Personally I have no idea why we should limit the Chumby to anything we want it to be. It might not make a practical (X), but it would be fun to do it any way, and it's in the spirit of hacking to do so.

I'm not saying they should sell them as PDAs or Fileservers, but if you want to hack your Chumby to do that, don't let someone saying "that's stupid" to stop you. I've thought of plenty of hacks for one already and I plan on evaluating how easily each one can be achieved as I go along (and hopefully after I get my hands on one). Those 8 digital ins and outs on the hacker sensor package are just calling my name...

As for the cookbook, I see no problem with that at all, as cookbooks are relatively dumb applications looking for some better implementation anyways. As for it getting dirty, take some windex and a paper towel to it, or better yet, wash your hands before touching the screen, something you should be doing in the kitchen anyways. And then there are those plastic disposable screen covers you can get (that usually ship on devices to keep dust from settling on the screens and possibly scratching them during shipping). I could see me writing that application I planned forever ago where you picked a few ingredients you have laying around the kitchen and hit "Find a recipe containing..." (to keep you from getting bored with the same ol' recipe's every night).