The Core

Still not there and it costs $4k.  I want it to do steps on the sidewalk and spread salt as needed.

https://thekobi.com/

it starts removing snow while it is falling. After one go, it charges patiently and goes out to start removing the freshly fallen new snow. That way, Kobi never has to deal with inches of snow. And neither will you.

Sorry, but the hard part is dealing with the 3-foot berm the plow leaves, not the "inches" on the driveway. I can put it in 4WL and get through almost anything but the berm. The berm is *why* I have a snowblower.

I'll give them credit, at least they are trying to develop robots that address real practical every day tasks that we almost all face, rather than just industrial robots.  But the technology still isn't there.  I need a robot that can deal with modest drifts of snow and yes, the berm.   I don't want to have to bury wires along my lot lines to delineate where to mow.

I think we will get there, I'm just not sure I'll still be young enough to care.

Do men actually *like* mowing the lawn?  It seems they do. 

Can't be true. They all make their kids do it as soon as they're old enough. I think a lot of men like a manicured lawn, but I believe that's as a measure of status (though they don't know it). Of course, I am reading Veblen's "Theory of the Leisure Class" and a new book, "The Sum of All Things, A Theory of the Aspirational Class" and it is hard not to see a lawn in that context - i.e. a status symbol that is no longer a status symbol and which within the next generation will cease to interest anyone who truly belongs to the elite.

 I hate it. I've mowed grass since I was 12. I hate it. 

I have about 1 acre that requires mowing. It would cost about $1800-2k/yr to have it mowed.  When I acquire a property, I start morphing the landscaping to low maintenance. No trimming, rough natural areas, turf grasses, etc. That helps reduce time requirements a lot; probably by 50%.  Last year, I bought a  very fast, zero-turn mower with a wide mower deck. I like the speed and zero-turn aspects a lot. It's almost fun but at least it's not boring.  I've modified the landscaping to accommodate this style of mower so that the yard can be done in the least amount of time.  Currently, I average about 80 minutes once every 10 days from May-October. Tolerable.

I'd replace it with bots in a heartbeat EXCEPT Debbie says that I'd end up spending more time maintaining the bots.

>Last year, I bought a  very fast, zero-turn mower with a wide mower deck. I like the speed and zero-turn aspects a lot. It's almost fun but at least it's not boring.

OK.  That's true.  I actually don't hate mowing when I use Dad's diesel John Deere zero turn thing.  It's actually got so much power I buckle my seatbelt:  it's like riding a 4-wheeler.  I can zip through a few acres in 90 minutes.