# Ambient Devices: I must have one of these **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865 "2004-05-06T17:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/1 "2004-05-06T17:06:53Z")
Check this out: [http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/beacon/index.html](http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/beacon/index.html) “The Beacon silently and elegantly communicates weather data using color and light. It glows more red when warmer weather is forecasted, and colder blue hues if cooler temperatures are on the way. The Beacon will also subtly pulse to show the chance of rain or snow.” No more [weather.com](http://weather.com) for me! It is so cool and kind of zenlike. It will also considerably up my geek quotient. I will simply get up in the morning and see “ah, it is a orangey-red day. Shorts and a tshirt!” or “pulsing pale blue, heavy raincoat and umbrella”. Maybe I wouldn’t be as excited if it weren’t that we are having 30 degree temperature shifts from one day to the next right now and I have to check the weather every morning. You can also set it to track the Dow or news or your email. (Even the homeland security ranking so you knjow how terrified you need to be at all times!) ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/2 "2004-05-06T21:41:16Z")
Sounds alot like the old Weather Balls they used to have at banks in Minneapolis. They changed color based on the forecast. I can’t recall the slogan, but white was snow (rain?), blue was cold, and flashing red was storms. Does anyone remember these? I’d like one of those for the front of my house to make my neighbors jealous. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/3 "2004-05-06T22:11:14Z")
I remember weather rocks. If it’s wet, it’s raining. If it’s white, it’s snowing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/4 "2004-05-06T22:39:28Z")
> [@YellowTail](#): > > I remember weather rocks. If it’s wet, it’s raining. If it’s white, it’s snowing. 😃 Those were the early models. We had weather _ropes_ tied to tree limbs. It did all of the stuff the weather rocks did _and_ if the rope was blowing around outside, you knew it was windy. ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/5 "2004-05-07T01:39:54Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > Those were the early models. We had weather _ropes_ tied to tree limbs. It did all of the stuff the weather rocks did _and_ if the rope was blowing around outside, you knew it was windy. And if the rope was gone, there was a thief in the neighborhood! :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/6 "2004-05-07T01:47:05Z")
That beacon thing is _awesome_! I MUST have one. Unfortunately, a [Lomo camera](http://www.lomography.com/about/) is next on my Expensive-Gifts-to-Self list. (By the way, I’m a total weather nerd, and I find the forecasts at [www.weather.gov](http://www.weather.gov) to be more reliable than [weather.com](http://weather.com), plus it’s ad-free.) ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/7 "2004-05-07T02:52:38Z")
We’ve got the globe version of this (I don’t remember what it’s called but it’s by the same company), which is programmable but for which we can’t think of any use other than the weather. It’s just not precise enough to be very useful though. It _is_ really cool to have around, and there’s a certain delight in the sentence “Oh, look honey, it’s purple out.” Actually the coolest part is when there’s preciptation (or when wherever it draws its weather data from says there is. Sadly it hasn’t been very accurate so far on this one) and the globe pulsates faintly. It’s all very… theoretically wonderful, while it remains more practical for purposes of choosing clothing just to go look online and get a forecast more accurate than the plus or minus 10 degrees. I don’t know if the beacon is more accurate than that, but not likely if it’s getting its data from the same source. All in all, a lovely toy, it was a present, for which I’m glad, and it’s sort of nice to have around, since we have no pets to comment on, so its colourful antics provide light relief and spousal small talk. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/8 "2004-05-07T15:09:05Z")
I have the flat, low-tech version of this. I call it a “window”. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/9 "2004-05-07T17:21:57Z")
Our city just brought back the Weather Ball. The slogan goes like this: Weather ball red, warmer weather ahead. Weather ball blue, cooler weather in view. Weather ball green, no change forseen. Colors blinking bright, rain or snow in sight. They even had a contest to write a song about it so now you can sing the weather ball song. You can see it from all over the city. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/10 "2004-05-07T22:43:03Z")
Who said theres a sucker born ever minute, anyway I go this neat bridge that connects Manhattan to Brooklyn that i am considering sellingm and some prime swampland in florida, those people will buy anything, they don’t even know how to punch a ballot correctly. Actually that device seems somewhat interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambient-devices-i-must-have-one-of-these/243865/11 "2004-05-08T00:49:05Z")
Tech TV gave 'em a rather “meh” [review](http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/products/story/0,23008,3616199,00.html) > [@](#): > > The Weather Beacon is soothing to look at and even a bit stylish. But its $179 price tag indicates a nasty forecast for our budget. And in two weeks of testing, the Beacon didn’t always tell us to bring our umbrellas with us when we needed them.