Roomba: Rise of the robovac

2026-06-21 · 74 min · 7 entities

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→ discusses Technology company

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Feed category: Technology
→ discusses History website

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Feed category: History
→ hosted by The Verge company

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companys 4

mentioned The Verge company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: The Verge
mentioned Technology company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
discusses Technology company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
hosted by The Verge company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: The Verge

websites 2

mentioned History website

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
discusses History website

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History

concepts 1

mentioned Rise of the robovac concept

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Roomba: Rise of the robovac

Episode description as stored

The team of engineers and researchers that created iRobot didn’t set out to build a vacuum cleaner. They built robots — a lot of robots, with a lot of jobs — before realizing that people might actually want a robot that could help clean their house. And thus was born Roomba. The Verge’s David Pierce and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy are joined by iRobot co-founder Colin Angle to tell the whole story of all those robots, the pivot to vacuums, and why the Roomba was so easy to love even when it couldn’t really clean. We’re also on video! Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices