Alarm clocks are one of those things nearly everyone uses, and nearly everyone has consistently bad experiences with. It is for this reason that I’ve chosen this as my first hardware project. Looking at currently available alarm clocks in the marketplace, the following problems are commonplace:

1. Difficult to set or adjust (have to press several buttons at once, hard to set in the dark)
2. Rude awakenings (Annoying radio host, startling alarm sound, etc…)
3. Doesn’t wake you up at all because you made a mistake (alarm gets set to PM instead of AM, you change the actual time instead of the alarm time, you forget to set the alarm to ON, or the volume is too low

The “Better Alarm Clock” would tackle these problems as follows:

1. All settings are done with a single knob on top (rotate and press to change alarm time, current time, date, etc…)
2. Gentle alarm sound (i.e. an internal electromechanical bell) that goes off once a minute for half an hour, so you are “lulled” awake instead of startled
3. Alarm does not have an “on” and “off” setting. Instead, it is programmed on a weekly schedule, so it wakes you only on the days you need to wake up (e.g. monday-friday). You can disable the alarm for 1 morning, but it will automatically re-enable the alarm the following morning.

As an added bonus, the clock itself will be a beautiful piece of art, in a handcrafted wood casing and glass face.

Proposed case design above. Stay tuned for more updates while prototype is in development.