Chumby: the cute device that packs a lot of punch

Filed in archive Devices on October 19, 2007

This cute little gadget was brought to my attention by my wife a few weeks ago. It was not until Linux.com's Lisa Hoover's review of this critter that I decided to take a second look. No, it is not because I did not believe my wife but it was because she did not have one to review (which is a pity, really) - we wish that we can get review units of cool devices like this one. What is it really? "The chumby is a compact device that displays useful and entertaining information from the web: news, photos, music, celebrity gossip, weather, box scores, blogs - using your wireless internet connection. Always on, it shows - nonstop - what's online that matters to you."

Since the chumby is such a new device, I expected to encounter some snafus and snags as I played with it. Surprisingly, the only issues I encountered were at the Web site, not with the unit itself.

Interesting insight from Ms. Hoover. This made me want the gadget even more. I am sure that I can think of a dozen and one ways of using this at home and on my desk at the office. With Linux running it, I am sure that I can get my students to develop other interesting widgets, too. Now, Chumby, when are you sending me a couple of units for review. :)