Just looking at the cuddly thing, I really want to like Chumby. But I don't.
Designed in part by Apple (AAPL) alumni, Chumby is essentially a cross between a clock radio, a Beanie Baby, a digital picture frame, a handheld game, and that elusive grail of the Web era, an Internet "appliance." Well, it does make for a good clock radio.
If nothing else, you've never seen a device like this. Chumby is soft all around except for its touchscreen and a rear panel with a power button and ports for USB connections and the power cord. On top, there's a button hidden under the soft leather that you squeeze to control certain functions.
Using Wi-Fi, Chumby will connect to your wireless Internet router and fetch all manner of content from the Web—so long as you decide in advance what sort of stuff you'd like. Forget spontaneity. Chumby is not designed for Web surfing or even basic two-way communication like e-mail and instant messaging. Instead, Chumby is all about an overblown Web 2.0 fascination with software widgets, open-source idealism, and building a new community around them. Chumby users are encouraged to customize the device by hacking software and hardware, and then gab about it with other Chumby enthusiasts on Chumby.com.
Well, that's plenty ducky if you know how to hack. But if you're a peasant Web user like me, you're in for frustration. There's no browser and no typing in Web addresses, a maddening limitation for anyone who's been living, breathing, and searching the Internet for the past decade. Instead, you use your computer to visit Chumby.com and choose from long lists of widgets—more than 600 at last count—to display on the device.
Widget Windfall
These widgets, developed both internally and by Chumby hobbyists, serve up news, games, photo slide shows, video clips, live Webcams, and plenty of offbeat distractions, such as a belligerent cartoon bunny who'll insult you in French and a pug who licks the screen from inside. There's also a built-in music widget to play Web radio, podcasts, or music direct from your iPod, though not your copyright-protected iTunes.
At first, there's an alluring novelty to the widgets. I found a module that would replay David Letterman's nightly Top 10 List, another with Will Ferrell clanging his cow bell on Saturday Night Live, and one with Orson Welles clapping like a zombie in Citizen Kane. The Webcams included a "PandaCam" at the San Diego Zoo and one overlooking the crosswalk on Abbey Road where the Beatles strolled. I also chose modules featuring headlines from The New York Times (NYT) and CBS Sports (CBS), and local updates from the Weather Channel. I also picked some games that exploit Chumby's built-in motion sensor.
I was excited to try them all. Alas, I calmed easily. Chumby will cycle continuously through your widgets, which gets tiresome. Do you really want to see Orson or an intersection or a game you're not playing flash up again and again? Sure, you can make Chumby hold on a single widget or organize your widgets into different channels so that, say, games or irreverent rabbits show up only when you want. But I found using the control panel a chore, especially since Chumby's primitive touchscreen can require multiple taps to get where you're going. Before long, I wanted Chumby to shut up.
There are widgets to view e-mail from a Web service such as Yahoo! (YHOO), but don't get any fancy ideas about replying to or even deleting messages. This is read-only. I was irked, especially when I discovered a MySpace (NWS) widget for Chumby with a virtual keyboard for posting updates or replying to messages.