Some Assembly Required

Americans: Addicted to Mobile E-Mail

Om Malik reports on a story about American's ever-increasing addiction to mobile e-mail.

uh oh...I am afraid that I have done all of these things. Guess I need a 12 step program.

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.

Not quite the first post

Blog. I've been thinking about this for a long time now. I have a reputation as an early adopter of things in general but I've been a happy lurker in the web log world up until now. I also spent lots of time writing earlier in my life but I seem to have put that on hold for a decade or two. I am fascinated by this medium and spend way too much time reading other people's work so I've decided to jump in with both feet. Here goes. Hopefully this won't be an epitaph like "Hold my beer and watch this...".

I would be remiss if I didn't mention an important person from whom I draw blogging inspiration - our great friend Amy, a brilliant writer who is married to my friend and equally brilliant photographer Trey. That they can lead such amazingly full lives and still be creative inspirations is truly awe inspiring.