Topic: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

As the topic says, I'd like to know why whoever still uses a Chumby does so and if I should get one. I've been wanting a Chumby for a while, but they were way out of my price range. However, I recently saw a bunch of Chumbi (Chumbies? Chumbys? What's the plural?) and Infocasts for sale on the cheap and I looked up why. That's how I learned that Chumby (The company) went out of business and there's only a basic server up, with no widgets. I have a tablet (An HP TouchPad, so I'm familliar with discontinued products) and an alarm clock already, so I hope some Chumby users will give me good reasons to get either a Chumby or an Infocast.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

Even now, with only the stub server operating, the Chumby is an alarm clock of unparalleled flexibility and ease of use. You can set a huge number of alarms.
For example, on weekdays, my bedside Chumby switches from Night Mode (a dark clock suitable for sleeping next to) to Day Mode at 6 am. This is done silently, but means that if I wake up I can see the time easily (the Night Mode clock is set very dim and is hard to read in the light). Then, half an hour later, an audible alarm sounds. This is set to go for 30 minutes, with snooze option. Since I occasionally turn the alarm off and go back to sleep, there is another alarm set to go off 45 minutes later, but only for one minute. If I've gone back to sleep, it will wake me up, but if I'm already up I don't have to go and switch it off, since it will do that itself in a minute.
On weekends, a different sequence of things happens, but I'm sure you're starting to get the idea.
It is also easy to temporarily suspend alarms without erasing them, so that if you have time off work you can sleep in, but keep your alarms set up ready to go when you go back to work. It is equally easy to add in 'one off' alarms, for days when you have to get up earlier than usual.
Chumby is also an excellent internet radio. This feature is still working on the stub server. Most of the internet radio sources can be used as alarms.
Another practical point is that there will not be any more Chumbys made. Whether this will make them more or less expensive in the future is a matter for debate. Some would say that scarcity, coupled with the recent interest paradoxically generated by Chumby.com's servers going off the air, will drive prices up. Others confidently predict that bargain priced devices will flood ebay as their owners ditch them now.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

steelpaw wrote:

Another practical point is that there will not be any more Chumbys made. Whether this will make them more or less expensive in the future is a matter for debate. Some would say that scarcity, coupled with the recent interest paradoxically generated by Chumby.com's servers going off the air, will drive prices up. Others confidently predict that bargain priced devices will flood ebay as their owners ditch them now.

This may be true, but all the bargain basement Infocasts at least are brand new. I have no idea why either. I guess they're returned items that stores can't sell anymore. I hope that Duane will come forwards with an ETA for at least some of the most popular widgets to be back up, because I'd gladly pay anything from $0 to $25 per year. Thanks for taking the time to reply to some newbie's question.

P.S: I know this is trivial, but some people have complained about the Star Trek clock's readability. What's your thought on the manner? I don't care unless the text is really small, though.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

The time on the Star Trek clock is enormous and can be read from across the room with ease. The date is pretty big. There is a month's calendar that is quite small, but I don't see a huge need for a calendar on this kind of device. There is some tiny text down the left hand side that is purely for decorative purposes. This is what has confounded a few people.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

Completely dark, bedside alarm clock. Not one annoying light.
Small footprint.
Stable. This thing is never going to fall over & doesn't need a stand. Squishy, comfy leather beanbag (Classic version).
Stereo speakers (Classic version).
Extremely configurable alarms.
User customisable net radio & mp3 player.
User hackable (helps if you know basic unix comands).
Easy to relocate where you need it - kitchen (music + kitchen timer)/sewing room (music + clock)/bathroom (long bath, glass of wine, music = bliss wink)

I've tried to find a replacement, but so far everything I've seen doesn't fit the bill.

6 (edited by kimtoufectis 2013-03-03 13:38:21)

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

"Prediction is very difficult, especially with respect to the future..."

--Neils Bohr

The prices have dropped because (a) the device offers a more limited service than it used to, and (b) while those of us who are fans have high hopes, the future remains cloudy at best.  You can wait a while and prices may continue to fall; on the other hand Duane may get things moving again and you could miss this buyer's market as prices go back up.

Roll some dice, flip a coin, or go with your best instinct...there will be no guarantees.

If you pull the trigger you'll at least have skin in the game.

Good luck!

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

@nathanm: Greetings From another HP Touchpad owner. I've spent more time doing low-level configuration of my Chumbies than the TP, but I bought both because they were open and would allow me to do that kind of thing. I wonder whether the Chumby browser would be capable of running an Enyo app? Unfortunately I don't think the resistive touch-screen of the Chumby would be up to the kind of things that WebOS needs, it only supports one touch at once.

8 (edited by carldc 2013-03-03 15:47:59)

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

I always thought there was probably some overlap here... Greetings from yet another HP TouchPad (and Pre 3) owner! Much of the discussion here is exactly why I got my Chumby (and two more...and two for my wife). If you're a techie, much like the webOS Homebrew community, Chumby has encouraged hacking from the very start.

I'm not a techie. About five years ago (almost to the day), I was looking for a new clock radio. I was also curious about internet radios. I saw something about Chumby and it seemed like the best bargain. I still think it is (even with the "stub" server). It's still one of the cheaper internet radios out there, and the alarm settings are extremely flexible.

I have a Chumby Classic at work and a Chumby One at home. The Classic's softball design makes it the cuter of the two, but the One is more advanced in some ways -- including a built-in FM tuner.

Servalan's description pretty much nails it.

Thanks to the work of Duane and others here, the service lives on. With any luck, the widgets will return soon. But even if they don't, the current 'stub' configuration is good enough for me (and, yes, the calendar on-screen is tiny, but the clock is clearly readable across the room).

Now, am I the only one to hit the trifecta of discontinued products by also driving a Saturn Astra? smile

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

carldc wrote:

Now, am I the only one to hit the trifecta of discontinued products by also driving a Saturn Astra? smile

I think I've got the discontinued trio:

  • My main tablet is the HP TouchPad

  • My main laptop's an Apple iBook G4

  • And of course, I'm interested in getting a Chumby.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

Chumby is a terrific alarm clock to fall asleep to. I have old-time radio programs on a USB stick, Bing Crosby et al on Pandora, and Big Bands ready to go on Shoutcast.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

My two Chumbies are 3.5 and 8 inches respectively;
My desktop computer is an iMac G4;
My car is a 1995 Honda DelSol.

If there is a patron saint of hanging in there s/he follows some of us Chumby owners...

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

Oh, hi!

Two Chumbys. I drive a Saturn too, I still use my OLPC laptop, my desktop computer is ATB form factor, and my stereo receiver is a Superscope with quadrophonic sound. I've got a bunch of rotary dial phones, too, which I actually use sometimes.

At this point, I mostly just use my Chumby One as an alarm clock and music player in the bedroom, so I don't have the offline firmware on that one right now. The Chumby 8 lives in the kitchen, though, and is currently running the offline firmware, and I have my recipes and phone numbers on it as well. (If it goes to a subscription service, I'm on board with that, too.)

I knew when I got them that the service might disappear someday, but I figured that since they're so hackable, that didn't have to be a dealkiller. And obviously, it hasn't been. When my Chumbys aren't doing what I need them to do anymore, I can just fiddle with them until they do.

If I didn't already have a couple, I'd probably buy one now.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

lisarea wrote:

If I didn't already have a couple, I'd probably buy one now.

pretty much the same boat I'm in... at last check, I had a CC, two C1's, a C8, an I3, and three I8's (of which at least one is in pieces on my desk for "research purposes" big_smile)

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

steelpaw wrote:

Even now, with only the stub server operating, the Chumby is an alarm clock of unparalleled flexibility and ease of use. You can set a huge number of alarms.
For example, on weekdays, my bedside Chumby switches from Night Mode...  a minute.
On weekends, a different sequence of things happens, but I'm sure you're starting to get the idea.

I'll go you one better, though, I like some of your ideas and may steal them. wink

I spent a little time and wrote and awk script, (since the awk that comes with the chumby is well featured) that reads my schedule off of a csv file, and sets the next two weeks worth of alarms accordingly.

if I need to get up earlier, or later, it automatically sets that, or no alarm for the days when i can sleep in, (weekends, holidays, vacation days, etc).

I absolutely *LOVE* not having to diddle with the alarm clock, remembering to set the alarm, reset the time, (change the time, hello daylight 'savings') etc.

Cleaning up any loose bits and bytes.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

ChumbyLurker made a fun CGI script written in perl for editing your alarms remotely.  It works great and is one of the things I've played with on a couple of my chumbies.

http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?pid=21606#p21606

Get that setup and you pull up the page that's run directly on your chumby to edit the alarms.

Linux Guy - Occasional Chumby Hacker

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

Materdaddy wrote:

ChumbyLurker made a fun CGI script written in perl for editing your alarms remotely.  It works great and is one of the things I've played with on a couple of my chumbies.

http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?pid=21606#p21606

Get that setup and you pull up the page that's run directly on your chumby to edit the alarms.

yes, that's something else I did sometime back... I've got that on all my chumbies... I edited the main home page on the web server to include a link, too.

I think that was suggested somewhere in the comments, I don't believe I thought of it on my own.

though i mainly use it to check the alarm status to make sure my auto alarm script is still chugging along.   (it's got my schedule for the rest of the year in it already... *grin*)

Cleaning up any loose bits and bytes.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

nathanm wrote:
carldc wrote:

Now, am I the only one to hit the trifecta of discontinued products by also driving a Saturn Astra? smile

I think I've got the discontinued trio:

  • My main tablet is the HP TouchPad

  • My main laptop's an Apple iBook G4

  • And of course, I'm interested in getting a Chumby.

Please contact me on "Prodigy!"  :-)

Marc Silverman
New York City
SilverMarc.com | Chumbian.com
MY POWER TEAM: Macintosh, iPhone, Chumby, Geocaching, WheresGeorge.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

Here's what I've bought over the past couple of weeks on eBay:

1. Chumby One $33
2. Chumby One $30
3. Chumby Classic $30
4. Chumby One $37

(Price include shipping) I use them mostly as internet radios. I'm done now, so I won't be bidding against you!

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

tommcmahon wrote:

Here's what I've bought over the past couple of weeks on eBay:

1. Chumby One $33
2. Chumby One $30
3. Chumby Classic $30
4. Chumby One $37

(Price include shipping) I use them mostly as internet radios. I'm done now, so I won't be bidding against you!

It doesn't really matter now, anyway. I got an I3.5 in (mostly destroyed) box for $25 from some seller who liquidates returned items. I must have an early one as well! (Serial 535)

20 (edited by demarks51 2013-03-23 13:41:04)

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

I just bought a CC Latte for $17.99 delivered on ebay. With bag and charms.
Is that cool?

There is a nice looking I8
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Insignia-Infoca … 2c6d8171f0

Owner of 3 Sony Dash, 2 Info 8.

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

SilverMarc wrote:
nathanm wrote:
carldc wrote:

Now, am I the only one to hit the trifecta of discontinued products by also driving a Saturn Astra? smile

I think I've got the discontinued trio:

  • My main tablet is the HP TouchPad

  • My main laptop's an Apple iBook G4

  • And of course, I'm interested in getting a Chumby.

Please contact me on "Prodigy!"  :-)

Sorry, I'm on AOL ;-)

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

carldc wrote:
SilverMarc wrote:
nathanm wrote:

I think I've got the discontinued trio:

  • My main tablet is the HP TouchPad

  • My main laptop's an Apple iBook G4

  • And of course, I'm interested in getting a Chumby.

Please contact me on "Prodigy!"  :-)

Sorry, I'm on AOL ;-)

Personally, I'm a CompuServe man. Gotta get those $6/hour rates!

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

nathanm wrote:
carldc wrote:
SilverMarc wrote:

Please contact me on "Prodigy!"  :-)

Sorry, I'm on AOL ;-)

Personally, I'm a CompuServe man. Gotta get those $6/hour rates!

Delphi was the only one that supported my Radioshack Color Computers I-III

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

I used to work for Compuserve back in those days!

> r artgal
Welcome to the laser printer Art Gallery


Hehehe

Re: Why Get One Now? I need mental leverage!

nathanm wrote:
tommcmahon wrote:

Here's what I've bought over the past couple of weeks on eBay:

1. Chumby One $33
2. Chumby One $30
3. Chumby Classic $30
4. Chumby One $37

(Price include shipping) I use them mostly as internet radios. I'm done now, so I won't be bidding against you!

It doesn't really matter now, anyway. I got an I3.5 in (mostly destroyed) box for $25 from some seller who liquidates returned items. I must have an early one as well! (Serial 535)

I just won a Latte Classic (I've always wanted that color) and the eBay price was $30 + $7 for shipping. Now I'm a 3-Chumby family!

Marc Silverman
New York City
SilverMarc.com | Chumbian.com
MY POWER TEAM: Macintosh, iPhone, Chumby, Geocaching, WheresGeorge.