That's pretty neat, although $250 feels like a lot for that at first glance. I get it has a lot of features but it's hard to get past the "it's a $250 busy indicator".
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.
As the page points out (top-right corner), this thing is the physical accessory to an existing phone app: https://busy.app/
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.)
Neat. I have something I use that was $25 on Amazon. It's not as fancy and has a crappy app, but it works for what I want with displaying something to others while I stay focused.
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.
I'm going to guess it was something along the lines of this [0]... wow now I kind of want to buy one of their larger versions for the back of my car to remind tailgaters "Yes I CAN go even slower" when I'm already going 5-10mph over the speed limit
If you can afford a $250 light up piece of plastic nonsense to taunt and gatekeep your coworkers with, chances are you can probably spend $20 on a time management book.
this seems like an actively hostile narcissistic addition to a collaborative workplace that would get you fired in a week.
Yeah, it didn't suprise me that the only woman in all the demos was coming to interupt the BUSY dev and his Important Work. I was surprised that this is made by Flipper, though!
I've seen these kinds of things more for children/family in work-from-home than coworkers. My mom used to do it primarily with door status (is the door open or shut), but I've seen families where something brighter and more obvious is helpful.
The cinematics in Descent 3 (1999) had some very similar motion issues, enough so that I remember them today. It comes from incorrect smoothing in the IK animation, doesn't have to be AI generated.
I dunno, I found those cinematics to be pretty endearing. Sure, they've aged like mud, but I enjoyed the back in the early 2000's :) They stayed well clear of the uncanny valley.
Right about here[1] the hand motions of both characters have the same misapplied smoothing. Ignore the clipping through the table, watch the character tap the side of his head, it's got the same weird slow-down before touching the temple. Same for most of the other motions, they don't accelerate correctly.
If there was a product that let me convey "Come back later" to a barging inquirer with a sharp and uncanny hand motion, I might consider paying $249 for it:
It feels as if the text on top of the device is upside down.. Should be directed at the user of the device, who sits behind the device (on the side of the small screen)
I went so far as to put a post-it note saying "I'M BUSY" on my headphones. The usual suspect came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder until I reacted, all so he could tell me, "hah, someone put a post-it note on your headphones!"
If I didn't kill someone that day, it's unlikely that I ever would.
For those who work from home, we have made it possible to hang the device on the door so that no one knocks on your door when you are on call. Also, by integration with the BUSY App it can automatically block notifications on phone and desktop when you are in focus mode.
Yeah it’s like a hardcore group of enthusiasts have zero awareness of how rude that actually is and have pushed on with their dream project regardless. They will be so crushed when their workplace bans their new $250 toy within days instead of hauling them as heroes which is what happens in the alternate timeline in their heads..
I bet the core audience is not software engineers, but sales, higher-level customer support, and other professionals with relatively expensive time who also need to work with people around.
But I think the makers hope to have some extra sales from the people buying it as a toy, too.
But it's much more than just a digital clock. It's a very bright LED remote display. It's easily programmable. Also, take note of both the desktop and the mobile apps, plus both Mater and Home Assistan integrations.
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.
Nothing wrong with that. It's okay to indulge the things that tickle your fancy now and then, even if you're a super serious adult who's vibe coding the next OpenAI 36 hours per day, 15 days per week.
I don’t think the timer and status is for you, so much as for other people in your physical world. Examples would be someone who works at home who needs a way to signal to spouse/kids that they are busy and when they will be free, or an office worker who gets frequent walk up interruptions.
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.
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.
It’s nice that the phone app is free and works without the device. I’m curious about how “Hardcore Mode (optional)” could work, which the page describes as “Locks apps for the entire focus session with no way to bypass it. The only way to unlock them is a full phone reset.”
I could not find this in the app, maybe it’s Android only, an upcoming feature, or requires the Busy Bar hardware device.
I work from home and this would be cool to communicate with my kids when I'm on a call before they barge in asking questions. HOWEVER, the price is WAY too high. This is at most a $50 dollar thing.
Don't you already have a door? With a lock? A mute button? OK, maybe those aren't cool, but don't you have a piece of paper, pens, markers and some time to design your own DND signs with your kids? $50 still seems like a lot. We don't have to buy something to deal with every little inconvenience in our lives when what we have on hand + maybe a tiny bit of creativity can probably suffice.
This is the boutique designed not-in-china version. If it proves successful, a $50 Chinese knockoff will be along soon enough. You can vote with your wallet and say fuck these guys for having a good idea and working on it and buy the cheap Chinese crap version when it's available if you'd rather.
It's not about the functionality though. And of course it's not, because like you say, it could be an app if it were.
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.
I bought a six-pack of sand timers. They are silent, require no apps, have no screens, and are beautiful. They will probably outlive solutions such as these.
165 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 147 ms ] threadNot 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.)
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.
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.
[0] https://amzn.to/3GiMXaA
this seems like an actively hostile narcissistic addition to a collaborative workplace that would get you fired in a week.
https://cdn.flipperzero.one/BusyBar_First_Block_Video_Deskto...
[1] https://youtu.be/tEed88squbc?si=9IAjNHxWjQ44KoPT&t=350
https://cdn.flipperzero.one/lekyb_desktop_004.mp4
I went so far as to put a post-it note saying "I'M BUSY" on my headphones. The usual suspect came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder until I reacted, all so he could tell me, "hah, someone put a post-it note on your headphones!"
If I didn't kill someone that day, it's unlikely that I ever would.
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...
It is me. I am that subset.
But I think the makers hope to have some extra sales from the people buying it as a toy, too.
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.
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.
I could not find this in the app, maybe it’s Android only, an upcoming feature, or requires the Busy Bar hardware device.
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.
Also, yes I've made signs. It's easy to forget to hang them.
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.
Why put the ugly bits right in front of your face?
How do they tell someone 15ft away that you're busy / on a call / etc?
Does it work without a subscription?
and when I say "designer" I use the word like it's used in the term "designer clothing"