Joe Ganley: iAlarmClock

If I were inclined to start a company, something that I've always thought about is a company that applies Apple-style design sensibilities to relatively mundane consumer products. My company's first product would be an alarm clock. I've probably owned a dozen alarm clocks in my life, and used a couple of dozen more, and every single one has had an atrocious interface. Even the best of them lacked what I would consider some basic requirements. Few of them leave me confident that I've set the alarm properly and it is actually going to go off when I intended it to. It is difficult for me to turn them off in the dark, much less be able to actually set the alarm in the dark. For those of us not inclined to snooze, I've never seen one with a disable button as readily accessible as the snooze bar, but that kills the alarm until the same time tomorrow. And if there are multiple alarms or weekday-only alarms or such, forget it - the interface is so difficult that you'll probably never use those features. Someday...

Update (May 02007): Hmmm, WidgetStation might be just the thing. Looking forward to its release.
Update (Mar 02008): WidgetStation seems to be indefinitely delayed, but Chumby seems to be exactly what I want anyway. It's a little pricey ($180), but I still may have to buy one.

Labels: design

Joe Ganley	I make software and sometimes other things.

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iAlarmClock
If I were inclined to start a company, something that I've always thought about is a company that applies Apple-style design sensibilities to relatively mundane consumer products. My company's first product would be an alarm clock. I've probably owned a dozen alarm clocks in my life, and used a couple of dozen more, and every single one has had an atrocious interface. Even the best of them lacked what I would consider some basic requirements. Few of them leave me confident that I've set the alarm properly and it is actually going to go off when I intended it to. It is difficult for me to turn them off in the dark, much less be able to actually set the alarm in the dark. For those of us not inclined to snooze, I've never seen one with a disable button as readily accessible as the snooze bar, but that kills the alarm until the same time tomorrow. And if there are multiple alarms or weekday-only alarms or such, forget it - the interface is so difficult that you'll probably never use those features. Someday... Update (May 02007): Hmmm, WidgetStation might be just the thing. Looking forward to its release. Update (Mar 02008): WidgetStation seems to be indefinitely delayed, but Chumby seems to be exactly what I want anyway. It's a little pricey ($180), but I still may have to buy one. Labels: design 0 Comments: Post a Comment << Home