Pebble's next step • Hacker News Board

Re: Pebble's next step

#71

Post by beerbajay » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:14 PM UTC

hjmcnew wrote: post #50

peatmoss wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> check a text message on my watch while drivin Please don't do this. Traffic fatalities--particularly those involving vulnerable road users have spiked in the last couple years. There is nothing you can communicate that is worth the grave risk to others that you pose.

To be 100% clear, I totally agree with you that one shouldn't check their text messages while driving. That being said, the statistics don't support your claim that traffic fatalities have spiked. Through 2014 (the last year the IIHS published statistics) fatalities had either leveled off or continued their historical decline. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalit...

> In the first six months of 2016, highway deaths jumped 10.4 percent, to 17,775, from the comparable period of 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/business/tech-distractions...

Re: Pebble's next step

#72

Post by jscheel » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:14 PM UTC

So, basically, there will be no way to load watchfaces or apps when their servers go down, and a lot of other things will also stop working. I've been a big advocate of Pebble for a long time. This is a great middle finger to all of us that have been with them from the beginning.

Re: Pebble's next step

#73

Post by illuminati1911 » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:14 PM UTC

How about all you disappointed folks just get a real smart watch backed by a real company like Apple Watch?

Re: Pebble's next step

#74

Post by jakozaur » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:15 PM UTC

captainmuon wrote: post #64

I'm quite angry. This sucks so bad. I "ordered" a Time 2 via Kickstarter. I'm glad they are refunding me, but that makes me think... WTF, did they not produce any Time 2's? Or are they all going to the landfill? How long have they been knowing that they are going to be insolvent? This doesn't happen overnight! Was the last Kickstarter a gamble? Why does everybody have to aim for total market dominance to be successfu…

VC/exponential growth increase risk of exploding the whole company.

In alternative reality:

1. They could hire way less aggressive and stay lean. Product development will be much slower, but they can operate cash flow positive.

2. With Kickstarter/pre-orders they could avoid taking any serious VC funding.

3. They probably need to move less expensive region than SF Bay Area. SF is great for go big or go home, but not an ideal place for long-term sustainable business.

4. Probably the price of watches would be higher and they will be niche, but still there are tons of watch manufactures that survived decades.

Re: Pebble's next step

#75

Post by sulam » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:16 PM UTC

ClassyJacket wrote: post #48

DiabloD3 wrote: post #6

But I thought Fitbit was exiting the wearable market?

...What else do they make?

There's a scale. ;) But yeah, still making those wristbands!

Re: Pebble's next step

#76

Post by dkroy » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:16 PM UTC

Is there an alternative out there right now with comparable battery life and features? It looks like I won't be receiving my next pebble so I am looking for something similar.

Re: Pebble's next step

#77

Post by fudgy73 » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:16 PM UTC

I don't usually get upset about this stuff, business is business, but with my outstanding time 2 and core orders, I am definitely feeling bamboozled.

I always thought of pebbles fighting fitbits, the watch for 'us' vs the trackers for everyone. The open platform vs the locked in, the device that got just what you wanted done vs the not-really-a-watch.

It seemed like with pebble health and their relationship with Stanford things were on the up and up. Now ending warranties and such a trying to be nice but not really announcement. I expect nothing from fitbit. This sucks.

Re: Pebble's next step

#78

Post by sulam » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:17 PM UTC

detaro wrote: post #62

aikah wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Definitely surprising that they weren't able to sell the company They sold their liabilities to Fitbit . Wasn't Pebble valuated billions of dollars a few years ago? Something went terribly wrong.

Highest reported buyout offer was $740 million from Citizen.

That offer seems unlikely since that would have been a substantial portion of Citizen's market cap.

Re: Pebble's next step

#79

Post by alexholehouse » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:17 PM UTC

One thought:

FitBit's customer service with me has been nothing but exceptional from start to finish, and is the reason I have bought several for family members.

I would hope that FitBit would recognize the loyalty they create based on this quality of service could be magnified by grandfathering Pebble's various services and by maintaining them, while helping Pebble users to transition at their convenience. This would allow Pebble users to continue to have functioning Pebble watches, with the likelihood of sticking with FitBit once the watch does finally break.

Re: Pebble's next step

#80

Post by michaelsbradley » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:17 PM UTC

alonsonic wrote: post #47

I can't believe this, just got a Pebble 2 a week ago and now they are literally saying it may not work in the future. If we rely on their cloud services for activity tracking and app downloads then it will be useless if FitBit doesn't maintain the platform. I have to say I'm really disappointed and this is a huge blow to people that invest in startups offering hardware. If the company fails forget about the smart stu…

Caveat emptor.