Love it, hate it, barely through your gritted teeth just tolerate it; one thing you simply cannot do is ignore it. The alarm clock.
Alarm clocks have been around in some form or another pretty much since clocks were invented, first appearing in the 1620s.
I remember, as a child, my father making sure he wound the clock up and put the cat out every night before gong to bed. (Or was it the other way round.?) Back then, of course, life was much more structured.
"Early to bed, early to rise . and you won't miss the bus . "
Dad's alarm clock was big and round with two large bells on the top and had a very loud ring. At four o'clock in the morning, sometimes we wished that he had put the clock outside instead of the cat!
Then there was Mum's travel alarm clock. I don't really know why Mum had a travel clock; we never travelled terribly far. Mum's alarm clock was a curious thing. Olive green, square-shaped and folded up when not in use. It made an "I'm really trying not to upset anyone, just wake you up." sort of "whirrrrr".
Being part of the then younger generation (just a little after Strawberry Alarm Clock burst onto the charts) it was my job to embrace all things foreign to the "oldies". After buying my first radio alarm clock I was confident of being well on top of that duty and had reached the pinnacle of "techno-with-it-ness". Digital face, back-up battery; even a Snooze Button !
Nowadays, of course, the variety of alarm clocks available is mind-boggling. Computer alarm clocks, or "Online Alarm Clocks" when they want to sound important, make me cringe. As if our lives weren't governed enough by these electronic geniuses - now they tighten their grip by beeping/buzzing/singing/yelling at us all the time!
And what is it about Ipod that sends somewhat ordinary people into a kind of technophile frenzy at the mere mention of yet another version/type/look-what-I-can-do-now manifestation of its cleverness? Ipod alarm clocks? The appeal escapes me. I mean, if you're going to give a machine the authority to wake you in the morning, at least make sure it has an interesting face! (Don't even think about quipping any lame and impolite wife jokes here!)
Of course, sometimes, it pays to buy something chunky and funky, especially if you want to ensure this younger generation gets to school on time. Kids alarm clocks have to sit right and look "sick" and "wicked" and "fly". (Is that still a cool word - "fly"?)
The projection alarm clock is an interesting beast. Sit it anywhere in the room and it will, as the name suggests, project an image of a clock on the wall. Ingenious! What the point of this is - who knows? But, ingenious all the same. I'm sure it's a lot of fun at parties.
Ultra-modern and ultra-accurate is the atomic alarm clock. Atomic alarm clocks, such as the Seiko atomic alarm clock, are radio-controlled to synchronise themselves automatically with the US Atomic Clock, located at Fort Collins , Colorado . Atomic clocks are the most accurate in the world, which means no excuses, no more blaming the clock for being late.
When it comes to user-friendly, however, my favourite alarm clock would have to be the Zen alarm clock. Picture this: you're having a wonderful dream - sand, sea, tropical sunset and someone wonderful to share it with. In the background you hear chimes. Tibetan chimes, soft and soothing. Still in your dream, you start to walk along the beach, stepping in time to the chimes. Slowly you awaken and realise those peaceful rousing chimes were actually brought forth from your Zen alarm clock. Yep, that's my kind of alarm.
Alarm clocks. They really do make the world run on time (most of the time).
