Was the Chumby an innovative product, or a missed opportunity?

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marc April 20, 2012

Was the Chumby an innovative product, or a missed opportunity?

Go to the Chumby web store, and you'll get the message "the site is closed temporarily." As Engadget points out, the shutdown is actually permanent, but may not be a big deal, given that Chumby had stopped marketing its own products in 2011, opting to license its software to companies like Sony instead. However, Sony discontinued its Chumby-powered Dash earlier this year.

The Chumby was something of a hard sell from the start. As an open-source, internet-connected alarm clock with support for downloadable apps, it competed with smartphones, which offered a much broader universe of apps, even when the first Chumby was released in 2008. As smartphones and tablets became more versatile, the Chumby suffered even more by comparison, and the lack of battery support on some models made it much more like a traditional alarm clock and less like an internet appliance.

Personally, I liked the Chumby, and wanted it to succeed. However, it seems destined at this point to join products like the 3Com Ergo Audrey in the graveyard of innovative, but fatally flawed, connected devices.

www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/chumby-halts-hardware-...

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7 replies

nitehawk 2012-04-20 14:27:22

Chumby is another example of decent hardware, hampered by horrid software. Great idea, not simple enough for everyday user. Software was always too clunky and is always testy with someone's patience.

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EBone 2012-04-20 16:49:49

Three main problems: 1) The software was too slow and mated with an unresponsive resistive-touchscreen; 2) You had to go online on a flash-enabled computer to find, add and delete applications; 3) It was way too expensive for way too long.

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ted 2012-04-20 19:01:57

It was always a niche product and the production costs were too high to make it a usable picture frame during it's prime. Ubiquitous computing also came in the form of tablets and the Chumby was done and dead. Makes a great alarm clock though.

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Fishstick2k8 2012-04-22 10:09:23

I went through the trouble of importing a Chumby into Canada when it was first announced, and when it was -new- the Chumby was a great gadget. I couldn't find the perfect spot for it... on my desk at work, on my nightstand at home, on the counter in the kitchen... it offered benefits to all those locations, I considered buying a second one.

Of course that was 3 years ago. I expect that anyone with the disposable money to buy a Chumby, is also the type of person who may own a few smartphones, a tablet or two... now, my chumby is outdated, sluggish, underutilized... but it does make for a great alarm clock.

I am anxious about the day the Chumby servers get shut down. I've been researching the 'offline' mode that is possible with a little bit of programming... Or maybe I'll just get a Raspberry Pi to ease the pain.

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gperkins 2012-04-23 16:25:20

Take your pick of what killed it, the ipod touch, the ipad, many android tablets. They could be picked up, the chumby was plugged in.

I just can't get mine to do anything really useful besides play internet radio and be a clock. Granted I had the bb version.

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pixel5 2012-04-20 13:24:15

Response to title: the price.

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mike 2012-04-20 13:29:30

I think it's pretty simple, really. At best, Chumby was yet another internet-capable appliance that looked better on paper and seemed innovative at the time it was conceived. As you mentioned, this was before the smartphone app market exploded. Who needs a toy more or less limited to whatever shelf or dresser you place it on when you can dock your smartphone than can be pretty much anything you want it to be, wherever you go. It might have had a chance ten years ago but now it's forced to retire with the likes of gadgets like Nabaztag.

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