Pebble's next step • Hacker News Board

Re: Pebble's next step

#101

Post by mtrimpe » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:29 PM UTC

victorvation wrote: post #70

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…

> Was the last Kickstarter a gamble? _All_ Kickstarters are gambles. Their messaging[1] is pretty clear in the fact that you aren't buying a product, you're contributing money with the hope that the maker will deliver on their promises. [1] https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-is-not-a-store

Yup. I actually bought the Pulse which was their forgotten pre-Pebble failure.

It arrived as a useless brick that I, and most other recipients, never even got to show the time.

Re: Pebble's next step

#102

Post by iamatworknow » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC

rtpg wrote: post #29

I am so sad about this. I had told myself that at least I'd get a Time 2 and a Core, and stave myself off before the sadness hits again that Pebble is gone. Pebble's products were an excellent example of lateral technology. No need for high DPI on your watch, because they made something that looks good with few pixels. Making battery life a priority in a world of WiFi-enabled pressure cookers. Even when the battery r…

>Making battery life a priority in a world of WiFi-enabled pressure cookers.

I literally wear my Time Steel for 23 hours and 45 minutes per day. The only time it's charging and not on my wrist is when I'm in the shower, and over the course of a regular day it never drops below 80%. If I'm going away for a weekend I don't even have to bother with the charger.

Re: Pebble's next step

#103

Post by uiri » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC

imaginenore wrote: post #11

dijit wrote: post #3

I'd like to know how this happened really. Pebbles were pretty decent and their successful campaigns definitely contributed to the rise of smart watches. But after having two hugely successful crowdfunding campaigns, how did they fail?

Why do you think they failed? Didn't FitBit just buy them?

No, Pebble is bankrupt and winding down operations. FitBit is buying some parts and offering jobs to the software people. This is not an acquihire. The designers and hardware people are not joining FitBit. The owners get nothing. Some of Pebble's creditors will likely also get nothing since the software/IP sale doesn't cover Pebble's debts.

Re: Pebble's next step

#104

Post by this-dang-guy » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC

rtpg wrote: post #29

I am so sad about this. I had told myself that at least I'd get a Time 2 and a Core, and stave myself off before the sadness hits again that Pebble is gone. Pebble's products were an excellent example of lateral technology. No need for high DPI on your watch, because they made something that looks good with few pixels. Making battery life a priority in a world of WiFi-enabled pressure cookers. Even when the battery r…

I agree entirely. It's very rare that something fits a niche so nicely, while the competition misses it by miles. I have the same feeling about my simple sigma bike computer (though at least there's more options in that niche).

I will use my pebble as long as it continues to work, then it'll get retired to my shelf of tech fails. Most of which failed FAR more spectacularly.

Re: Pebble's next step

#105

Post by bb611 » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:31 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #69

cschmidt wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it was a acquihire, which is kind of sad. Not a failure for investors, perhaps, but certainly for their customers.

> FitBit bought just their software assets for under $40 million. In 2015, Citizen offered to buy the whole company for $740 million. I'd say that was a failure for Pebble investors as they raised $58.81M according to crunchbase.

And of that $40 million, they still owe their creditors something like $27 million. So for investors/founders, they're all looking at <1/4 of their investment cash value.

Re: Pebble's next step

#106

Post by joshstrange » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:31 PM UTC

I have a first gen Apple Watch after having the Pebble Steel and I was very much considering going back to Pebble, this is very sad news.

Re: Pebble's next step

#107

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:31 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Pebble's next step

#108

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:32 PM UTC

syshum wrote: post #91

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…

>>I have to say I'm really disappointed and this is a huge blow to people that invest in startups offering hardware. Buyers need to start demanding Open Source Software and Open Hardware... With out that, you will always be screwed

[deleted]

Re: Pebble's next step

#109

Post by lettergram » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:32 PM UTC

You know, Pebble has garnered one of the best group of loyal customers I know of: well-off techies.

Had they came to the community and said, "hey we are losing sales and we need everyone to pitch in $10 / year for software support (maybe a web interface for fitness or something) I guarantee a few hundred thousand people would have done it.

Had they shared a coupon with the community (i.e. email add campaign, or add on watch - "buy one, get one half off" for christmas they would have probably had a large bump in orders. Although I recognize this would be a mild annoyance, I can also guarantee they would have sold plenty of units.

This simply seems like poor management and it's frustrating because it's the best smart watch I can find at the moment. It does exactly what I want, is cheaper than the competition, and is dead simple to use.

WTF pebble, you had the product people loved - you just didn't market it well.

Re: Pebble's next step

#110

Post by TeMPOraL » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:32 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…

Totally this. I'd gladly pay double for Time 2 if it meant the platform will grow sustainably.

> Sometimes I think there is a secret cabal conspiring so we can't have nice things ;-). The same one that decided that cell phone batteries have to be non-removable, touchscreens glossy, and wearables either mini-smartphones or bluetooth-step-counters.

I feel that all the time. Of course it's not a secret cabal, just the free market promoting get-rich-quick schemes and making it harder for sustainable businesses and actually useful products to survive.