The original Chumby was soft, cuddly, and cute. The new Chumby One is uptight, all-business, and commercial. I hate it.
The draw to the original Chumby was that there was nothing like it on the market two years ago. You could load it up with all sorts of pre-made widgets like YouTube, weather, news, or one you made thanks to the open source hardware and software. Sure, the upcoming One still has the original capabilities if not more thanks to the upgraded 454MHz CPU, but it doesn’t have the same crazy beanbag form factor. It’s missing something.
Not only was the functions innovative two years ago, but the design was as well. The pillow-like design had character and style. It was something you wouldn’t see at Target. But the new One model is made out of cold, lifeless plastic and will look right at home next to clock radios and cordless phones at Walmart – if it ever reaches that distribution channel of course. But anyway, the new model is expected to run $100 when it drops in a month or two.
UPDATE – Chumby is reporting that the Chumby One is much different from the Chumby shown here. The plot thickens.
At the same time it could actually be taken seriously in a business setting.
I’ve thought about having a chumby at the front desk of the watersports center where I work with current radar data, tides, etc. set up and easy to view. But I didn’t think anyone would take it seriously.
Oh brother…
What?
I wanted to like the old one because it was unique and cuddly, but ultimately I thought it looked kind of dumb. Given the power boost I think I’ll give the new one a try.
This new design does seem somewhat cheap and is certainly less stylish, but it will probably appeal to a broader public, and the price certainly makes it more accessible too. And they can always come out with another one that is more “fun” for the hipster crowd, while the DIYers will just tear this one apart and make some sort of FSG themed steampunk contraption out of it – which is what I plan on doing.
no need to tear it apart.. chumby sells a kit that you put together and an insert in whatever you want
http://chumby.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/buy-chumby-kits/
Just get an iPod Touch – same price; much more capable. The Chumby is too little, too late and doesn’t have the slick Apple UI.
My sentiments are exactly same…
These aren’t even the same class of device!!!
Really? Last I checked (30 seconds ago…), an iPod Touch costs at least $199.
I’ll take a less-slick UI and only slightly-less capable Chumby One for half the price. Plus, the Chumby has a speaker that actually has a chance of waking me up in the morning.
(Why we are even comparing a PMP to a widget-ized alarm clock, I don’t know.)
Why are they comparing, because iPod fanboy syndrome invades the mind. It clouds everything. And the “too little, too late” comment is a sure indicator of that. Because the Chumby was before the iPod touch, but fanboys see the solution in the iPod even where it doesn’t belong. They see a million “firsts” with everything apple, despite all the evidence against most of it.
I’m sick to death of iPods. Chumby’s are OPEN, iPods are closed. Of course I’ll go Chumby for my alarm clock, because it’s supporting the ideals at a cheaper price. And as mentioned in here, the Chumby kit rocks. Build your own case container for your clock. I already have the idea brewing. How about a concrete chumby to balance out the cushy soft one?
I have a bridge that I’d like to sell you. It is located in the New York area!
it´s not even sold in Europe :-)
I have two of the first ones and I love it. My favorite part is the “bean bag” One of them sits on my night stand and I use it as a clock/radio/news feed/weather radar and I like being able to slap the top of the bean bag to stop the alarm!
I think they ditched the best part like Blake said in the other post. I have an original and the bean bag is part of the charm.
Widgets man, whod’a thunk?
Just my opinion…I love the original Chumby. The design was the true differentiator. I’m not at all enamored by the new design; it looks cheap and sterile. What would be interesting is if Chumby made it possible fo the consumer to choose their design (i.e., Threadless, Cafe Press, The Flip, etc.). Personalization would be an additional differentiator. And why do we have to compare it to Apple. As an aside, I love Apple but it’s not comparing Apples to Apples. Go Chumby!!!!! :)
You wouldn’t see the old one at Target? Huh? Have you ever been in a target, the old one was right up their alley. I believe the youngsters call it “shabby chic”
I fell in love with Chumby and bought one when it was in beta two years ago. Unfortunately, it never lived up to my hopes or the hype. The Widget set is limited, the touch-screen does not function well and managing the channels is clunky. It does play music surprisingly well and my 4-year old loves it.
Meanwhile, it’s hard to walk past the ipod touch I now keep next to it without picking that up. Chumby was such a great concept, but I think the dream is dead.
Not a surprising view from techcrunch – Love techcrunch for it’s love of wow factor but sometimes they can’t see that technology has to have business value. And sometimes to relate to the masses you have to lose some wow factor.
I’m about 1000% more likely to buy this one than the last one, entirely due to the less dumb looking case.
But Robert’s right, you’re better off buying an iPod Touch.
If the new faster Chumby will sell for $100, the old ones have to come down from their $200 price tag, right?
I would love a cheaper original Chumby.
I have one of the original Chumbys and it has become ubiquitous. It *is* my alarm clock. The whole ‘net connected aspect has sort of disappeared.
The streaming audio is nice, too, since it includes Pandora and I can play music based on my tastes instead of some corporate-controlled, focus-group-driven playlist from OTA radio.
I’ll happily agree that the iPod touch does more, but the Chumby was a nice update for my 30-year-old clock/radio.
I can see this appealing to hotels, conference centers and such. This is the kind of product one hopes to find at higher-end hotel chains rather than a boring old clock radio.
another cool geeky toy!
another geeky toy
Why would anyone spend money on something like this when you can everything and more on an iPhone or iTouch???
These guys will be in the DeadPool in a few months.
I luv my Chumby, it wakes me up every morning to my favourite streaming station in another state and I usually glance at it to check the weather and see my friends Facebook updates. I think the trick is to not load it up with too many widgets so that the info you want is always a few seconds away.
I hope that’s a prototype… it’s ugly.
ditching the beanbag form factor would be a huge mistake.
I have had a chumby since launch. This is form and price is exciting. My chumby (and lot of them I would bet) ended up next to my bed. It beats ANY alarm clock music device. I put my Bose wave in another room.
Just a break down of how I use it.
When I go to bed I listen to the NYT news, maybe some WFMU. I hit night mode and it asks me how long to play music, taptap and it’s down.
In the morning I have three alarms, one the sound of birds with a slowly increasing display of a sunrise, then music and then the third alarm will power the Chumby down.
The Chumby is to the iPhone what rear projection displays were to flat panels.
As I’m apart from my family my chumby’s alarm is set to sleep.fm; wake up to messages from my daughter and wife at various times. A social alarm clock sounded so silly….
@briggsly, the Chumby is to an iPhone/iPod touch what a clock radio is to a basic phone. They are completely different use cases. You can use a phone as an alarm clock, but it isn’t really designed for it, ditto the chumby and the iDevice. They have their similarities for sure; niche market, a break from the established order – but overall they are too different to be worthwhile comparing.
My two cents: I will probably never buy an iTouch or an iPhone. Why? Because I really could care less about an app loaded cell-phone, which is what I consider those items to be.
If I want apps, well I have a laptop… that’s good enough. My cellphone, a G’Zone Boulder suit my phone needs perfectly. I only need my celly to handle calls, be durable (the Boulder is waterproof and virtually indestructable), and it has Internet access so whenever I feel like surfing, I can surf. That’s it… that’s all I need.
The Chumby strikes me as a wifi radio/clock… which would be perfect for me. I can use that. The extra widgets are just bonus. With Chumby I can listen to Shoutcast or Pandora and the Chumby comes with decent speakers. All you iPhone fanboys can keep your iPhone… I don’t need it.