The Roomba by iRobot is a way cool vacuuming robot that actually works. See a full review after the jump.

I used to be one of those early adopters, with boxes of useless gadgets and software to prove it. I got over it. The Mrs. always has been and still is an early adopter.

(I recall a conversation circa 1988 when the Mrs. wanted us to make a multi-user networked version of a software application we had written. She said we should look into something called "Novell Netware" technology. I told her that technology would never fly because we've already got mainframes, and besides, the "P" in "PC" stands for "Personal." To this day, she likes to quote that back to me from time to time.)

So anyway, Mrs. Early Adopter goes out shopping yesterday afternoon, and comes in all excited. "Look what I got! It's a robot. It vacuums your floors for you!"

Cool. Our very first robot. I thought that someday we might have a robot. I didn't expect it so soon, having given up on flying anti-gravity cars in my lifetime sometime around 1992.

She got it at Target. I have to wonder if you can really be an "early adopter" if you adopt from Target, but here we are with our first robot nonetheless.

It's a Roomba by iRobot. I'm not sure if Isaac Asimov would approve, but it does appear to incorporate the Three Laws of Robotics:

• It doesn't appear to injure human beings or, through inaction, allow human beings to come to harm.

• It obeys orders given to it by human beings, and does not appear to accept orders that would conflict with the first law.

• It protects its own existence whenever it bumps into something or senses a stair step, and its self-preservation mechanisms do not appear to conflict with the first or second law.

The most amazing thing is that it actually works. You charge it for about three hours and turn it loose. It will cover about 800 square feet on one charge. It has electronic "room dividers" that let you setup "virtual walls", which are handy if you want it to only vacuum certain rooms. It doesn't do a "deep cleaning" like an old-fashioned "dumb" vacuum, but it's great for quick (well, 45 minutes unattended) cleanups.

There is, I believe, a smarter version with a more highly evolved implementation of the third law that enables it to seek out its own power supply when its battery gets low. That would be a nice feature, but it's not essential. We'll just store it with its manually operated "dumb" ancestor and activate it as needed.

There is also a shrinkwrap end user software license agreement which states "The Roomba contains an electronic and software interface that allows you to control or modify its behavior, and remotely monitor its sensors. For software programmers interested in giving Roomba new functionality, we encourage you to do so subject to the terms of this agreement." It has a serial port for communicating with its human master. (It is not authorized for aeronautical, nuclear, medical, life saving, or life sustaining applications.)

My first thought was, of course, to program it to dance or spell out words or patterns on the carpet. I'm guessing someone has already done this, though, and they probably have a YouTube demonstration out there somewhere to prove it. iRobot has a developer's website with interface specifications, software developer kits, links to user developed applications (such as remote control by cell phone), and more.

Oh, and you can get optional "skins" to give your vacuuming robot its own personality.

There's also a Scooba floor washing robot, which mops your floor for you. Because mopping the kitchen tile is usually my duty, I'm very interested in this particular robotic application. iRobot also has a line of tactical robots for all your military and law enforcement robotic needs.

Anyway, the iRobot Roomba is a pretty cool toy that might not end up in the early adopter junk box (or back home at the Target mothership). Ask me again in a month or so, but for now we give it two thumbs up.