Clocky Reviewed

Clocky is an alarm clock that rolls off your night stand, wheeling away until he finds a spot to rest. I wrote about Clocky over a year ago, which is almost how long it took Gauri Nanda to take the idea from concept to her online store. You see, Gauri designed Clocky while attending an industrial design class at MIT Media Lab last year. After her design received worldwide media attention, she decided to take her fun project straight to production.

The first Clocky prototype was a small carpet-covered computer used to control the speed and direction of the alarm clock. It was connected to motors and wheels that enabled it to run away to a hiding place after rolling off the nightstand. Unlike the first oversized, shaggy original, the newer improved version is a lot smaller and sleeker. Four buttons are placed on the top panel, right above the snooze button, while two more buttons rest right above the time display. The placement of the buttons  seem to give Clocky a face you can't stay mad at for too long.

I'm a chronic snoozer, so I've been putting Clocky to the test all week. I set the alarm to go off every day at the same time, and set the snooze time at 0, which means once the alarm goes off the first time, it would jump right off the nightstand bumping into everything in sight. You do have a few options such as selecting the snooze time between 0-9 minutes, and turning off the wheels so it remains stationary when it goes off.

The first few days, I was really mad at Clocky for being so loud, not to mention it really ran away from my reach. I wasn't even able to turn it off without getting up. What I found so cool and interesting was that its whole body rotates while it's wheeling away. It's almost like it was hiding the snooze button from me too.

My husband got a few laughs from the experience, and thinks I finally met my match. I think so too. I haven't been that riled up since they sounded off reveille in boot camp. Did it work? You bet it did. I was up on time every morning getting ready to hit the gym. I'm glad someone out there found a way to get oversleepers off the snooze button, and ready to start the day on the right foot. You can get your own in three colors—almond white, aqua and mint—or shag for $49.99.

I wonder how many parents will get one for their kids?