Introducing technology in everyday living is not as simple as it may seem. Many of us often use computers, mobile phones, and PDAs, devices that are getting more and more powerful and smarter. But what happens to all the other technologically enhanced products the market tries to convince us we need? The reality is that technology is quite often unreliable thus, our devices’ life is pretty short. Understandably, people are scared of changing the kitchen table LEDs and sensors every year or of having to call an engineer for it instead of doing it themselves.

For these reasons, I’m always very sceptical when I hear about a new electronic device that should enter our lives. I am definitely not against technology enhancements, but what I notice, unfortunately, is the lack of meaningful enhancements in the user experience, something that with a good interaction design can easily be achieved.

Size comparison between Chumby and a mug

Chumby is a product that doesn’t intend to replace any particular object already in our homes, although it could eventually replace many of them. It is a Linux-based compact device with touch screen that firstly, thanks to its wi-fi connection, allows you to run client applications off-line or connected to the Internet (from a simple clock alarm to a flicker pool visualizer), and secondly, thanks to its soft container and different sensors, to be controlled through physical interactions.

Cumby with a Flicker pool running

These features are already enough for it to be considered as a very cool gadget, however, I reckon that its strengths are somewhere else. Chumby is in fact “completely hackable” and can count on user generated widgets. So, if you are a developer/hacker, you can easily customize it yourself (also simply changing the crafted holder) or, if you aren’t, you can easily use some interesting widgets developed by someone else.

Some of widgets already available

No doubts hackers will love a device like this, but I’m sure that even normal web surfers will easily appreciate its potentialities and the many customizing possibilities they will have using someone else’s hacks.

Some exterior customizations

Therefore, an important success factor will be the simplicity of customizing hardware and software. Since the creators know it well, despite I couldn’t test it yet, I am pretty confident that for its launch, early this summer, they will provide a user-friendly extendible framework easily accessible by many developers. This will allow the community to grow consistently and find always new and fascinating applications for this smart product. Its relative low-tech components will hopefully help to make it long-lasting thus bringing back some of the trust people have lost in electronic devices.