Alarm Clock

Alarm clocks are a necessary evil in today’s fast paced modern world. With almost everyone working from 9 to 5 in their jobs, it therefore becomes important to schedule their morning routine based on these nifty ‘alarming devices’. Alarm clocks come in a variety of shapes, sizes and ring tones. The original alarm clocks were all standard desktop clocks, which had mechanical keys and levers designed to work up quite an exercise in its own in trying to wind it up. When these devices rang, boy oh boy, they rang like a buzzing old grandmother, nagging constantly until the person woke up. Of course, the perennially sleepy guy might just ignore it somehow and continue to slumber, but the vast majority of people had no choice but to get up and push the bell on these alarm devices. With increasing technology, these alarm clocks have become smaller and cuter. In the next stage came the battery driven alarm clocks that had no keys or levers to pull and produced a more “acceptable” sound; though still many people would hate it anyway. When the electronic age dawned, it brought with it the gizmos along with it too. The analog ones gave way to digital clocks that had different tones, including novelty tones like a baby crying, or a lion growling, or something downright ridiculous, or terrifying just to make the sleeper getup. Some of these digital gadgets even have a radio. In fact, some radios were pre-built with alarm functions so that instead of an irritating no name noise, the user could be woken up to sweet tunes from his preset radio station, with the right melodies. With increasing sophistication and digital gizmos, the ubiquitous alarm clock is now found everywhere and in anything. Take the example of a cell phone which almost everyone have these days. These devices contain alarm clocks and the ring tones can be customized to suit individuals. Further with the advent of PCs, these specialized programs that produce alarms at the right nanosecond, if one is a stickler for details! Many TVs too sport this function though not necessarily for waking up the viewer but to switch on a program at a pre defined time for a favorite TV program. Alarms therefore are also built into a plethora of everyday devices but many still complain about its abruptness that can cause some problems for a few.

To solve this issue, alarm clocks don’t just chime at the right time in one place; rather a multi faceted approach is taken. For instance, in a completely computer controlled room, the lights slowly start to brighten, and the audible volume in the background too increase, to bring a person from deep sleep to light sleep, and finally to awaken him. This process has been said to produce better effect without producing sleep inertia, since it doesn’t jolt anyone out of their rest.