[HN Gopher] Busy Bar
___________________________________________________________________
Busy Bar
Author : jbernardo95
Score : 226 points
Date : 2025-04-10 13:23 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (busy.bar)
(TXT) w3m dump (busy.bar)
| duxup wrote:
| 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.
| Chris2048 wrote:
| It does have multiple uses - it communicates both your busy
| status, _and_ your excess of disposable income.
| delichon wrote:
| I'd pay for a cheaper app version of this that I could run on
| an old no-SIM phone.
| derefr wrote:
| 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.)
| tqwhite wrote:
| It doesn't seem expensive to me at all. It does a huge amount.
| butlike wrote:
| If offices still existed it could be a fun 'I'm a jackass'
| office flair.
| y-curious wrote:
| This would really help my wife stop interrupting me during
| meetings (and vice versa). But it relies on the user to
| actively manage their status
| evanwalsh wrote:
| See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41838337
| zhovner wrote:
| Since then we have changed the name and added many features.
| LeafItAlone wrote:
| I've been waiting for this release. You also seem to have
| changed the price, to be $60 more expensive.
|
| 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.
| spIrr wrote:
| This feels like something one could easily procrastinate with
| (customizable, developer-friendly...).
| HeadlessChild wrote:
| That is probably the coolest sales pitch page I have seen. Love
| the design and animations.
| ddtaylor wrote:
| 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.
| jelder wrote:
| What's the $25 thing?
| kayge wrote:
| 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
|
| [0] https://amzn.to/3GiMXaA
| nimbius wrote:
| 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 $20 on a time management book.
|
| this seems like an actively hostile narcissistic addition to a
| collaborative workplace that would get you fired in a week.
| sn0wleppard wrote:
| Yeah, it didn't suprise me that the only woman in all the demos
| was coming to interupt the BUSY dev and his Important Work. I
| was surprised that this is made by Flipper, though!
| WorldMaker wrote:
| I've seen these kinds of things more for children/family in
| work-from-home than coworkers. My mom used to do it primarily
| with door status (is the door open or shut), but I've seen
| families where something brighter and more obvious is helpful.
| intalentive wrote:
| I might use it to keep the kids out when I'm on a Zoom call in
| the home office. It looks fun.
| _joel wrote:
| I'll wait for the PS30 knock offs, pretty cool though.
| krunck wrote:
| That hand... it's totally in the uncanny valley of hand motion.
| scop wrote:
| I hate it. Total revulsion of that hand. Makes me want to
| vomit. Single handedly turns me off from the product.
| beng-nl wrote:
| The way it moves makes me think it's ai-generated..
| raphman wrote:
| I'm pretty confident that it is not AI-generated but simply
| a traditionally animated 3D model.
|
| https://cdn.flipperzero.one/BusyBar_First_Block_Video_Deskt
| o...
| SAI_Peregrinus wrote:
| The cinematics in Descent 3 (1999) had some very similar
| motion issues, enough so that I remember them today. It
| comes from incorrect smoothing in the IK animation, doesn't
| have to be AI generated.
| Rooster61 wrote:
| I dunno, I found those cinematics to be pretty endearing.
| Sure, they've aged like mud, but I enjoyed the back in
| the early 2000's :) They stayed well clear of the uncanny
| valley.
| cultofmetatron wrote:
| now that you pointed it out.. holy #!$#$
| timdiggerm wrote:
| They don't have a functional physical product
| wffurr wrote:
| Yikes. First thing I noticed. Distracted me from the price tag
| of the thing at least.
| rezmason wrote:
| 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:
|
| https://cdn.flipperzero.one/lekyb_desktop_004.mp4
| turbokit wrote:
| it is a conversation starter more than a distraction stopper!
| plus $250? no thanks! a small display on your desk won't
| magically fix your environment!
| benjymo wrote:
| The video for the first use-case is kinda funny. Instead of
| telling them to come back in a few minutes, just raise your
| hand and point at the timer.
| GeertJohan wrote:
| 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)
| Kozmik1 wrote:
| Back in my day the arrogant devs just used printer paper and a
| hand drawn sign saying "GO AWAY!" taped to the back of their
| chair.
| CharlesW wrote:
| In my tribes, the universal "please don't bother me right now"
| sign has more typically been the wearing of over-the-ear
| headphones.
| voidUpdate wrote:
| I wish I had the same tribes as you. People always come up to
| me when I'm wearing my headphones, even trying to get my
| attention in public
| gorjusborg wrote:
| There will always be migration between tribes and we
| welcome you.
| kstrauser wrote:
| Shortening a story I've told a thousand times:
|
| 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.
| dylan604 wrote:
| Mine was updated to "Go away, or I will replace you with a
| small shell script". I wish I could remember where I read that
| from for proper attribution.
| dizhn wrote:
| Might have been the bible for how old that one is.
| vonmoltke wrote:
| I remember that on a Thinkgeek (RIP) t-shirt.
| anonymous344 wrote:
| i eork from home..alone no need to show
| zhovner wrote:
| 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.
| d--b wrote:
| Oof that demo video that shows a coworker coming to ask a
| question and the guy just hits the busy button without turning
| his head is brutal.
|
| 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...
| bastardoperator wrote:
| 249 bucks for a digital clock when I'm sitting in front of a
| digital clock is pretty wild. I just set a timer in my terminal
| and set myself to DND.
| cg5280 wrote:
| Seems like a simpler version could be sold for well under $50
| jimmydoe wrote:
| there are many pomodoro timer on amazon around $10.
| IncreasePosts wrote:
| Yeah but it's designey
| handfuloflight wrote:
| There is a subset of knowledge worker who would buy this off
| of the landing page presentation alone.
|
| It is me. I am that subset.
| alsetmusic wrote:
| Yeah, I wouldn't but I still find it delightful.
| sschueller wrote:
| Yes, I need to re-design my webpage for my Station Display.
| cryptonector wrote:
| I'm thinking about it...
| anal_reactor wrote:
| $249 is not that much for a toy for a tech worker. As in,
| if it gives you entertainment for a month, it is something
| you can afford.
| nine_k wrote:
| 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.
| artursapek wrote:
| maybe do some acid or something
| butlike wrote:
| The hand on the landing page could be better. Hits "Marvel
| movie jumping"-levels of uncanny valley for me.
| anon6362 wrote:
| Never underestimate the large quantities of suckers who enjoy
| retail therapy and have excessive money to spend on wildly
| over-priced trends.
| nine_k wrote:
| 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.
| artursapek wrote:
| it's a tech gimmick toy for adults and we all know that
| butlike wrote:
| It's a "my first product pipeline" toy so maybe we'll see
| greater things from the inventor when they become COO years
| down the line.
| garyfirestorm wrote:
| you could easily do this with a spare display and terminal
|
| https://github.com/race604/clock-tui
|
| bonus - i ported this to raspberry pi
| https://youtube.com/shorts/rgm8lAlHus4
| al_borland wrote:
| 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.
| felipemesquita wrote:
| 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.
| jelder wrote:
| Where can I sign up to get notified when the desktop app is
| available?
| dylan604 wrote:
| It's the Juicero of whatever market this is.
| mempko wrote:
| 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.
| dylan604 wrote:
| And that's what makes it Juicero level.
| odysseus wrote:
| I got a 2-pack of do-not-disturb doorknob hangers (similar to
| the ones in hotels) from Amazon for $10.
|
| 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.
| dfxm12 wrote:
| 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.
| fragmede wrote:
| 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.
| caseyy wrote:
| It can also be done with a bit of cardboard that says "Busy".
| zhovner wrote:
| Cardboard sign has no countdown timer and API.
| caseyy wrote:
| That's true. And it doesn't even have a display on the other
| side -- how will you yourself know if you're busy?
| sidcool wrote:
| $249! Too much for something that can be an app.
| stronglikedan wrote:
| 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.
| swat535 wrote:
| Why even an app? Most mobile devices already have Focus mode.
| IOS offers plenty of options for this..
| Rebelgecko wrote:
| It seems like a big part of the advantage is that you won't get
| distracted by your phone like you would with an app
| turtlebits wrote:
| The back of the device is so "busy" with all the text, it's
| almost anti-productive. Especially if you have to stare at it
| hanging off your monitor.
|
| Why put the ugly bits right in front of your face?
| tqwhite wrote:
| This looks like a very cool and very fun tool. Perfecting its use
| will be a much better way to avoid real work than scrolling
| instagram.
| pwenzel wrote:
| 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.
| zimpenfish wrote:
| > I bought a six-pack of sand timers.
|
| How do they tell someone 15ft away that you're busy / on a call
| / etc?
| wlonkly wrote:
| Remove top, toss sand in face.
| dt3ft wrote:
| I'd buy it if it had a subscription. /s
|
| Does it work without a subscription?
| burgerrito wrote:
| Designer clock
|
| and when I say "designer" I use the word like it's used in the
| term "designer clothing"
| pxoe wrote:
| Would it even be possible to make a $250 fidgety trinket without
| it being wasteful just about on every level?
| masto wrote:
| I was thinking of doing a kickstarter a while back for something
| similar. One surprising thing that kept me from proceeding (or at
| least, a thing I used as an excuse to not do the project) was
| that the guy who "owns" the pomodoro timer trademark is a total
| jerk about it.
| karn97 wrote:
| $250 for something that is a week long arduino project... You can
| even 3D print the whole thing nowadays
| gwbas1c wrote:
| How much do you value your time? $250 / week is $13,000 a year,
| well into the poverty range.
| Rebelgecko wrote:
| No wireless, less space than nomad, you can replicate this in a
| few hours with FTP, curlftpfs, and SVN, etc.
|
| Assuming the device is as polished as its slick marketing page,
| I'm a little skeptical it could be replicated in a week. That
| said, if you disagree this is a great opportunity to undercut
| the competition!
| vivzkestrel wrote:
| you dont need all of that to improve focus. start with 30
| seconds, clear your mind, set a timer for 30 seconds, sit in a
| corner and start meditating. the challenge is that as soon as you
| think of something inside your mind, stop the timer. do this
| daily and your meditation times will slowly improve and your
| focus will come back
| qntmfred wrote:
| i have a morning routine and the first thing i do is to set a
| timer to meditate for 5 minutes. i rarely make it to 5 minutes
| before the thoughts flood in and i decide to go ahead and dive
| into the work. hadn't thought about making it a counting-up
| timer instead to track the improvement but i'll be trying that
| from now on
| anon6362 wrote:
| This should be a $4.99 app on a smartphone and/or desktop and
| doesn't take up any space.
|
| Related but different better time/social management physical
| device for cube land would be an Arduino, a button, and an 4-7
| color andon tower representing states such as:
|
| - Working
|
| - Lunch or errand (will return)
|
| - Out-of-office (not returning for the day)
|
| - Working remotely
|
| - DND
|
| - Open to socializing
|
| - On vacation
|
| And then a glossary for definitions posted prominently on the
| cube/office and on the intranet portal personal page. No app, no
| internet connectivity, no security vulnerabilities, no
| complexity, and <$20.
| numbers wrote:
| I wouldn't buy this because of the price tag but I love the
| industrial design of this thing! I wish there were more things
| like this (albeit more practical) that I would like to upgrade my
| desk with.
| deepfriedbits wrote:
| Same. Reminds me of something Teenage Engineering would
| produce.
| dmd wrote:
| Theirs would be metal and cost $2300.
| gwbas1c wrote:
| I've been in a place where making that say "busy" when Visual
| Studio had the focus would be really useful... Except (cough)
| certain people in the culture would find it insulting.
|
| It makes me wonder... How do you push on the "I can interrupt
| anyone at any time for any reason" attitude? I had a lot of
| trouble pushing on it in a previous workplace.
| LeafItAlone wrote:
| You be direct. When people come to you and interpret you, say
| "I am currently working on something else, but I will come find
| you when I'm free". Most people eventually pick up that IM'ing
| first wastes less of their time.
|
| If you constantly give them your attention immediately, you are
| telling them that's how it should work.
| Liquix wrote:
| then come the hour long "it's easier if we just hop on a
| meeting" invites or dreaded _" hi"_ messages because many of
| the same people who aren't considerate about interruptions
| are allergic to async communication
| gwbas1c wrote:
| I just decline those meetings. I only got pushback _once_ ,
| and it was "next time that happens I'll take care of it for
| you."
| notatoad wrote:
| >How do you push on the "I can interrupt anyone at any time for
| any reason" attitude?
|
| i feel like a big light-up sign on your desk that says "busy"
| might be a good place to start with that.
| jamesponddotco wrote:
| If anyone is looking for something similar, but better priced,
| the Ulanzi TC001[1] with a custom firmware[2] is pretty nice.
| With the custom firmware, you can integrate it with Home
| Assistant and do all sorts of things with it.
|
| For example, one idea my wife had was to have one on top of the
| washing machine displaying the last cycle of the machine based on
| the energy readings from a Zigbee smart socket, so we don't have
| to ask each other if the last cycle was a wash or drying cycle.
|
| Will it change your life? No. But for $59 buckets it may add
| convenience here or there -\\\\\\_(tsu)_/-
|
| [1]: https://www.ulanzi.com/products/ulanzi-pixel-smart-
| clock-288...
|
| [2]: https://blueforcer.github.io/awtrix3/
| butlersean wrote:
| It's $250! FFS!
|
| Donate 245 to a charity. And make a dual sided sign out of
| reclaimed palet wood and that soldering iron you bought last
| year.
| taikahessu wrote:
| We used to have doors in the office for this.
| azinman2 wrote:
| Feel extremely passive aggressive. Or just plain aggressive.
| Especially the one of the woman coming over and the guy hitting
| the busy button. If someone did that to me that'd be the last
| time.
| voidfunc wrote:
| Cool industrial design, but might one of the dumbest product
| ideas I've ever seen at that price point.
| kazinator wrote:
| That display looks like it could support some retro games that
| could keep you engaged for hours.
|
| I will get one when such are available. :)
| Tepix wrote:
| I used something simpler for 20EUR for a while to indicate my
| busy status: https://www.getdigital.de/pages/offlineprodukt/usb-
| mail-meld... I guess it's no longer for sale. It even worked with
| Linux. I wrote some shell scripts back then to indicate my busy
| status from my jabber account using this gadget.
| 0x0 wrote:
| I saw this on twitter a few hours ago on my phone, and misread
| the price as $25, so I was considering maybe putting in an order
| or even two, but when I revisited the site on my laptop and
| discovered it was $250, my curiosity hit a wall. Looks like a
| super neat product but unfortunately a bit overpriced for a
| gimmick.
| dbacar wrote:
| What a beautifully designed toy.
| donatj wrote:
| I have a home office and sometimes my wife will come busting in
| with the kids being silly. It's not a big deal but I would like
| some sort of indication for outside the room for when I am in a
| meeting.
|
| This seems more designed for shared working spaces which seem
| limited these days
| opwieurposiu wrote:
| Just tape a piece of paper to the door that says "IN MEETING".
| On my kids this is about 75% effective.
|
| That said, other people's kids busting is my favorite part of
| zoom meetings.
| neilv wrote:
| That's a lot of distracting elements in the design, in something
| intended to reduce distractions.
|
| They're all saying "This has a lot of things, and we're going to
| noisily tell you about them."
|
| https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=fisher+price+busy+box&ia=imag...
|
| What about instead an unobtrusive software-based timer on your
| computer?
|
| And the notification to coworkers not to interrupt you being a
| low-tech "BUSY" Post-It on the back of your laptop. Or your
| headphones on?
|
| Though their advertising does have some interesting features and
| use cases. For example, you'd need to figure out a convention
| equivalent to smacking the Busy Bar button, to make your
| colleagues slink away.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_to_the_hand
| imagetic wrote:
| https://25min.work/
| Cyphase wrote:
| This is from Flipper Devices, who make the Flipper Zero.
|
| https://flipperdevices.com/
| nixpulvis wrote:
| A pretty cardboard printout and a timer on your phone/computer
| would be nearly as effective, no?
| pedalpete wrote:
| I'm amazed that nobody is pointing out that the entire thing
| doesn't look "designed" it looks AI generated.
|
| Give me a clock timer that has these features.... Make me a
| website to sell this fake timer...
|
| Particularly the instructive text on the back. A real designer
| would never have all that descriptive text always visible for
| things you'll only use once.
| throitallaway wrote:
| Yes, the "USB-C port at the bottom ---->" and huge QR code
| really got me going. I have to hope that's all on a sticker
| that's meant to be torn off after you take it out of the
| package.
| joshlemer wrote:
| Aren't all the labels on the buttons facing the wrong way?
| They're facing outwards in the direction of the screen viewer,
| rather than inwards towards the person operating the thing.
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(page generated 2025-04-10 23:00 UTC)