Roomba history gets the spotlight in new Version History episode
The Verge’s podcast looks at how iRobot’s early vacuum robot turned a rough consumer device into a home robotics category.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
The Verge has released a new episode of its Version History podcast focused on Roomba, the robot vacuum that helped bring home robotics into ordinary households. The episode matters because it looks at how a limited early gadget became a product people treated less like an appliance and more like a household companion.
According to The Verge, the episode is hosted by David Pierce and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, with iRobot co-founder and former CEO Colin Angle joining the discussion. Pierce is listed by The Verge as an editor-at-large and co-host of The Vergecast who has covered consumer technology for more than a decade.
The episode traces Roomba back to iRobot’s early efforts to turn robotics work into a viable business, according to The Verge. The company’s engineers were looking for a way to build and sell robots of some kind, and Roomba emerged from a long development process that The Verge says lasted nearly a decade.
A simple robot that people liked
The Verge describes early Roomba models as relatively basic machines. They moved around rooms by bumping into objects, vacuuming as they went until the battery ran out or the dust bin filled.
That simplicity did not stop owners from forming attachments to the device, according to The Verge. The podcast frames Roomba as a vacuum that people often liked enough to name, an unusual status for a cleaning appliance.
The episode also covers moments when the project nearly failed, The Verge says. It examines why the product gained traction despite its limits, and how it helped build a wider market for robot vacuums after its launch.
iRobot’s later challenges
The Verge says the episode does not treat Roomba only as an origin story. It also looks at the market that formed around the product and at ways iRobot struggled to keep pace as the category expanded.
Angle’s appearance gives the episode a direct link to iRobot’s founding team, according to The Verge. The company’s early work on Roomba is presented as part of a broader attempt by engineers to find a consumer use for robots, rather than as an obvious product from the start.
The Roomba episode is the second installment of Version History’s fourth season, The Verge says. The season opened with an episode about the Harmony universal remote.
The Verge says listeners can find Version History through its podcast feed and YouTube channel, as well as on TikTok and Instagram accounts tied to the show. The publication also says subscribers can access Version History and other Verge podcasts without ads through account settings.
For readers seeking more background, The Verge points to several related pieces on Roomba and iRobot, including its own report on how Roomba helped create the home robot category and later lost ground. It also links to earlier coverage from New York, TechRepublic and IEEE Spectrum about Roomba’s development, iRobot’s military robotics work and inventor Joe Jones.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.