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April 28, 2008
Taming the Octopus
Just as you were beginning to feel a bit overcome wrangling the ever growing, ever twisting arms of the internet octopus…along comes CHUMBY — a big endeavor in a small package. This isn’t really a product review as much as a pondering of the meaning and intent of this little gadget that re-packages some of your personal internet needs and preferences into a compact, (almost) cuddly, leather padded wi-fi monitor. With design influences somewhere between an Ugly Doll and a baseball glove, we would love to see this product continue to evolve and take on even more of a Japanesesque “cuteness” as it moves past its initial market place introduction. Even now, you kind of want to give it a pat and a smile when you see it, but how much cooler could it be if it started to embody something closer to its logo, or it’s foamy charm accessories?
My introduction to CHUMBY came at the beginning of a complicated project start-up meeting where one was spotted on the Kirkham Systems conference table. The questions about the device and the attempts to describe it were literally laughable. “You just have to spend some time with It.” was the ultimate conclusion. And isn’t that the point?
After I left, my intrigue was ramped on this little guy. How visionary it was to conceive and market, and how brave it was to stick with it through product development, capital structures, and business planning. What a challenge it must have been to arrive in the market place with a relevant product in a tech-world that is on fast-forward x10, with changes on a daily basis. Knowing the development process could have easily taken up to two years, you start to realize someone somewhere had a vision and passion to influence and expand the way we experience the internet.
C3 Brandworks applauds CHUMBY. And while we may have a few more recco’s on its future design evolution and interface, we hope to see its growth nourished, so it can become the perfect personal tech pet we know it can someday be.
P.S. CHUMBY comes house broken.
(Many images and reviews of this device are already posted on the www so if you’re interested in Googling CHUMBY to find out more, goog away here!)