn't know when. But Second Life's Cory Ondrejka has just blogged The Encounter: At last weekend's Accelerating Change Conference, Dean Kamen's demon seed, the Segway personal transporter, met Helen Greiner's lovechild, the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, in a climactic crash that will echo through the ages. And I quote: "That night also had what was, for me, the highlight of the conference. I refer, of course, to the ultimate convergence of technology. The perfect connection of human and robot. The consumate collision of 21st century geek products. I am referring, of course, to the moment that a Segway ran over Roomba." "

5 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Roomba? by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does anyone actually have one of those things? It doesn't look like it holds enough or has enough suction power to be of any practical use. It seems to be a conversation piece and not a practical vacuum cleaner.

  2. Misleading title by calibanDNS · · Score: 3, Insightful

    While the article is somewhat interesting, the title is misleading. I expected someone to have done a Battlebots style bout between a Segway and a Roomba. Instead, all that happended was that someone riding a Segway ran over a Roomba that was going across the floor. Maybe if there'd been a video of this it'd be worth a 'funny' story entry...

  3. Re:My Bet by garcia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, the author mentioned that the majority of people had the Segway mastered in about 15 seconds (which I have to admit is pretty amazing, if true).

    The Roomba, OTOH, I cannot imagine is all that difficult to understand. Put it on the floor and turn it on. From what I have seen of the one at my parents' house it kinda just does its thing from there.

    What I want to compare is the maintenance needs for both. That includes recharging requirements and in the case of the Roomba how many times you need to empty it's (from what I remember) very small dirt collector.

    If the Segway takes 15 seconds to learn and goes for hours without a charge or required stop to perform some necessary task I would say the Segway wins.

    Perhaps the Roomba has a larger collection bin than the one my parents have but I doubt it. Personally, using a regular vaccum seems like a lot less hassle to me.

  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. Clash of the Microbes by beaststwo · · Score: 4, Insightful
    While both products are ingenious in their own right, neither represents a giant step in its respective field.

    We have a robotic vacuum that, by all reviews, doesn't clean worth a damn versus a transport device that achieves a fast walk pace for a limited distance at a cost of several thousand dollars.

    My guess is that the stories behind the devices is more interesting than the devices themselves.