I don’t know how anyone else feels, but I think it’s a major pain in the booty, to set a digital alarm clock. Why? I am impatient. All of them I have ever seen, require one to hold down the hour and minute buttons, until it slowly advances to the desired digit. Sigh…
Why don’t any electronics companies make these clocks with a numeric keypad similar to that of a telephone or a calculator? It would be so much easier, for example, to instantly type in 07:30, press an (am) or (pm) button, and “enter.” This way would take only about 2 or 3 seconds to set the clock.
(sidenote: If clocks like this exist, and anyone knows where I can find one, please post the link. Thanks)
As to cost of your idea, if you can get a calculator with lots of digits for $1 or $2, then that’s the most extra intrinsic cost that should be added to an alarm clock.
Also, if you have a radio alarm, it’s easier to ype in 98.5 than swim past all the other numbers on the dial to find it.
Your typical alarm clock is an ultra-cheap device imported from Asia. During manufacturing, every penny counts. A keypad (obviously) would add additional expense.
Most alarm clocks use a “4 button alarm clock” chip that’s been around for a long time. This chip is very cheap, proven, and reliable.
A keypad may prove to be more confusing to a lot of people.
You would only need a keypad if you changed the time on a very frequent basis.
Has anyone ever seen an alarm clock for which you could set TWO alarms?
I have to get up every day at 6:45, after two hours of sleep, and drive the roomie to work; then come home, crash again, and get up at 1:30 to get ready for work (and maybe get something done before I go).
It would be really great not to have to re-set the freakin’ alarm every single day…
The main reason I can think of is the need for checking circuitry to handle what to do when some joker sets his alarm for 37:83 AM. While this is certainly an obstacle that could be beaten, it’s just not worth it. There’s no real ouput for error messages, and most people aren’t willing to deal with an alarm clock that throws exceptions anyway. It’s possible, but really, there’s just not enough demand to break from the current mass marketed alarm clock processor, probably.
I see them all over the place. Try any big-time store like Target or some such store in your town.
That’s where I’ve seen them.
And just so you don’t think I’m making this up, I went and found a model listed on the 'net. It’s from a Yahoo! site, but still, it confirms there out there and real-
Even a simple keypad consists of 10 buttons. Those 10 buttons must be soldered to a circuit board or connected to a circuit board with many wires - either way it means a lot of additional work during assembly. The circuit board will need to be larger to accomodate these additions, and circuit board cost is proportional to size (area). And the central chip will most likely need additional pins to read the keypad input, and larger chips are of course more expensive.
Often it costs almost nothing to add new functions to a microprocessor controlled device, because modifying the program adds nothing to the assembly cost. However, adding a single switch means a longer assembly time and higher cost for every single device you build. That’s why many electronic devices have arcane key combinations that are difficult to use.
I, too, don’t understand why it hasn’t been done. It is possible that someone holds a patent on it and no one is willing to pay the guy off.
I built a digital clock with keypad entry. Works fine. The clock was only a novelty item, however; it ran off a 55 timer so it wasn’t terrribly accurate over a long period.
In principle it really doesn’t seem to be very cost prohibitive, and the extra a person could charge for it should compensate anyway.
I used to have a GE alarm clock that had a keypad for time entry, plus dual alarms, and you could set each alarm to a different radio station. You could also use the keypad for radio station entry (it was digital), rather than using a dial or up/down buttons. I believe this radio dated from the early-mid 80s, and I tossed it once the volume control went south on it (I also found annoying the fact that it used a blue fluorescent, rather than red, display, which made it hard to sleep with the display exposed).
It was a pretty expensive radio IIRC, and the sound quality wasn’t particularly good (unlike my present Proton), but check your local thrift shop or yard sale, maybe one will turn up.
I have the same clock radio as you describe. Works great. As you said two independant alarms and a keypad to set the time and stations. I wish it had a button to allow you to “skip” and alarm period. I.E., press the button on Friday morning after you get up and the unit would not sound the alarm on Saturday. Press the button twice and you’re all set for Monday morning.
My wife’s digital clock radio has two alarms that can be set for differt times, but as the radio tuning is not digital you can’t have two stations set.
It’s true that people probabably don’t set the time very often. But how about setting the alarm time? I change the alarm time on my clock radio several times a week, and I sure wish I could find a clock radio for which that task was more efficient.
Let me just say that my life changed immeasurably for the better when I got a dual-alarm alarm clock. Ok, that’s a bit of hyperbole, but I do think it is great. As for the keypad, pure speculation on my part, but couldn’t also have to do with the way it “cycles” through the time? I have no idea how a digital clock keeps time, but can speculate that most might have some sort of configuration that requires it to go through the time? Does that make any sense? (complete WAG on my part)
