Slashdot Mirror
Roombas Will Soon Build a Wi-Fi Coverage Map While They Clean (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The feature is arriving later this month on the iRobot app, making it possible for WiFi-enabled Roombas to create a map of indoor signals. The map exists alongside the existing Clean Map feature, letting users toggle between the two, like they would, say, satellite and standard imagery in Google Maps. The maps themselves won't go into too much detail -- no upload and download speeds like you see on many mobile speed test apps. Instead, the information will show up as decibel readings. Really, it's intended as a handy way of showing off where you might want to toss a range extender, to help get rid of dead spots. All of Roomba's vacuums, save for the lowest-end model, will support the feature. The beta program launches January 23rd and appears to only be available for U.S. users.
If they can spy, they will. They've fully monetized the spying. Nobody seems to be able to "just" make something honest anymore. It's made me pathologically distrust every thing made in the last few years. There must be enough folks who just don't care if they are being used like that so that these scammy corporates can keep the system floating.
This is exactly what I needed for all those times I use my laptop under the couch.
I came home the other day and caught my Roomba watching a video of an arduino plugging into a raspberry pi.
Orders. An engineer's job is to answer marketing's question with "yes, I can do that."
I had a brief moment of weakness/curiosity so I decided to look at what these guys are selling, and I think I spotted what they're up to. Check out their Roomba model comparison chart. Go ahead, you don't have to buy anything. Look. What do you see?
The first thing I saw, is that they have multiple models. Gotta admit, I didn't know that.
Check out the bullet points. There are some dubious "features" there, but a couple stand out, almost as negative things where you might think "WTF, some Roombas can't do that?" Don't you want tangle-free rollers? Of course you do, unless you're a tangle-lover! The multi-room cleaning "feature" shocked me too. Does that mean with the cheaper Roombas, you have to get one for every room? Fuck that.
It's about upselling. I think that's 100% of it. But maybe we all have different buttons to press, and what gets me to think "I have to get a Roomba 960 or else there's no point in getting any Roomba at all" is different from what might make you decide to get a 960 or none at all. ;-)
Of course, the easiest solution is to get none at all. But let's say your spouse wants one, and it's decided: you're getting something. Maybe another stupid fucking bullet point would push your button. Obviously, silly stuff like wifi mapping ain't it, but everyone has their eccentricities, and if they keep piling on weird features, something could tip you into the upsell.
Maybe?
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
cat 5 or cat 6?
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
Indeed, the device gives no clue about upload speeds, since it only report the strength of the received signal. Getting information about the upload channel would require an agent on the Access Point.
It's not even always about upselling needed features. Having useless features on the higher end models is a form of price discrimination. You are always going to have a certain group of people that will buy the highest model because they can afford it. By having those useless features, you can get more money from those people while still be able to sell the normal model to more price sensitive people. It's the same reason that you see "limited edition" models of certain products for $50 more where literally the only difference is the color.