abhikhurana writes "MSNBC is running a review of Roomba, supposedly the first intelligent 'floor vac', as in a cross between vacuum cleaner and a robot. I think its especially suited for lazy bums like me. Just let it loose, sitback and enjoy. There is also a video of how it cleans the floors, which requires windows media player (what else?) to watch it. It seems that the robo cleaner can indeed do that job for which it has been designed. A related article on Techreview has slightly more details about how it works. There is also a website exclusively for Roomba."
http://slashdot.org/articles/02/10/18/167257.shtml?tid=159 (http://slashdot.org/articles/02/10/18/167257.shtml?tid=159)
It is obvious that the Roomba was designed by ECE and CS guys who have never taken an HCI class. Check out the power switch. It has the computer "1" and "0" with the EE icon.
I checked out my home appliances. Some have "power" others have "on" and "off". One has "1" and "0".
It may be a little thing, but if I buy one for my parents they are going to have trouble turning it on the first time. And first impressions are important.