Stewart Brand writes glowingly of the Roomba at Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools blog. (Thanks to Dave Winer for the pointer.) I was awarded a Roomba for my half baked idea regarding robotic pet exercise devices last year at the Accelerating Change gathering.

When I tried it at my house it didn’t work. Things that choked the Roomba:

• Fringed rugs.
• Differences in floor elevation, room to room.
• Deep area rugs on hardwood floors… once off the rug, Roomba never wanted to climb back on, just kept cleaning the perimeter.
• Dining room table and chair legs. Roomba could never find its way under the table.
• Stairs.

Our old farm-house just isn’t Roomba-friendly.