The iRobot wants to be the first popular home robot (or business robot). Its cog-wheels can climb stairs and it can see (camera), hear (microphone) and “speak” (speakers). You control it through an Internet connection and it acts as your avatar, representing you at meetings, grandma’s house, or your own home when you’re away. This boston.com article describes some other reasons for having your own personal robot and introduces the term “r-business” (robot-enabled business). At first, this robot seems like little more than a web camera on wheels. But it has an open-source OS and the company is hoping other developers will create applications that they haven’t even dreamed of yet. The iRobot concept seems limited for use when you can’t be somewhere. Perhaps if it can be somehow combined with a Lego Mindstorms-like kit (ie the hardware extensible and open, not just the software) then the applications can be truly limitless and the personal robot age will actually take off.