I bought a Chumby to play with — I don’t quite get it. Yet.
It’s an alarm-clock sized device, with a color touch LCD display. It displays Flash widgets you select in a continuous cycle, typically for 20-30 seconds per widget. My widget set: clock, weather widget, stock quote widget, and a few others. Widgets can be interactive, using the touch screen for input. You configure things on the Web, and the device downloads the config.
I was attracted to the openness: full source code, etc. I have a few ideas for displaying info from my home phone switch, my alarm system, etc.
But as configured, its sort of like a tiny version of the business waiting room display or Captivate displays in elevators, cycling through “stuff” to keep me occupied while I wait. But in my home or office, that use isn’t helpful.
Maybe I’m missing something? More thinking required.
my man, if *you* dont get the chumby, SHORT the chumby!
People spend how many hours a year watching TV? Tell me that broadcast TV is more interesting or enriching than the Chumby widgets….
IMHO, there is a lot of TV content is much more interesting than watching 5 Chumby widgets on a small screen cycle every few minutes.