Having Roombas built in an offshore factory was by no means as simple as emailing a folder of design files to our contract manufacturer. Much information needed to be exchanged between the parties, much training needed to occur, and many kinks needed to be worked out–especially in the electronic and mechanical manufacturing processes. To begin that exercise, a few months after iRobot and the factory struck a deal, Eliot Mack and Chris Casey flew to China.
The trip from Boston to Panyu (site of the factory) was a grueling one. It involved a change of planes, 17 hours in the air on one of the legs, and a total travel time of about 28 hours. That was when things went well. Things hadn’t gone especially well on Eliot and Chris’ first trip.
But after the exhausting journey they finally reached their hotel and retreated to their shared room to decompress. Chis sat down gingerly on his bed an immediately noticed something unexpected. He paused for a second and then (with a sly grin) motioned for Eliot to sit down on the other bed. Eliot, impatient for repose, executed a freefall into a seated position.
Perhaps the hotel proprietor’s standards of comfort had been learned while accompanying Mao on the Long March. Or possibly spartan minimalism was simply a fundamental value of the establishment. In any case, there was no possibility that guests of this hotel would be coddled into bourgeois complacency by cushy mattresses. The sleeping platforms in every room consisted only of study boards covered with the thinnest of cotton pads.
The Grinch’s heart grew three sizes when he discovered the meaning of Christmas. Eliot’s spine shrank by the same amount when, upon impact, he discovered the hotel beds ascetic construction technique. But Chris gained a story that he has delighted in telling ever since.
