Vorwerk, the company that purchased Neato robovacs, is reneging on its promise to keep the bots’ server running for 5 years.
In an email obtained by The Verge, Neato Robotics explained the decision to users, stating, “Since Neato ceased operations in 2023, Vorwerk has continued maintaining the Neato cloud platform to honor the original five-year service promise. However, cybersecurity standards, compliance obligations, and regulations have advanced in ways that make it no longer possible to safely and sustainably operate these legacy systems.”
You misunderstand. I’m not saying the robots have zero value. I’m saying if they’re designed to only have decent functionality with a cloud connection, when they could otherwise have basically full function without it, is a product designed to fail. Not a device with zero value, but a product that is enshittified on delivery.