Topic: What drew you to buying a Chumby?

Hi all

New to the forums and hopefully not just another noob repeating an old thread (I promise that I did search first!). I have a Chumby Classic and a Chumby One and sadly didn't get the use out of them that I should have....but just as recently as yesterday, I resurrected my Chumby Classic (named Elvis) to reclaim the alarm clock throne on my bedside table.

So ..I've been reading through the technical and the not so technical threads regarding the Chumby (I must tip my hat to Duane for keeping our little Chumbies alive and express my appreciation for the effort!) and I realised that I'm likely one of the not-so-technically minded Chumby owners. This got me thinking about how the Chumby really connects with the "Looks cool, wanna buy it" and hacking crowds.

Like I said, I know next to nothing about code or programming but I really love the Chumby, so I'm a "Looks cool, wanna buy it" guy. It was a device that I read about on Engadget and immediately had to buy.....I'm pretty sure I wasn't even in the country when I purchased it...and the same happened with the Chumby One.....how could I NOT purchase it?!?!?.....to me, it was the perfect mix of what I look for in a device...

a) Access to consistently updated information (status updates, Earth Cam, news)
b) Compact
c) Unique design
d) I didn't have to have it with me at all times but when I did, it didn't need much of my own input

Most of all though, the design was what drew me in....the Chumby Classic and the Chumby One were right up my alley.....you didn't see anyone else in the market coming close to making such cool looking devices......and to be honest, it's what is sadly lacking today in the production of electronics....for example, cell phones have a pretty standard design but for colour changes, tablets are all the same, etc......there really isn't any more risk-taking in the visual presentation of products and I would doubt that I am the only one who values presentation on par with performance (Case in point, I am crazy enough to entertain buying a Sony Mylo because it looks great, despite the fact it was released years ago and apparently wasn't all that great - there are people out there like me.....right?????? Lol).

With that said, the Chumby is a great device with a great look.....and I look at it as one of the last few devices that saw a company pay attention to creating a unique product.....in both purpose and appearance. I know it is a wild dream but hey, a Chumby 2wo, would definitely have to be a cool design to top the last two!

Enough of my rambling now...told you I was a noob!

So what drew you in? What made you purchase that prized Chumby? Would love to hear your stories and opinions.

DC

Re: What drew you to buying a Chumby?

I've been watching Chumby Industries for years, trying to evaluate if I should get a Chumby or not. It started when all the press coverage for the Chumby One came out. Then, I checked the website every few months (of course, not knowing about the forum) and stopped after it was announced that Chumby had gone out of the hardware business. Recently, I wanted to know what had been happening with Chumby and it turned out they'd gone out of business altogether as well as only having a limited feature set. However, I posted a forum post asking if getting one was still worth it, got a used I3.5 from eBay for $25, and started using it as a clock and internet radio. And while I hope that one day the full widget set will get brought back (hopefully, Duane has finished optimizing the Chumby database by now), I'm fine with the current implementation. However, I do hope that if the service doesn't come back, at least the software for the servers will be released so I can still use my Chumby indefinitely.

Re: What drew you to buying a Chumby?

domc83 -

Never heard of chumby until it was on sale on woot.com for $50.   It was worth the purchase and I'll keep supporting it.

cfg83

4 (edited by demarks51 2013-04-28 17:01:41)

Re: What drew you to buying a Chumby?

I had gotten interested in Weather Direct systems that had continuous weather and alarm clock. I have 5 now and have them around the house keeping me up to date with weather conitions. I started to look for an internet clock and the Sony Dash came up in the search. I didn't like the pricing of those units and saw that Infocast were actually cheaper and almost the same. I bought my first I 3.5 for about $25-30. It was registered to someone else and I did a search to find the chumby forum and contacted Duane to reset this unit. It was a lot of fun looking through the apps and learning how to work it. Then people starting talking about the unplugging of the Chumby server and I tried keep up with what was happiening. I kept looking for good deals on units. I really wanted an 8 and ending up buying two I8s and then another I3.5, a CC and someone gave me a customized CC in a box. I still like having them even though the apps are not working. I use it for a very reliable alarm clock and internet radio. If this is all we have to look forward to, it would still be enough for me. This forum has been a great help and I salute Duane for his mature attitude in the face of some strange opposition.

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: What drew you to buying a Chumby?

I bought my thee to be internet radios.