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Welcome to our iRobot overlord

This topic can be found at:
https://well-temperedforum.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9130004433/m/5063924797

06 August 2022, 08:44 AM
wtg
Welcome to our iRobot overlord
quote:
Amazon bought iRobot to see inside your home

With Roomba’s maps, Amazon’s vision of ambient intelligence in the smart home is suddenly attainable

When I spoke to iRobot’s Colin Angle earlier this summer, he said iRobot OS — the latest software operating system for its robot vacuums and mops — would provide its household bots with a deeper understanding of your home and your habits. This takes on a whole new meaning with the news today that Amazon has bought iRobot for $1.7 billion.

From a smart home perspective, it seems clear Amazon wants iRobot for the maps it generates to give it that deep understanding of our homes. The vacuum company has detailed knowledge of our floor plans and, crucially, how they change. It knows where your kitchen is, which your kids’ rooms are, where your sofa is (and how new it is), and if you recently turned the guest room into a nursery.

This type of data is digital gold to a company whose primary purpose is to sell you more stuff. While I’m interested to see how Amazon can leverage iRobot’s tech to improve its smart home ambitions, many are right to be concerned with the privacy implications. People want home automation to work better, but they don’t want to give up the intimate details of their lives for more convenience.

This is a conundrum throughout the tech world, but in our homes, it’s far more personal. Amazon’s history of sharing data with police departments through its subsidiary Ring, combined with its “always listening (for the wake word)” Echo smart speakers and now its thorough knowledge of your floor plan, give it a pretty complete picture of your daily life.


https://www.theverge.com/23293...nce-privacy-analysis


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



06 August 2022, 09:32 AM
CHAS
Alexa Asto Robot


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Several people have eaten my cooking and survived.

06 August 2022, 10:20 AM
ShiroKuro
This is totally creepy. We don't have a roomba and now we never will.


Spouse #1: Honey, what's that noise?
Spouse #2: Oh, it's just the roomba.
Spouse #1: Yeah, but it sounds like it's talking?
Spouse #2: Well, what's it saying?
...
Roomba: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

06 August 2022, 11:04 AM
big al
Who knew that Big Brother would turn out to be a machine? We'd better implement Asimov's three laws before it's too late!

( Me thinks the author of this piece doth protest too much. )

Big Al


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Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.

Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro

A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ

06 August 2022, 11:20 AM
ShiroKuro
Did you see that article about the chess robot that grabbed the finger of his 7-year old human opponent, ultimately breaking the boy's finger before three adults where able to forcibly detach the robot from the boy's finger?

I'm pretty sure that robot needs to have Asimov's laws programmed into it!!


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

06 August 2022, 01:20 PM
CHAS
quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
This is totally creepy. We don't have a roomba and now we never will.


Spouse #1: Honey, what's that noise?
Spouse #2: Oh, it's just the roomba.
Spouse #1: Yeah, but it sounds like it's talking?
Spouse #2: Well, what's it saying?
...
Roomba: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.


" I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." Excellent, wish I had thought to use that.


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Several people have eaten my cooking and survived.

06 August 2022, 06:56 PM
BeeLady
I find this horrifying for all the reasons above but more importantly, iRobot is a local company here in the North of Boston burbs.

It has been a local shining star of local business and now it will be just another Amazon brand. Sad.


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"Wealth is like manure; spread it around and it makes everything grow; pile it up, and it stinks."
MillCityGrows.org

07 August 2022, 01:52 PM
pianojuggler
We bought our own telescreens.


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pj, citizen-poster, unless specifically noted otherwise.

mod-in-training.

pj@ermosworld∙com

All types of erorrs fixed while you wait.

07 August 2022, 03:01 PM
Steve Miller
“The messages are coming from inside the house!”. HairRaising


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Life is short. Play with your dog.

16 August 2022, 12:05 PM
big al
What the CEO of iRobot had to say a few years ago

Big Al


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Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.

Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro

A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ