$160
www.now-zen.com
Steve McIntosh, 46, was meditating when he came up with a new product idea. He would create hardwood clocks, doorbells, and phone bells that use acoustic chimes or gongs, which produce a more natural sound than machine-generated beeps and rings found on consumer electronic products. His Boulder company, Now & Zen, recently released the Zen Timepiece, a digital alarm clock with a more soothing wakeup call. Using a six-inch brass bowl-like gong, the clock cycles through a ten-minute progression, eventually striking every five seconds until you shut it off.
