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The Chumby: Hey There, Li'l Fella |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
New Toys
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
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Furthering the Internet's ambition to penetrate every available aspect of our lives, we have today a little gadget called the Chumby . It's a wireless Internet device, about the size of a coffee mug, that displays a constantly updated rotation of online content. (Chumby's not in stores yet, but is expected to sell for around $200.) Unfortunate name, you might say, but I dunno. I've seen worse. Nintendo's Wii continues to puzzle and disturb me. Then there was the iSmell, the Shling, and the Burning Love Pouch. Really -- these and others are rounded up here at PC Magazine.
 Check out the picture, and I think we all can agree: Chumby is a manageably sized, relatively cute
li'l fella. The deal is, you program the Chumby with widgets,
user-controlled modules you can download from the Chumby "network." Access
to the network is free, and then you have your choice of 100 or
so widgets (as of now). As you might expect, many of these will be promotional --
shopping "tips" or movie previews. But many are useful, or just fun.
You can monitor your eBay auctions, rotate pictures form online photo
albums, or keep an eye on a selection of webcams. (Selection so far
leaves something to be desired, though the pandacam and elephantcam
options are intriguing.)
Along with the the wi-fi connectivity, the Chumby sports a 3.5" LCD
color touchscreen, two external USB ports, stereo speakers (with
headphone output) and a motion sensor. The touchscreen and motion
sensors allow for some creative interactivity, and Chumby already has a
selection of exclusive games.
Time now for some healthy skepticism. So Chumby is wireless, which is
nice, except it isn't, which isn't. You still have to plug it into an electrical outlet -- because Chumby displays all day every day, batteries aren't a
viable option. Also, this idea of content widgets has been around a
long time. Remember the minicraze surrounding "push" technology in the
1990s? The idea was similar -- pipe customized content downstream to
the desktop. That didn't really fly, and I'd posit that Chumby will
live or die on the quality and interactivity of future widgets. What
Chumby ultimately reminds me of is a supercharged desktop alarm clock.
I genuinely think adding AM/FM radio and a snooze function to this
thing would up the appeal significantly.
Meanwhile, here's a cool blog item, via Popular Science, regarding the ongoing manufacture of the Chumby in China. Fascinating if, like me, you enjoy keeping up with the latest electronic component automation techniques. And who doesn't?
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