the tidbyt screen: an amazing retro-inspired display for everyone

i got this thing as either a birthday or christmas present and i think it was worth it, as it provides me with some cool and informative little displays.

for example, during the school year, i used this to see when my next bus or train is coming. i also use(d) it to see news and the daily Wikipedia article.

some cool people made these virtual pets like a hedgehog and a penguin (left photo) and some other cool people fully recreated x screensavers on it. you can do interesting things like change the speed of the “apps” or even make your own somehow. the cool thing is that you can make infinite amounts of combinations.

however, one thing i kinda disliked is that the resolution of the screen is a horrendous 64 by 32 which is good if you want to see an image of a retro synth but horrible if you want to indulge in photos of fine art (and photos of yourself.)

there’s also no audio, which kind of makes sense, but it would be nice to have. my final beef with this thing is that there’s no controls for it, and the only way to change things is with the app.

overall, i would probably rate this thing a 7 out of 10 because it has a lot of cool features. they have a second gen coming august 2024 which has audio and controls, and it seems to be the same price as the original version. maybe next christmas…