David Pogue Gushes Over the Chumby

stoolpigeon writes "IHT is running a David Pogue review of the Chumby. The Chumby is a small computer embedded in a soft case. The Chumby hardware and OS are open, and the review mentions that the device already has a large developer following, cranking out new widgets for owners. Pogue is obviously quite taken with the Chumby and gives a good introduction to a device that may be the inspiration for a new generation of hackers."

Comments

NO! Get it away from me.

[ColdWetDog]

I'm quite sure that I, along with most of the Slashdot audience, is not part of the target demographic, despite the fact that it DOES run Linux but

Any photo you send to it appears in the widget rotation, turning your Chumby into the world's most convenient digital frame.

really doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

Re:NO! Get it away from me.

[ColdWetDog]

Um, mind if I ask why that doesn't sound like a good idea? You email your chumby a picture, and it displays it. Am I missing something?

You trust your "friends" a hell of lot more than I trust mine. Want anybody from Slashdot to email you a picture of "something". That just shows up on a screen. In your living room.

Maybe it's just me, dunno. I'm still not buying one.

I have a Chumby...

[Darundal]

...and love it. About the only problem I have with it is the fact that in "My Streams" (an area where you can manually put in net radio stations you want the Chumby to play) long URLs simply cannot be entered in on the device itself, so I have to SSH into it and use VI to add any long URLs for streams manually. It came in a nice burlap bag (which I still use) and alternates between telling me the time, feeding me news, playing net radio, and displaying a friends photobucket account.

Re:"Gentlemen!"

[Anonymous Coward]

"Let us name our revolutionary new open product a name that'll be 1 letter away from 'dick'."

And along with "The Gimp", this too will never actually be used by anyone for anything serious.

Designed by Bunnie Huang

[mollymoo]

You may remember on of Bunnie Huang's previous exploits - he's the guy who hacked the XBox. He's a hardware-hacking demi-god and has a fantastic blog for electronics geeks. You can read all about getting the Chumby manufactured in China, as well as other topics.

Way to wimp out, AC

[spun]

It's a good thing the Chumby comes in a soft fabric case if Mr. Pogue is going to go gushing over it.

There, that's at least mildly offensive. Damn ACs making the rest of us do all the work.

Sounds good, but...

[Lonedar]

You know, this sounds like a neat little thing to play around with when you have some free time. However, this quote on the manufacturer's website made me wary:

Access to the Chumby Network is FREE. No subscriptions to pay, no plans to sign up for. It's paid for by Chumby Industries and by sponsor companies who will be sending you widgets such as music, games, movie previews, customized alarm clocks, and special offers for products and prizes (called "Chumbooty" -- coming soon), and who knows what else the future holds? Chumby Industries is 100% dedicated to keeping your widget channels new, intriguing, fun and FREE.

The "sponsor companies" part could mean that they intend to include advertisement widgets in a future update. Definitely made me think twice about getting one.

Needs more hackers

[stickyc]

Pogue hit it on the head: "The widgets are the biggest draw, though. So big, in fact, that the Chumby is filled with hardware features that pretty much do nothing at the moment."

It's got a reasonable CPU, accelerometer, 2(!) USB ports, wifi, touch screen, runs an acceptable linux environment, and hacking is encouraged. Here's to hoping Pogues + /.'s coverage turns a few more folks on to it.

Out of the box, it's still kinda .9 software - I'd hoped to use it as a smart clock-radio, but the software UI just isn't as easy as a dedicated alarm clock. The good news is, someone with decent skeelz could write an excellent replacement alarm clock.

It should be noted that you can create a "virtual chumby" on the company's site to preview all the widgets 'live'.

I feel...

[owlnation]

...I am not alone when I sincerely say, "I will never, under any circumstances, say the word Chumby."

Re:"Gentlemen!"

[Alotau]

You can begin the giggling by looking at this help page entitled "Handling your Chumby". Some highlights include:

How do I clean my chumby?
Why is the squeeze sensor stuck?

I won't post the one about children handling the Chumby, because that would just be over the line.

I have a Chumby...

[Anonymous Coward]

And I have to say its one of those impulse tech purchases I've regretted.

Its mediocre at a lot of things and not good at anything.

The alarm clock is awful, there's no timed dimming of the screen, its a massive bandwidth hog (because it has no local storage and it always redownloading things).

The streaming music is cool, but its not as good at it as a dedicated streaming music receiver.

It makes a lousy photo frame -- the colors are bad on the display and it has no local caching so its always redownloading everything.

Maybe it'll be better in the future, but honestly its sort of a waste of money right now.

Re:WCC mod

[TexVex]

While it has been a faithful companion, your companion cube cannot accompany you through the rest of the test. If it could talk - and the Enrichment Center takes this opportunity to remind you that it cannot - it would tell you to go on without it because it would rather die in a fire than become a burden to you.

The Enrichment Center is committed to the well being of all participants. Cake and grief counseling will be available at the conclusion of the test. Thank you for helping us help you help us all.