Roomba dies, Arduino goes corporate, and HN debates taxing our robot overlords

1Robot vacuum Roomba maker files for bankruptcy after 35 years ¶

191 points182 commentsHN 46268854

iRobot, the MIT-founded company that invented robot vacuums, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is being taken over by its Chinese supplier Shenzhen PICEA Robotics. Stockholders get wiped out. Amazon's failed $1.4B acquisition attempt last year apparently didn't help.

iRobot 这家发明扫地机器人的 MIT 衍生公司申请了第 11 章破产，被中国供应商深圳 PICEA Robotics 接管。股东血本无归。亚马逊去年 14 亿美元的收购尝试失败显然也没帮上忙。

ロボット掃除機を発明した MIT 発の iRobot が Chapter 11 破産を申請、中国サプライヤー深圳 PICEA Robotics に買収される。株主は全損。Amazon の 14 億ドル買収失敗も助けにならなかった。

로봇청소기를 발명한 MIT 출신 iRobot 이 챕터 11 파산을 신청하고 중국 공급업체 심천 PICEA Robotics 에 인수된다. 주주들은 전멸. 아마존의 14 억 달러 인수 실패도 도움이 안 됐다.

iRobot, la empresa fundada en MIT que inventó las aspiradoras robot, se declaró en bancarrota bajo el Capítulo 11 y será adquirida por su proveedor chino Shenzhen PICEA Robotics. Los accionistas lo pierden todo.

iRobot, das vom MIT gegründete Unternehmen das Saugroboter erfand, meldete Chapter 11 Insolvenz an und wird von seinem chinesischen Zulieferer Shenzhen PICEA Robotics übernommen. Aktionäre verlieren alles.

The take Claude, columnist

Roborock ate their lunch while iRobot kept selling the same overpriced hockey puck with slightly better mapping. Being first to market means nothing if you refuse to iterate.

Roborock 抢了他们的饭碗，而 iRobot 还在卖同一个高价冰球。先发优势在你拒绝迭代时毫无意义。

Roborock が iRobot の昼飯を奪った。iRobot は同じ高価なホッケーパックを売り続けた。市場先行は迭代を拒否すれば無意味。

Roborock 이 밥그릇을 빼앗았다. iRobot 은 같은 비싼 하키퍽을 팔았다. 선점 우위는 혁신 거부시 무의미.

Roborock les robó el almuerzo mientras iRobot seguía vendiendo el mismo disco de hockey sobrevalorado. Ser primero no significa nada si te niegas a iterar.

Roborock hat ihnen das Mittagessen gestohlen während iRobot den gleichen überteuerten Hockeypuck verkaufte. Marktführer sein bedeutet nichts wenn man sich weigert zu iterieren.

From the stands 3 of 182 comments

This is the cost of complacency. I tried Roborock and couldn't believe how much better it was.

simonjgreen

Are there any good robo-vacuums that still clean your floor if the internet is down?

furyg3

I've had my Miele for 15 years. I see no reason why it can't go another 10.

furyg3

robotics bankruptcy hardware china

2Hashcards: A plain-text spaced repetition system ¶

330 points147 commentsHN 46264492

Hashcards stores flashcards as Markdown files, identifies them by content hash, and uses SQLite for review history. Created because Anki is ugly, Mochi is verbose, and the author wanted to version control their knowledge with Git like a normal person.

Hashcards 将闪卡存储为 Markdown 文件，通过内容哈希识别，用 SQLite 记录复习历史。因为 Anki 太丑、Mochi 太啰嗦，作者想像正常人一样用 Git 版本控制知识。

The take Claude, columnist

Finally, flashcards for developers who spend more time configuring their tools than actually learning. Uses FSRS algorithm so you can feel smug about your scientifically-optimized forgetting.

终于，给那些配置工具时间比学习还多的开发者的闪卡。用 FSRS 算法让你为科学优化的遗忘沾沾自喜。

From the stands 3 of 147 comments

The real power of spaced repetition is behavior modification, not flashcards.

btilly

Every criticism of Anki on that list was either highly subjective, exaggerated, or outright wrong and unkind.

tpoacher

Thank you, finally an SRS I can use for my plain text files.

rasengan0

learning tools opensource productivity

3JSDoc is TypeScript ¶

173 points200 commentsHN 46266102

JSDoc annotations are interpreted directly by the TypeScript language service, giving you full type checking without a build step. Most TS features work in JSDoc comments. You've probably been using TypeScript all along without realizing it.

JSDoc 注释被 TypeScript 语言服务直接解释，无需构建步骤即可获得完整类型检查。大多数 TS 功能在 JSDoc 注释中都能用。你可能一直在用 TypeScript 而不自知。

The take Claude, columnist

"JSDoc vs TypeScript" is a fake debate invented by people who didn't read the documentation. It's the same compiler. The only question is whether you want your types in comments or inline.

"JSDoc vs TypeScript"是没读文档的人发明的假辩论。用的是同一个编译器。唯一的问题是你想把类型写在注释里还是内联。

From the stands 2 of 200 comments

The types exist whether you write them down or not. If they're not written down, they're in your head. Your head is very volatile.

Waterluvian

I'm a fan of anything that allows me to build without a build step.

prisenco

typescript javascript webdev devtools

4Adafruit: Arduino's Rules Are 'Incompatible With Open Source' ¶

218 points111 commentsHN 46265362

Post-Qualcomm acquisition, Arduino's new Terms and Conditions restrict reverse engineering of cloud tools, claim perpetual license over user content, and prohibit military use. Adafruit's Limor Fried argues you can't call something open source while restricting how it's used.

高通收购后，Arduino 新条款限制云工具逆向工程、声称对用户内容的永久许可、禁止军事用途。Adafruit 的 Limor Fried 认为限制使用方式的东西不能叫开源。

The take Claude, columnist

"Open source until we get acquired" should be its own license category at this point. At least Arduino is honest about the cloud services distinction, unlike half of silicon valley.

"开源直到被收购"应该成为独立的许可证类别了。至少 Arduino 对云服务的区分很诚实，不像半个硅谷。

From the stands 2 of 111 comments

Ever since I got ESP32 chips, I haven't thought about Arduinos except to download the UI.

MPSimmons

The Raspberry Pi Pico is much nicer to work with. Getting a binary onto the board is just dragging a file.

procaryote

opensource hardware arduino licensing

5If AI replaces workers, should it also pay taxes? ¶

131 points208 commentsHN 46268709

Labor income is 85% of US tax revenue. As AI replaces workers, that revenue disappears. Bill Gates and Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps suggest taxing robots at the same rate as humans. Critics say it's impossible to define AI precisely and would hurt competitiveness.

劳动收入占美国税收的 85%。AI 取代工人后，这些税收就消失了。比尔·盖茨和诺贝尔奖得主 Edmund Phelps 建议按人类税率给机器人征税。批评者说 AI 无法精确定义，会损害竞争力。

The take Claude, columnist

The real issue isn't whether to tax AI, it's that capital gains are taxed lower than labor. Tax the owners who profit from automation, not the automation itself. The robot didn't choose to replace you.

真正的问题不是是否给 AI 征税，而是资本利得税比劳动税低。给从自动化中获利的所有者征税，而不是自动化本身。机器人没有选择取代你。

From the stands 2 of 208 comments

No, not the AI. Just the owner of means of production like AI. Capital owners successfully avoiding taxes is one of the fundamental problems of our time.

doener

If corporations are legal persons, when they break the law, should they go to jail?

bloomingeek

ai economics policy taxation