Feb 25 2009
Does Roomba Really Clean?
A Roomba may make you feel like you are in close contact with the Jetsons. A robot that cleans your floors? Sounds as likely as a robot to, to… babysit the kids. Are we at that point where we have the technology to let a robot truly clean our floors? Does the Roomba really work? (Yes! Yes, it does.)
When I first saw them advertised back several years ago, I was sold. Really, I’m not exactly a hard sell when it comes to letting something else do all of my work. I love sitting back and taking it easy. I’m pretty good at pushing buttons, too. Really, the Roomba seemed ideal. However, forking over my precious cash on some machine when I had another perfectly good vacuum to do the job, well, it seemed foolish. Spending someone else’s cash, however…. But no matter how many hints I dropped, no one would buy me a Roomba. What a surprise. In fact, it seemed people were pretty negative about the idea.
“No machine can clean your house.” “Those things won’t really work.” “You don’t need anymore junk at your house,” my mom reminded me. Then to be more convincing, she’d add, “You’d have to get everything off the floor.” (Really? Is that a deterrent? Because when I vacuum, sweep, or mop, normally, I find that it works better if I move my things off the floor. I’m not that dirty! I promise.) Those comments kept rolling in whenever I brought up the idea of purchasing a Roomba. Sometimes they even crept around without a mention of the Roomba on my part.)
That is, until my dad decided to get one for their house.
“Ooh, you’ve got to come over and see my Roomba!” My mother cooed. “Isn’t it cute? Bless it’s heart.” And it was cute. It would even sing. Okay, mostly the songs were just signals to let you know it was starting or finished, but I found it adorable. Yes, the floors would look so nice and clean. Yes, it was so sweet looking. Yes, it saved so much trouble. My favorite thing, though, was watching the little Roomba return to it’s resting place and “dock” itself. (Now, if only my I-Pod would do that…)
I had waited long enough. Indecision was over. I needed me one of those fascinating, hard-working, and intelligent little vacuuming machines. My Roomba. I named her Little Thingie. (I know, I’m very creative.) I charged her, set her room-restricted signals up, and tapped her center button with my big toe. Yep. I didn’t even bend over. I tapped her, she sang a short, grateful melody, and took off. Around in circles she ran. “Wait, Little Thingie!” I cried. She was going around everywhere, and I was afraid she would miss something.
Little did I know, my darling Roomba, much like a new pet, was getting accustomed to her surroundings. She was learning my room so she could clean it more efficiently. She even went running under my over-stuffed chair. Bless her! My calico kitten and old rotty dog were intrigued by this new visitor. They followed her around to the places they could easily reach, sniffing and pawing at the Roomba contraption as it swallowed the discarded fir with its mighty vacuum. They were taken aback when the Roomba switched directions. What a playmate.
Even though, for the first few times, I had to clean the fur off the brushes (the Roomba comes with tools for doing just that) before the Roomba made it completely around the house, I knew I had found something magical. My son and his friends even ask if they can vacuum! How can you beat that?
I’ve spread the word in life with my friends and co-workers. I’ve received countless messages of thanks. I’ve never met anyone–whether they had carpet, hardwood, or laminate–that wasn’t jumping up and down with excitement once they’d tried their Roomba. This little vacuum can’t be beat. I’m just waiting for my car to drive me to work while I drink my coffee and check my e-mail.
