[Fireside Chats are round table discussions conducted using Campfire.]

The latest chat is with three inventor/entrepreneurs:

Brian Crabtree of Monome (creators of the monome 40h).

David Rose, CEO of Ambient Devices (creators of the Ambient Orb and the Ambient Umbrella).

Nathan Seidle of Spark Fun Electronics.

Moderated by Matt (ML) and Jason (JF) from 37signals.

ML
for starters, explain to our audience what you guys do/make.
NS
SparkFun is a bit difficult to describe. We provide the widgets to the hardware world for creating prototypes. Before a new product is released to the consumer market, the company has to design the product. We product the parts to build the ‘mock up’. This spans hobbyists, research, and students. We see a lot of business from all markets.
NS
‘We sell the parts’ to build the mock up.
ML
Pt-nintendo
NS
Ok :) That has nothing to do with a product prototype
NS
That was just for fun – to see if we could pull it off.
ML
ha, link up a better example.
NS
NS
ML
another fun one:
ML
Tetrisgame-02-l
ML
Picture Frame Tetris
NS
Actually, Tetris was really just an application of Brian’s work.
ML
what role do these “fun” ideas play in your company?
NS
We sell bits and pieces. Tetris was a demonstration of all these bits put together to do something interesting.
BC
monome is kelli cain and myself, we design adaptable hardware interfaces. our first device (called the 40h) is a grid of keypads with internal backlighting. the systems are decoupled, so it becomes a dynamic blank canvas. everything is open-source, community participation is highly encouraged, and we’re dedicated to domestic/sustainable production techniques.

BC
40h_01c
ML
DR
Ambient Devices is a consumer product co
DR
that makes information displays where stocks, weather, traffic, etc. is rendered in Glanceable ways
NS
The orb is really cool. I’ve talked to a ton of people trying this application.
BC
how large is the orb?
DR
The orb is a grapefruit-sized frosted glass ball
DR
with 18LEDs inside so it can glow any color
DR
and a small wireless radio 929mHz
DR
we broadcast data over 8000 towers every 15 min
DR
to cover over 90% of US homes
NS
Holy smokes! Really? That’s pretty phenomenal.
BC
Greenorb_withchair
JF
The orb is battery powered? Rechargeable?
DR
we do have battery powered products, like the Ambient Umbrella
DR
but the Orb must be plugged in to power the LEDs
JF
Gotchya. I’m so enamored by the orb. Can’t wait to get one.
DR
It’s sold at Amazon, FYI
ML
How did y’all get started in your businesses? Did tinkering expand into a full fledged biz or was there more to it than that?
NS
Tinkering lead to a business opportunity, lead to a full fledged business. It was a long process, but my business in particular has adapted quite a bit over time.
BC
“full fledged” can be interpreted different ways. we’re still two people working out of our warehouse-loft space in philadelphia. we still do everything involved—electronics, programming, design, packaging, assembling, shipping, websites, etc.
NS
Brian -> Very true. There is a 100:1 ratio from people who are selling things on the internet and have a full time job doing something entirely different.
ML
what’s the 1 in that ratio?
NS
I would say the :1 is the person doing it as their sole source of income.
DR
I had been a frustrated interface designer for digital camera, phones, children toys
DR
I wanted to invent products that took advantage of web content + wireless networks to make simple internet objects.
DR
we raised money from Nicholas Negroponte who I knew from the Media Lab at MIT
ML
ah, he seems like a fascinating guy
DR
Nicholas is a good visionary, but when we STOPPED paying attention to his advice, we finally achieved a product hit with the Weather Watcher.
DR
We have around around 20 people now and $7m in revs
NS
Wow! That’s a lot of orbs. Is it primarily a subscription model?
DR
Nope. We licensed technology to LG and a handful of other Consumer Electronic companies
ML
DR
LG baked 5-day forecasts into their high end fridge door
DR
And we’ve sold 100,000+ units of weather watchers through retailers
NS
Fridge: Wow! That’s a great application.
DR
I’m MORE fond of our new products that focus on helping commuters avoid jams
DR
or people stay on a medication program
DR
or encourage public transportation by helping people “trust the bus”
BC
i decided to manufacture a small run (200 units, eventually ran 200 more) of the grid device solely based people asking for one after seeing myself or a friend perform with a prototype. (the friend toured internationally, so quite a few people saw the device). the internet-induced viral spread of the first demo video really helped us get over the first financial hurdle (we self-funded the project).
DR
have you guys talked to thinkgeek.com?
BC
not us.
DR
they have been a good “early adopter” audience aggregator :)
ML
From Ambient site: “Current information interfaces are either interruptive or too detailed.”
ML
Monome site also mentions devotion to minimalistic design.
ML
What is it about minimalistic design that turns you on?
BC
it’s much more difficult to arrive at a proper minimalist interface than to include every feature… (not a new sentiment here)
NS
Very true
ML
What advice can you give to other designers when it comes to saying ‘no’?
BC
just say no?
BC
probably, start your own company, so can decide onr own.
DR
My advice: there will be many products that satisfy different people’s information needs at different times
DR
one product doesn’t need to answer all questions
DR
there will be a constellation of products and services that each offer different resolution of data
“There will be many products that satisfy different people’s information needs at different time. One product doesn’t need to answer all questions.”
BC
most of our users are musicians, which is my background as well (hence the music-focused videos), but the interface itself is simply a versatile, lo-res i/o device.
NS
Do one thing well.
BC
nathan, yes.
ML
David, your thoughts on UI are interesting. Particularly that colors, patterns, angles can be parsed more quickly than icons/text. Do think software UI should rely more on colors, patterns, and angles?
DR
Minimalism has hurt us at retail. No one understands the orb. It’s not “shelf evident”.
ML
Yeah, selling “less” can be a challenge.
BC
“shelf evident,” that’s great. even at the maker faire, we end up needing to give the same long speech over and over. we’re certainly creating for a specialized audience.
ML
i’ve gotta think that a video or demo of the monome is way better than words for helping people “get it”.
BC
you’re right, part of the reason i’m sometimes hesitant with words.
NS
I often have to pull our engineers back in from ‘kitchen sink’ scope creep. It’s so easy to add functionality these days.
“I often have to pull our engineers back in from ‘kitchen sink’ scope creep. It’s so easy to add functionality these days.”
BC
our work focuses on not being feature-heavy, and having every function be user-configurable. so they avoid being single-purpose devices.
DR
Matt, I do think there is an opportunity for more “ambient” design cues.
ML
Any examples?
DR
There is a big part of our reptilian brain that can be engaged with subtle changes in angle, color, pattern, motion, etc
DR
these visual cues are parsed pre-attentively
DR
without any conscious cognitive load
DR
I’d love to go back to only doing “pure ambient” design
DR
but instead we are doing Baseball and Football tracking products that are stat-rich
DR
because retails are buying the sports stuff
DR
oh well…
“There is a big part of our reptilian brain that can be engaged with subtle changes in angle, color, pattern, motion, etc.”
ML
other than your own stuff, what’s a hardware interface you love?
DR
iPhone pinching to resize
DR
Another hardware interface: I love dials and meters.
DR
They can be aesthetically amazing and so fast to read
BC
cheating, here’s the new design:
BC
Proto256
DR
ML
_hidden_p6300_flatsix_tile
BC
i’m particularly fond of nixie tubes
BC
200px-zm1210-operating
DR
Dash_livingroom_med
DR
Our Ambient Dashboard product was plagued by mechanical engineering issues. But I like the “digital meets analog” idea.
JF
I love those analog dials.
JF
Man, I have no idea what I’d do with them, but I love ‘em.
DR
Each meter shows some web-based content.

Continue reading Part 2.