First Impressions: The Chumby
dan tynan on Feb 23 2008 at 1:04 pm | Filed under: Gadgets, PC World, US Airways Magazine
The Chumby is the latest in Internet appliances — and unlike most gizmos that use this term, this one really is like an appliance. This of it as a WiFi-powered clock radio that also does photos, video, news, and games, among other things.Plug it in, activate it online, and pick the “channels” (widgets) you want the Chumby to display — Flickr photos, Craigs List, eBay auctions, RSS feeds, David Letterman’s Top 10, and on and on.
I’m currently looking at this for PC World magazine (and US Airways mag), so I will have more to add later. But my first impression is that this is a cute little dingus that may have some legs.
UPDATE: Took the Chumby and stuck it in the kitchen. Two minutes later my wife walked in. “You’re not keeping that, are you?” It was a rhetorical question. She hated it — the soft squishy faux leather case, the tiny screen, the obnoxious widgets I’d chosen to display on it, the whole works. “Maybe if you lived in a dorm room, or by yourself in some skanky apartment,” she said. “But not in my house.” A total meltdown on the Spousal Approval Factor.
That’s not faux leather. I personally certify that it is genuine rich, Corinthian leather.
You’re right. My bad. My wife tells me so, too, so it must be true.
Thanks Ricardo.
“look boss — da plane, da plane!”
Put her favorite flickr photos on it, anything else that *she* (not you — maybe Chuck Norris “facts” aren’t her bag?) likes from the Net where we have a widget (e.g., any blogs she likes?), the weather (everyone needs to know that), a few of our more elegant clocks (everyone likes to know the time), and tune it into her favorite streaming Net radio station. And maybe some cute and funny animal widgets of which we have many (who could resist?) Trust me, she’ll love it — worked for me :^)
So create a separate widget channel for her and one for you — so you can each fight over it until you each get your own.
Worst case, move your chumby to your home office and wait for her to get jealous when all your friends come over and ooh and ahh :^)
hey steve.
the ceo of chumby.com visits my blog — I am honored.
problem is, she hates the leather (real not faux) pouch. and she says the screen is too small to be useful. so no amount of cute/useful widgets are gonna help that. (though if you had a Brad Pitt widget, you might start to sway her…)
dt