To quote someone...

There's a certain sense of entitlement from a lot of people who post
on the boards who seem to think that because Chumby is open source
hardware and software then it's somehow OK for them to make demands
that they'd never think of making to, say, the company who built their
computer.

I'll bring this thread to the attention of the appropriate folks, but a couple of comments:

1) The negotiations to bring most of these music sources to our users *for free* were very delicate and difficult - the practical reality of offering these required us to allow certain explicit ordering.  We could have had a much more user-configurable system, but the list of available music sources would have been much, much smaller.

2) I'm sure you understand the difference between a volume control and a mute button, so I'll assume this is hyperbole.

3) If you can come up with a different method of entering arbitrary text without a keystroke per letter or a full predictive dictionary, I'd love to hear about it.

4) The "backup alarm" was designed to maximize reliability, as *very* loudly demanded by our users.  Again, the practical reality is that reliability necessarily comes at a cost of flexibility.

5) The list in the "My Streams" screen shows fewer entries because it has another row of buttons that the other screens don't.  It has been a constant struggle to make buttons that are large enough to press while also showing information.  As we gain more experience with these designs (you can see some evolution in the Pandora section), it's quite possible that some of these screens will be revisited.

Duane - I sincerely appreciate your time and (neverending well of) patience.  My reason for writing is to offer my insight into your product and a dialogue is far and away the best way to accomplish it.  Thanks very much for engaging in one.

I understand and appreciate this.  I also sympathize with your position.  I wished to draw attention, however, to the fact that the current utilization of that prime real estate does not increase the value of that which occupies it.  I have woken up to the NYT podcasts in the past, and I likely will again.  However, most of the time I'm tripping over them.

An observation - if it were possible to configure alarms over the web, your partners would have much more screen real estate to advertise to me.  not only that, they could hotlink to their own servers to show me fresh, updated banners and teasers while I configure my alarm.  Instead of popping up with one line of text, they'd have an actual banner space.  I wouldn't mind that at all; with a mouse, a keyboard and an WXGA display I can get a lot more done than I can with a fingernail and a quarter VGA screen.  And with a scroll wheel I can get through stuff in my way much quicker and, therefore, with much less resentment.

Not entirely.  The volume slider is as big as the mute button and it's right next to it.  Why can't I tap the grip on the volume slider and have a big red X show up and mute it?  If, on the other hand, I press and slide without raising my finger, it acts like a slider.  That wouldn't take long to get used to, if at all, and you've freed up a button.

(like, say, a "brightness" toggle.  Press it once, high bright.  Press it again, low bright.  I'd use that a lot more than a mute button, now that I've also got a volume slider, especially since "display brightness" is not a parameter I can access through alarms)

Sure.  Give me the option of configuring that stuff that requires keyboard entry via the web.  I mean, I'm a captive audience.  I'll look at any ads you throw at me.  And you've got lots of real estate.  The entire issue is there's too much to do and not enough tools to do it with.  If I can configure my alarms and events in the same interface I *HAVE* to configure my channels from, I'm happy, your advertisers are happy and lo and behold, I suddenly have remote control over my Chumby while I'm away.  I think that'd be pretty handy, don't you?  I mean, as it is, I don't add new widgets unless I'm bored.  I can't do it over the Chumby anyway.  But if you've got a "featured widgets" or a "new widgets" corner of my screen while I'm configuring my alarm, chances are good I'm going to browse to it. 

You've got a portal that is fundamentally required to enjoy the Chumby.  I don't understand why you don't try to maximize the time I spend there.

(...much backup alarm discussion digested but not quoted...)

I understand that.  I was one of them.  I also appreciate the choices you were forced to make.  I agree that a whole bunch of hardware tomfoolery is not the solution.

But what if, instead of going to a default "noise", you give me some configuration on that "snooze" screen?  So that if I haven't acknowledged the alarm in any reasonable fashion (much like it is now), the Chumby automatically triggers another alarm set that I've configured?

Say I've got my primary alarm set to wake me up to the NYT at 6:45.  I set the "failsafe" to 15 minutes, and I set its target to my secondary alarm - Radio Free Chumby.  So after 15 minutes, Radio Free Chumby triggers.  I can set a failsafe on Radio Free Chumby, too - it triggers klaxon.mp3.  Or whatever.  I can do all this recursively.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the hardware and the software can easily handle that much instruction, it's the user configuration that blows up.  Go the extra step - say Radio Free Chumby is down and can't be triggered.  The Chumby defaults to whatever I say my default alarm is - which I specify same as any other alarm.  Hey - maybe I set the Chumby to sniff for internet access after one alarm defaults and it goes straight to klaxon.mp3.  If I'm not mistaken, these are all tasks that the Chumby can already handle with aplomb.

Here's my whole point - the Chumby is an extraordinarily capable appliance, with the ability to do things that would tie an alarm clock in a knot.  The only problem is it takes an excruciating amount of monkeyshines to get it to do it.  I don't think it has to be this way - clearly, web configurability is core to Chumby's design strategy as the thing is a spendy leather plushie without going through your portal.  So why not let me do more than pick and rate widgets from your portal?  You make it easier on the control panel and you make it easier on the user.  And hey - you're giving your advertisers access to my USE HABITS on the Chumby.  If I'm configuring alarms through your website, you've got data - randomized or anonymized as you and I see fit, based on your EULA - on *exactly* how I want to use NYT podcasts. 

My whole purpose in ranting was to influence the priority such revisiting is given.  I understand and appreciate that the SS Chumby is most assuredly under sail.  If I yell "Rock!" and you yell back "we see it" I'm satisfied.

...unless you keep steering closer and closer to the rock.

I do not demand a solution to my complaints and I do appreciate having them heard.  If I didn't think you'd value my input, I wouldn't voice my concerns.  The little gadget has come a long way; I'm still going to poke and prod the parts that I don't think have come far enough, though. ;-)

Best,

Seth

I understand.  It's a one-way push for the most part.  And yes - I wouldn't want to scurry off to the computer just to set an alarm, either.  But I'd rather scurry off to the computer than hit the screen 65 times just to wake up to SomaFM.  I know that an ssh mod was written to allow me to reorder things... but my expertise isn't in Unix, so I failed miserably at it.

Would it be possible to push the configuration of the Chumby somewhere, re-jigger it and push it back down?  Barring true interactivity, I'd work with a load/save...

Seems to me the audio output behavior for back-up alarms also makes sense as the behavior for primary alarms. If I set an alarm with audio, It's safe to assume my intention is that I want to hear audio when the alarm goes off. So why not have default alarms route audio to the built-in speakers as well as the audio jack and check to insure that volume is greater than mute? This would solve the user problems mentioned above and does it in a way that's less rude that firing the back-up alarm. The back-up alarm could still kick in at full volume if necessary.

The other advantage of this approach is that it lets me hook my chumby up to a better speaker system (and with the pandora update, it's definitely time for an upgrade) but not have to worry about unplugging the speakers or leaving on the amp when I just want a morning alarm.

Your thoughts? Thanks.

Not that it means much, but this is the most heartening exchange I've seen on the forums in a year. Except for the fact that Seth didn't capitalize God's name I'd offer a dozen "dittos!!" to everything he's written.

As the techie in my family, my wife is utterly flummoxed when it comes time to set an alarm. She gives up and sets her timex on her side of the bed. If it's too hard and too time consuming to set a radio alarm them we have a problem.

Thanks for listening,

Chad H

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13 (NASB)

Hey Duane,

No the quick alarm was a welcome addition a while back. The problem is that she's a bit cranky when awakened by a klaxon or bugle ;-) Some soft soothing music rousing her from welcome slumber is much better than reveille. Most of us would rather be roused from sleep rather than yanked.

Make Sense?

Chad H.

Oh, I am so bumping this. slave2thelight has so many great points here and several things that have thus gone unaddressed even with my shiny brand-new Chumby One.

I mainly wanted to back up the point of the volume control slider and mute button. Honestly, I see absolutely ZERO purpose of a mute button beyond what could be done by simply sliding the volume to zero or cranking the knob all the way down, which is the easiest way to accomplish "mute" anyway. At the very least the mute button needs to be removed entirely. Failing that, it can be added to the comically oversized slider (which is the same size and shape of the mute button anyway) as an action for tapping the slider button.

I'd also like to see more flexible configuration options on the PC. If it can't be configured easily on the Chumby, it should be done on the web. Honestly, I'd like to move away from the web as much as possible - I really wish I could manage channels via an interface on the Chumby - or at least create new ones and reassign widgets to different channels via the Chumby, and pick new ones via the web. I've only owned it for a day and I'm already thinking "geez, I should come up with some set-it-and-forget-it system so I don't have to go through all this again".

Night mode is nice but it really has some major flaws, particularly that it's not possible to use it as just a "brightness control". I have a feeling I'm going to be using the Chumby a lot in bed with the light off (I'm one of the nightstand-crowd) and I already found myself having to change the "day brightness" to minimum just to use it at night. Night Mode should be merely a brightness setting, IMO, and have a "clock only" control panel option to complement both Night and Day modes.

Perhaps this deserves its own topic but I really wanted to give this a bump to revisit this brilliant individual's insight into the still-existing Chumby strengths and weaknesses. I think I'm still going to be enjoying mine - after all, the moment I unboxed my Chumby, I moved my old alarm-clock-radio-CD-player out of the way by giving it to my roommate!

edit: I'm now so much happier with this thing by finding the "music timer" option and finding that I can, in fact, play said timed music while in night mode. Awesome, awesome, awesome. But I'd still like to see night mode and the clock-lockout-mode separated... perhaps clock-mode can replace the defunct Mute button along side Night?

Thanks for the document link dr_memory.  I found it enjoyable/reaffirming/practical/enlightening even!

Bump, indeed.

I got my Chumby One a couple of days ago---with nearly no knowledge of what it can do or how it works beforehand. I saw the news that it was available in Germany and runs linux, and I have been looking for an appliance-style interface to my computer world for more than 15 years, so I order it.

At first I was very impressed---while playing around with it. Then I started actually using it...

Task 1 -- "Radio on"

A very basic task for a clockradio, isn't it? On an old-style radio I have to press one(!) button and the I hear my favorite radio station. The Chumby needs one button and 12 screen taps. (And why is the "Done" button shifting positions when backing out of the station selector? Adds 2 taps every time you don't expect that.)

Task 2 -- "Setting the alarm"

Again, a very basic task. One button and 22 tap---I recycled the alarm from yesterday to save taps. Unfortunately I won't wake up tomorrow, because the alarm is still off. Yeah, I have to return to the alarm list and toggle the checkbox of the changed alarm, 7 taps. And BTW, it's just "great" that the alarm list puts the newest alarms at the bottom. So the whole fist page of the alarm list are the "dim screen"/"undim screen"/"change channel" pseudo-alarms I won't change once they are set.

Task 3 -- "Acknowledge the alarm while keeping the music running"

No way to do that. It's either backup alarm OR listen to the music for more than 5 minutes.

Task 4 - "Changing a channel"

Ok, that's only 5 taps, but it still feels like a "seldom used action".

---

Let's see how those usability issues could be addressed. My first step would be to say byebye to the "one control panel screen" design decision. Using a tabbed interface, that screen could easily be cut into 5 screens: Widgets (left half of the current screen), Channels (channel list and channel related buttons), Stations (list of presets from the music sources plus "music" button from current main screen), Alarms (list of alarms plus "alarms" button), Settings (right half of current screen plus some from the current settings screen plus "(un)dim" button).

On those screens I also would get rid of the "select line then push button" concept. E.g. tap a station preset and it starts playing and the Chumby does back to the widgets view.

BTW: For the station presets, the "music selection" part of the alarm process can be re-used. And be removed from the alarms to be replaced by a "preset selector". (Update: That would also allow alarms to be edited on the chumby.com website. The chumby would just have to upload the names of the presets.)

The Chumby Two could then have 5 little preset buttons if front of the top button. They could be assigned to music presets and channels while in widget mode and would second as tab-changers while in control panel mode.

Oh, my god, this. Totally behind this gripe 100%. There has to be some way to acknowledge the alarm without making it go to backup alarm. Almost makes me want to get into Chumby software hacking just to correct this functionality...

Tabbed control panel interface sounds like a DREAM compared to what we're stuck with now. There are so many near-pointless buttons on the cramped panel as it is, and a lot of wasted space with the "hide control panel" button that could be replaced with a small "Done" button and the ability to "toggle" the control panel with the top button. That's a more intuitive design all around - and it would also help resolve the issue where the control panel framebuffer doesn't get properly activated (stuck at a frozen widget after hitting the button) since you could just toggle back to it.

Lots of great ideas here! I sure hope something becomes of them

There's hooks to do this yourself, apparently:

http://wiki.chumby.com/mediawiki/index. … ing_screen

If I ever get a spare minute to set up a Flash/Actionscript hacking toolchain of some sort, I'll see if I can't whip something up and publish it.  (Boy would it be nice if the flash source for the default alarm ring screen were published for reference; hint hint...)