Frankenstein Complex and iRobot's future

Kevin Kelleher at GigaOm has a theory about stagnant sales at iRobot, and it's called the Frankenstein Complex. Isaac Asimov coined the phrase to describe the fear of robots and Kelleher thinks it explains why we North Americans have not embraced the machines in our homes like the Japanese have in theirs. In his post Kelleher says "The Burlington, Mass., company went public nearly two years ago and its share price has spent much of last year below the $24 offering price. Revenue from consumer products –60% of iRobot’s revenue last year – fell 1% in the first half of 2007 from a year ago."

My experience with robots is more in the software realm of chat robots, but I tend to agree that they can be seen as a little creepy by some. I have found that the more human looking, the creepier they get. I just don't think that we (collective) are afraid of the Roomba, it's probably more to do with the fact that they are not as easily obtained as say a Dyson, and also not really mass marketed. I'd venture a guess that most people have never heard of them! I'd love one, but until my old upright throws in the towel I'm not motivated enough to purchase. On the other hand, the ConnectR and perhaps even the Looj are both something that I don't already have, fill a gap that is not met by any other device, and therefore I might be convinced to purchase.

Interesting theory though.

iRobot unleashes two new robots

iRobot has added a couple of new home robots to it's line up of helpful little discs. The Looj, a remote controlled crawler, that was rumoured earlier this year, has been created to help clear your gutters of debris. More interesting though, is the ConnectR, a mobile VOIP speaker phone that you can control remotely over the web. iRobot's site says this about the ConnectR, "Combining the latest in Internet communications and robot technology, ConnectR lets you virtually visit with loved ones, relatives and pets anytime you wish – seeing, hearing and interacting with them in their home as if you were there in person." The Looj sells for $99.99 - $169.99 while ConnectR is not publicly available yet, but is expected to be in the $500.00 range and available late '07 or early '08. If you're interested in participating in a pilot program with ConnectR, iRobot is taking applications here. I signed up ;)