Clocky — the runaway alarm clock
Clocky is finally up and running. The alarm is evading drowsy owners reaching over to try to shut it off and go back to sleep.
Clocky’s inventor, Gauri Nanda, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year, said she hoped that the small debut last week — only “a couple of thousand” were shipped, she said — marked the start of a big business.
Clocky had a makeover since Nanda’s initial conception. The model that was shipped is rounder and made of plastic; its dial and buttons are arranged to resemble a face, and it comes in colors like cream and aqua. It sells for $49.99, plus shipping and handling. (For those who prefer the original design, Nanda is selling shag coverings as accessories.)
The clock has a built-in microprocessor that randomly programs its runaway speed and routes.
I have to admit I love the idea that you have to get out of bed and chase the damned thing around the room until you can catch it and turn it off!
One more reason for you Americans to go to bed with a shotgun…
I would prefer it if it looked and acted like Clockey from PeeWee’s Playhouse!
who said anything about needing a reason ??
Brilliant idea. But I have my alarm clock across my room so I have to get up anyway to turn it off. But if it’s gonna run away.. I’ll just leave my bedroom door open and let it run down the hallway. scare my cats, and let someone else get up and shut the thing up.
why can’t people just wake up without an alarm clock?
I love the idea of you running around still half-asleep, too, Eideard. Hopefully you’ll set up a video camera, and put it on YouTube, as to capture all of the other shit you knock over in the process.
James, I should have said “I like the idea” — for people who need an alarm clock.
Fortunately, I’m one of those people who wakes up around 5:30AM whether I need to or not. 🙂
Too late: You’re getting it next Christmas.
Isn’t there also an alarm clock that allows you to pick it up and throw it against the wall to shut it up?
Next invention… seek-and-destroy-clock robot…
This sounds more like the ultimate cat toy than an alarm clock, but this is similar to another invention I heard about. It was something that farmers used — they kept it outside in the yard. It was a “dawn detector” and it made a god-awful sound as soon as it detected sunrise. It never really caught on in the city because there’s no “off” switch and the neighbors always complain.
Gary, you wouldn’t talking about a rooster would you?
Thanks, Improbus, it occurred to me a little later that maybe I should have been a little more explicit, but you saved me. Sometimes I forget that there are a few folks (we call ’em “youngsters”) who haven’t seen a farm, and won’t know what a rooster is unless they come out with a Sims Family Farm Edition 😉
13. The roosters I remember were too stupid to know dawn from 1:30 AM. Thus the need for the shotgun ala Post #1.
#5 why can’t people just wake up without an alarm clock?
Comment by Jimmy — 12/28/2006 @ 7:17 am
I don’t know Jimmy? Why are there people who think just because they get up like chipper freakin’ puppies at zero dark thirty in the A of M that everyone else should be up too?
Here’s my real question… Why is it that when I’m ready to go out to the 24/7 bowling ally at 3 AM, the rest of you useless wankers are crying like little girls about how tired you are and how you have jobs and how your wives control your every waking moment!?!?!?!
You can just go to hell, Jimmy. I don’t need you. I can have fun myself. I’ll just find some new friends who aren’t lame and sleepy and wearing little bitch collars around their necks. You enjoy your generic tiki taki house in the suburbs and your mindless zombie job working for the man…
You got a degree? You got kids? You got a job and a wife and a mortgage and responsibilities? That’s sounds like YOUR FAULT Man! YOUR FAULT… You could have stayed with me and we’d be having fun… but NO… You wanted to be a toadie to the Man… You wanted to get all goose step with the norms of Squaresville… You wanted to have sex on a regular basis with that business accounting major you met at Chip’s party after the Devo concert… Well it’s been a fun ride but I just don’t think we can be friends anymore!
I’m going back to my studio apartment in near the comic book shop where I am assistant manager and I am gonna get online and get all my MySpace friends together and I’m gonna have fun. You… You just go to bed, and get up all perky and bright, and have a plate of eggs made by Emily, your VP of Accounting wife who has a six figure salary at the company and gravity defying tits despite giving you two perfect girls and star athlete boy… and then you just get in your Lexus and go to your private parking spot at your successful law firm… and rake in your big dough… since that is what seems so goddamn important to you.
If you wanna call that living, then have it it Jimmy… You know Jimmy… I hate you. I hate you and I we all hated you in college and the only reason we ever laughed at your lame jokes was because your dad paid the rent on our house.
As for me… I’m buying one of those damn rolling alarm clocks and I don’t wanna hear any more of your shit Mr Big I Get Up In The Morning Guy!!!!!
#15….. regarding “why can’t people just wake up without an alarm clock?”
Whoa…. I think you totally missed the point there!
The question, IMHO, is asking why people are not thinking about why they are so tired as to need mechanical assistance to awake. If someone needs an alarm clock every day, then they should be asking themselves “Why?”
I, for one, do not use an alarm clock. I feel they are unhealthy. I only use it for rare exceptions, like when I have to awake prior to my normal schedule. Others in my family are the same. They refuse to use alarm clocks for normally scheduled sleep time.
I find that allowing the sun, birds, and normal noise to slowly away the body to be far easier than being jarred out of a deep sleep by an alarm. The need for a snooze-button is a symptom of a problem… not a solution to one.
So rather than looking into better alarm clocks… look into why you are not getting enough rest. The answer is usually television. Make sure there is no TV in your bedroom. Is forcing yourself to stay up and watch late night TV really worth it? It isn’t.
Make sure that you get to bed a good 7 hours before you intend to wake. Make sure the window shades/blinds are open enough to allow natural sunlight to enter the room at dawn. Make sure you are not eating too much too close to bed time. Drink a soothing caffeine-free tea before sleeping.
Remove all distractions to sleep from your bedroom. Computers, TVs, video games, and other things should not be in there. The room should be reserved for sleep and quality time with your partner. Nothing else.
I also refuse to have a clock that I can read in the dark. I think it serves as an artificial distraction. If I really wake up and need to know what time it is, then I have to turn on a light and find the clock. Rather than look at the clock for guidance for how you feel, look to your own body for guidance. It will tell you what it needs, such as more sleep, or it has had enough.
The last trick, one that I and my family members use, is to simply tell yourself what time you want to wake. Visualize waking at the correct time all rested and ready to meet the day. Look forward to tomorrow instead of dreading it. Meditate if you have to. You will be surprised how well it works and how much better you will feel when you wake up.
And if all else fails… do the old Indian trick. Drink a large glass of water before sleeping so your bladder will wake you up later.
#16 Whoa…. I think you totally missed the point there!
🙂
I didn’t miss the point… But every now and again an outrageuos rant from left field can be funny… I hope some readers were entertained and I hope Jimmy thinks its funny 🙂
I love you guys man.
You are all my best friend.
OhForTheLoveOf, I visualized enough frothing at the mouth that someone would need to mop up the blog.
Relax, Jimmy, you were just “collateral damage” 😉
Unfortunately, the business is horrible. I ordered clocky on the day it came out, had my credit card charged the next day, and am still waiting for it. When I email them, they give me the run around. I’m very disappointed. I have been waiting for clocky for years, told all my friends about it, helped propel the internet phenomenon in my own small way, and after all this anticipation, it’s a major let down that the online store is so terrible. I hope this whole ordeal doesn’t prevent me from enjoying clocky. 🙁