I actually had a Peddle around my wrist a few months ago, decided I didn't like it and sent it back. Really glad I did.
Pebble's next step
121–130 of 457 posts
Re: Pebble's next step
#122I'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…
> Sometimes I think there is a secret cabal conspiring so we can't have nice things
There is, it's called "Chinese OEM manufacturers".
(Yes, I know that an 'OEM manufacturer' is like an 'ATM machine'.)
Re: Pebble's next step
#123I'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…
No need to be angry. It's a start-up. They all wanted to succeed, but life isn't always fair.
Re: Pebble's next step
#124I 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 Stan…
I'm not a lawperson, but can companies really just terminate a warranty like that?
When being bought, one would think the new company would take over the responsibilities.
But I also read that the employee-shares would be worthless, so it looks like FitBit bought Pebble in a weird sense.
Re: Pebble's next step
#125This is the most orderly shutdown of a hardware+services company I've seen. Congrats to Team Pebble for that.
It has to suck to end this way after 8 years. :(
I hope someone builds a product like Pebble Core; I'm not sure how generally viable that is, but I'd love to have it myself.
Re: Pebble's next step
#126> Pebble’s Migicovsky is planning to rejoin startup incubator Y Combinator as a partner advising early-stage companies on hardware development, people with knowledge of the matter said. Y Combinator’s hardware head recently left, Bloomberg News reported last month.
Pebble CEO seems to be joining YC.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-07/pebble-sa...
Re: Pebble's next step
#127I note this from Pebble's developer blog, suggesting that a Fitbit-targeting successor to Pebble's app SDK may be a big part of the plan: "Although this chapter in Pebble’s developer story is closing, our team and ethos have found a new, welcoming home at Fitbit. We can’t wait to have you alongside us for this next adventure. Third-party Pebble developers have a massive opportunity to drive how a Fitbit developer eco…
This sound like typical post-acquihire PR bullshit. New 'exciting opportunities' and 'building the foundation for the next great wearable experience' does not in any way imply that any useful thing resembling a smartwatch will be created. It doesn't imply there will be a developer-friendly platform.
Nor does this message actually make sense. "We want you—our fantastic developer community—to keep playing a crucial role in our success." There is no "us" and "our success" - they just got bought by another company and are shutting down the whole product line. They are literally a different entity now.
Re: Pebble's next step
#128I 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
>>Buyers need to start demanding Open Source Software and Open Hardware...
Exactly
Re: Pebble's next step
#129You 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 o…
I don't think they even have a few hundred thousand customers. Their first one kicked in the neighborhood of 50k supporters. Did they even ship the second?
A hardware company on the hook for fulfilling 50k orders of the sequel has some pretty serious expenses. A sale might have been the best landing and what got everyone a refund for the 2nd.
Re: Pebble's next step
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kickstarter probably mostly covers production of the rewards, not the product development.
It's business 101 that the retail price should cover all production costs, including R&D, otherwise you are in shortfall from day 0.
Retail price over the full sales run. Kickstarter was just the preorder phase of it and thus likely doesn't cover the full R&D, especially not if the estimates were off in some way.