Lots of my ideas for hardware that I enjoy kicking around (that
is to say, my favorite ideas) involve having some portion of the
computing experience somewhere other than your computer. Or at
least some data that is generally only found on your computer
somewhere else. More on that later. As I drove home today, I was
thinking that really the answer will lie in little boxes with small
CPUs that run Linux. You can get a router to run Linux
and indeed, most routers these days (I believe) are just chips
running Linux and programming to, umm... route (rout?). Previously,
I had thought that you could toss a PocketPC into a myriad of
devices. But these are expensive and, I'll be honest, somewhat
slow, and completely unpopular. But a Linux "mini-computer," if you
will, would cost what? $100 for the hardware? Well, apparently, for
the hardware and some leather (and some profit), it's $179 when it
goes on sale this fall. (To be fair to my estimate, there are a few
extras I wasn't counting on and I expected a lower-powered
processor.) It's a little computer, memory, 2 USB ports, Wi-Fi,
touchscreen, speakers & headphone jack, microphone,
accelerometer (it knows when you chuck it across the room) and a
few other things I don't know about ("Bend" Switch?). It's called a
Chumby. I imagine that is
supposed to be a clever spin off "chum" but it sounds a bit silly
to me. They had to name it something, I suppose. Hack
Chumby is clearly aiming at custom developers too - people to hack
it and make it do other things. From the main page, you see 2 links
(ok, you see lots, but 2 relevant): "Developers" in the main menu
and "Source Code" along the bottom. Wait a tic: "source code" - yup
the source code that the Chumby runs on. This is like the
anti-iPhone (iPhones, at first, were being hacked to be unlocked
and Apple very tight and clearly wanted them locked and not open to
developers). The first page under developers? "Welcome developers."
They also have a wiki for developers that is, I'd say, better than
Facebook's developer wiki - and Facebook is working hard to get
developers (their lives depend on it). Oh yeah, there is also
"completely hackable" listed as a feature. And remember: this is
before the thing is even out the door to people. Usually the cycle
is: release product, people hack it, decide you [company] like
people hacking it, slowly create the infrastructure to support the
hackers (and often be slow and not as good as what the hackers are
already doing). These guys seem to have learned from iRobot / Roomba.
Applications Am I getting ahead of myself? What's the
big idea of having a computer that runs Linux? So what? Chumby (the
company) itself suggests a few things that they built already (and a few suggestions
for others to build). They show some flash games, an eBay
widget (monitor an auction from somewhere other than the computer -
presumably bid on it too). Also weather. Weather is interesting to
me. I often think weather belongs just about anywhere other
than the computer. Weather belongs in places other than your
computer. I have tried a few times (not hard enough clearly) to get
weather into my TV (via Windows Media Center). But that's not an
ideal place for it (and I could have flipped to the Weather Channel
and waited out the 10 minutes of ads and the weather in Austrilia,
Rome, and Ecuador in order to get to see my local weather report).
I have a little
Oregon Scientific weather station that gives me temperature,
humidity, and forecast. Pretty sweet - and even hooks to remote
sensors (e.g. it gives me the temperature inside and outside). But
the forecast is based on it's reading and if I have all its weather
sensors inside my house, as I currently do, what's the forecast
based on (40% chance of showers in the kitchen)? Further: even if I
had a few sensors outside is some little box going to deliver
better weather guesses (and let's face it: we humans are still just
guessing) than Accuweather or the Weather Network with its 100-year
weather history, fancy weather models, and hordes of mystic
shamans who worship the sun meterologists? So why can't I
get that data from my computer to another device. Preferably one
that I don't have to boot up and wait for. Preferably one that with
pretty color graphics and maybe even a satellite map. Now we're
talking. (BTW:
the link isn't my weather station exactly: mine is that one
[same features and screen] but is red, has a Ferrari logo and the
alarm has the sound of an F1 car revving.) But weather is a bit of
a piddly example: we can get that information already. Chumby's
eBay widget is better: an eBay auction is information that I
otherwise would only have in my computer (or on my TV, again via
Windows Media Center). Past the Chumby I think that it
will make a difference if we can incorporate Chumby-like hardware
in devices we already have. The so-called "smart home" stuff.
(Maybe leave the accelerometer out of them - if my fridge falls
over I won't need an accelerometer to notify me: I'll hear the
crash. But I'm getting ahead of myself.) The fridge is usually my
first thought, probably because there is so much potential data in
my fridge. Each item has some nutritional information. I also have
some inventory (2 jar of pickles, 1 bottle of
Tabasco, 2 bottles of ketchup... "Honey, why 2 bottles of
ketchup? Seriously."). There is also history: when we are low on
Tabasco, we buy more (hypothetically, one may be low if the arm of
the fridge shelf on which Tabasco is stored breaks and the bottle
slides off and hits the tile floor and shatters - with pepper sauce
going everywhere and, while cleaning it up, you can feel it burning
your nose and passer-bys walking in cough as they inhale the heat -
oh, and let's say that's a large bottle of Tabasco, not the usual
small bottle that most people have - hypothetically).
- Buying history + current inventory = base shopping list (better
than I could make)
- Current inventory + date it entered = email or SMS alert: "Make
burgers (buy buns on your way home - you only have 1) and use the
last ketchup that expires on Friday."
- Current inventory + date it entered = email or SMS alert: "You
didn't finish the ketchup, toss it - it expired yesterday. Idiot."
(yes, in my utopia computers insult me.)
- Nutritional information + Current inventory - inventory removed
for cooking = nutritional information of meal & subsequent
leftovers (weighed for serving calculation)
*goes to get a snack* What... munch, munch... else? I'm sure
each appliance (and possibly a few pieces of furniture) would
benefit from having a non-computer computer embedded in them.
Back to reality (reality as Fall 07) But what about
the Chumby? Well, maybe a Chumby shows a picture that my friend
just took on their cellphone and uploaded wirelessly. That's pretty
easy - I could probably build that on day 1 that they come out.
Maybe the Chumby wakes me with the latest news (that I care about:
from preferences stored somewhere). How about showing the current
night sky identifying constellations, etc.. How about
iPhone-Cingular-style visual voicemail for my home phone (or cell
or combined)? It seems to me that there is probably at least 1
game-changer to be had with this device. Some piece/type of
information that we could get that we currently don't because we
don't have the right interface: and a computer that isn't a
computer might be the right interface. (E.g.: we didn't know we
wanted blogs until we had the internet - as opposed to email: we
knew we wanted email: it was just the internet version of
faxes/letters/notes/etc..) The only thing I wish the Chumby had is
the Nabaztag lights - I
really want to experiment with more subtle ways of communicating
data from a computer. Oh, and a rechargeable battery that lasts
say... a week (so I can move it around and just put it on its base
station weekly). Oh, and a camera - preferably video (how'd they
forget this?). Side note on Roomba: Check the ConnectR: read
bullet #1: "Participate in family moments even though you're
working late." Right, cuz a little red robot feels the same as
having Dad at home. Also, immediately above that: "seeing, hearing
and interacting with them in their home as if you were there in
person."