I want a Chumby

For my entire life I have suffered with a gadget obsession. As early as the young age of three I obsessed over having a portable tape recorder. Such things were not inexpensive back then (think late 1960's) but I somehow talked my grandparents into buying me one. My parents tell stories about my roaming around the house recording my own little radio programs and remember my utter delight upon learning that the machine could be forced into a "public address" mode by pressing multiple buttons simultaneously. I was then able to make all sorts of offensive noises for the whole house to hear...until I dropped the thing. It was only days old and it was shattered to pieces. Did I learn a lesson? No. They bought me a new one.

I never really outgrew this gadget fascination - it only got worse and the gadgets got more expensive. Tape recorders became home stereo components, car audio systems, personal computers, cameras, and has now moved into the big leagues of digital audio equipment, digital cameras and the ultimate gadgets - things that go zoom.

The current object of my desire is a Chumby. If you're not aware of what a Chumby is, it's a compact display device that can act as mundane as an alarm clock, or as advanced as a personal internet station. The software is open source, and it's infinitely hackable. I saw one at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference this year and they are way cool. They are just finishing a public beta (I didn't make the list for a free one), and should go on sale in limited production later this month.

They have an interesting form factor. Here is a photo of a Chumby:

They have soft enclosures (think bean bag) so even the exterior is hackable. If you are interested in learning more about them check out the Chumby Blog.

Comments

[JT Archie]

Chumby is taking applications now for Beta. Head towards http://www.chumby.com and click the top right where it says "Be a First 50".