Not that I'd spend $250, but even something like that sold more as an open device to be used for a lot of different things changes (for the better) the value proposition in my mind a little than just sold as a busy sign with lots of integrations. Granted ... this appears to be that too. That's more a of a commentary on perception.
Though, mind you, said app doesn't perform exactly the same function as the bar itself; "Busy App" seems to be more of a distraction-blocking pomodoro timer for your own phone, rather than a digital "busy sign" for you to point at the rest of the room.
IMHO, presuming a desk implies a PC (or laptop dock) with at least one spare USB port — the simplest thing here wouldn't even be an old phone; it'd just be a red USB light (think a red siren, but without the moving/flashing) that you could set on top of your desk/monitor/cubicle wall, and control with a little menu bar widget (perhaps automatically, by heuristic.)
Why put the ugly bits right in front of your face?
Worked great with my kids for 2 months. Then they got used to it and barged in anyway. The same would happen with this gadget.
When my microphone activates, it triggers an automation that powers a socket. A red LED lamp lights up, signaling to everyone that I’m on a call or recording a video.
Related but different better time/social management physical device for cube land would be an Arduino, a button, and an 4-7 color andon tower representing states such as:
- Working
- Lunch or errand (will return)
- Out-of-office (not returning for the day)
- Working remotely
- DND
- Open to socializing
- On vacation
And then a glossary for definitions posted prominently on the cube/office and on the intranet portal personal page. No app, no internet connectivity, no security vulnerabilities, no complexity, and <$20.
The mans thrusting his palm out in front of the colleague, slapping the top of his alarm clock, the woman's exaggerated third person glance and swift exit.
I can only imagine it's followed by a complaint to HR or gossip, with the man on the laptop quickly becoming a hate-figure in the office.
Surely a polite decline is the exact same thing.
That’s a shame. The current price is what I’d immediately pay, if I was getting two.
I’m sad this isn’t in the price range I’m willing to pay. I guess I’ll just build my own.
They're all saying "This has a lot of things, and we're going to noisily tell you about them."
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=fisher+price+busy+box&ia=imag...
What about instead an unobtrusive software-based timer on your computer?
And the notification to coworkers not to interrupt you being a low-tech "BUSY" Post-It on the back of your laptop. Or your headphones on?
Though their advertising does have some interesting features and use cases. For example, you'd need to figure out a convention equivalent to smacking the Busy Bar button, to make your colleagues slink away.
The other features are interesting, but software features that may not warrant a hardware.
This also doesn't seem bigger than a phone and makes me wonder why not use a phone mount.
This seems more designed for shared working spaces which seem limited these days
barge in
> are you in a meeting?
No matter what I was previously doing, now I'm distracted... if anything, it's easier to re-focus during a meeting than during deep work
That said, other people's kids busting is my favorite part of zoom meetings.
How do they tell someone 15ft away that you're busy / on a call / etc?
For example, one idea my wife had was to have one on top of the washing machine displaying the last cycle of the machine based on the energy readings from a Zigbee smart socket, so we don't have to ask each other if the last cycle was a wash or drying cycle.
Will it change your life? No. But for $59 buckets it may add convenience here or there ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
[1]: https://www.ulanzi.com/products/ulanzi-pixel-smart-clock-288...
I could not find this in the app, maybe it’s Android only, an upcoming feature, or requires the Busy Bar hardware device.
It makes me wonder... How do you push on the "I can interrupt anyone at any time for any reason" attitude? I had a lot of trouble pushing on it in a previous workplace.
If you constantly give them your attention immediately, you are telling them that’s how it should work.
i feel like a big light-up sign on your desk that says "busy" might be a good place to start with that.
Give me a clock timer that has these features.... Make me a website to sell this fake timer...
Particularly the instructive text on the back. A real designer would never have all that descriptive text always visible for things you'll only use once.
I will get one when such are available. :)
and when I say "designer" I use the word like it's used in the term "designer clothing"
It was recently trending on X so I've asked ChatGPT to make few designs for things like portable power station and EV charger and it worked pretty well.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Edit: In many other threads on HN, people lament and protest the difficulty of getting paid well as a freelancer or small business in the technology industry. Let’s not trash someone for charging a handsome price for a product that’s had a lot of time, thought and design talent invested into it. Everybody knows that other clocks ant timers exist. Nobody is forced to buy this one. But we can still appreciate the effort and talent that someone has put into trying to create something beautiful, and respect them for charging a premium for it. And let’s keep Hacker News from being a place for grumpiness, especially about people trying to make nice new things.
Of course a device like this can be built for 10% of the price tag, or maybe for $0 if you already have the spare parts lying around, and just enjoy writing Arduino firmware sometimes. But for a less techy customer this thing makes total sense, and for a corporate customer it seems to have the full package for a hassle-free deployment somewhere in a sales department.
BOM is always a very minor part of such projects, say, 5%; the major cost is electronic / mechanical / software engineering, then marketing (including the very good web site) and sales, production and shipping, etc.
https://github.com/race604/clock-tui
bonus - i ported this to raspberry pi https://youtube.com/shorts/rgm8lAlHus4
While there are certainly much cheaper ways to solve this problem, I think there is a market. Specifically podcasters and YouTubers who film at home, love gadgets that will look good in the background of a video, and love gear more than the work itself.
When I was in the office I solved this with a hoodie. If the hood was up, I was focusing and people generally didn’t bother me. I never even said anything or realized I was doing it, people just got it.
It is me. I am that subset.
It's about the interface. And of course it is, because look how gorgeous yet minimal it is.
I guarantee most tasks can be accomplished with this in less steps and less time than if you had to pull out your phone, open an app, and do it. Remember, this is sitting on your desk at arms length at any time you need to use it, and always in your face with information at a glance.
Assuming the device is as polished as its slick marketing page, I'm a little skeptical it could be replicated in a week. That said, if you disagree this is a great opportunity to undercut the competition!
Donate 245 to a charity. And make a dual sided sign out of reclaimed palet wood and that soldering iron you bought last year.
The device itself looks pretty neat, and seems like it does have a lot more features than that douchebag-projecting use case.
For that price though, you might as well get an ipad...
this seems like an actively hostile narcissistic addition to a collaborative workplace that would get you fired in a week.
Does it work without a subscription?
