Chip Altholtz and Barry Faldner now accept that some people are repulsed by their invention, the LifeClock.
"Some people think it's morbid," admits Mr. Altholtz.
That's certainly one way to look at it. Even though the digital LifeClock displays short, inspirational messages -- "Give yourself permission to win!," "See time as a gift," and the first message that appears, "Hello, (your name here), you are now looking at your future" -- at the rate of one a minute, it also inexorably counts down the hours, minutes, seconds and tenths of seconds until the end of the user's life based on standard actuarial tables (the average man will live to be 75, the average woman, 80). Even its color and shape -- a black, 11-inch-long, tapered triangular wedge -- suggest a certain dark aspect. It's impossible to not see its resemblance to the shape of the Vietnam Veterans bTC Memorial in Washington.
Then there's the experience of watching those tenths of seconds expire in a yellow blur at the end of the digital display and realizing they represent life just whizzing away.
But that's only one way to use the clock or to perceive its message. "I think of the time I see on my LifeClock the same way I do my bank account," says Mr. Altholtz. "You don't look at your bank balance and think about all the money that isn't in there, about the money you've spent. You think about how much is in there and what you want to do with it, how you want to enjoy it."
In addition to using it like a life stopwatch, the clock also can be programmed easily by the user to count down the time until some goal is reached, say, the arrival of a baby or the completion of a large project, or the length of time until retirement day or the first day of your next vacation. That's the bright side of the idea and the spirit with which it was conceived -- even if the LifeClock idea did spring indirectly from a death.
One day in 1985, Mr. Faldner, who is director of Chicago's Sinfonia Orchestra and a composer, was recalling for Mr. Altholtz, a talent agent and producer, the story of Beethoven's death-bed lament about not having enough time to accomplish all his goals.
The two men had been collaborating on developing inventions for about five years, so it was no surprise that Mr. Faldner saw an opportunity as he recounted the story for his friend. "I thought, 'Wouldn't it be a great motivator to know how long you had left to do what you want to do?' " says Mr. Faldner, who, in addition to his directorship, is composing a symphony, launching a recording career, looking toward buying a house and maybe writing a book. He has a LifeClock set for the projected finish date of each project -- and, yes, one set for "the end."
It took eight years to bring it to market, but in 1993, the techno gadget store, The Sharper Image, featured the device in its Christmas catalog. Sales lagged at first, though. "Those who hadn't heard the full story about LifeClock thought it rather morbid, then it became apparent from publicity that it could be used in a much happier vein," says Lou Soucie, marketing spokesman for The Sharper Image.
Mr. Altholtz and Mr. Faldner have also set up a company to sell their invention; call (800) TIMISIS.
"I saw that clock on 'Oprah' and I had to have it," says Barbara D. Crims, a retired postal worker living in Chicago. "My sister had just died and my husband and I were separated. That clock idea made me think about how I've lived my life. I bought it for myself for my 51st birthday. Now when I get depressed I look at the clock and see it ticking and wait for one of those messages, and then I think there's no time to worry about petty stuff."
IN TIME
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