Pebble's next step • Hacker News Board

Re: Pebble's next step

#131

Post by andrewblossom » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:40 PM UTC

gregmac wrote: post #40

> Pebble devices will continue to work as normal. No immediate changes to the Pebble user experience will happen at this time. > Pebble functionality or service quality may be reduced in the future. That's very unfortunate. How much of Pebble relies on some online service? Is it still possible to install apps/updates without their infrastructure? For companies that don't open source their stuff by default, it would b…

It sounds like the developers at Pebble are hopeful that Fitbit will allow the community to step in where Fitbit can't (or won't): https://developer.pebble.com/blog/2016/12/06/developer-commu...

"Further down the road, we’ll be working to phase out cloud services, providing the ability for the community to take over, where possible."

Re: Pebble's next step

#132

Post by TeMPOraL » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:40 PM UTC

otabdeveloper1 wrote: post #122

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…

> 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'.)

No. Chinese manufacturers are building whatever you pay them for. It's literally a human-powered API converting designs to hardware. It's the western companies that don't want to build nice things.

Re: Pebble's next step

#133

Post by twoquestions » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:41 PM UTC

peatmoss wrote: post #24

twoquestions wrote: post #15

So it looks like Fitbit acquihired the team from Pebble. Here's hoping Fitbit releases a product like the Pebbles, as it was much more safe and less attention-consuming to check a text message on my watch while driving than bringing out my phone, or asking a passenger to do this. Are there any other things like it that we can migrate to, or will the world never see their like again?

> 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.

I generally don't, but I do slip up on occasion. It's also useful and safer when checking directions, even more so than a GPS suction-cupped to the windshield. Glancing at my wrist is much less of a context switch than looking at a screen.

I don't think any of the Fitbits have any kind of integration like this.

Re: Pebble's next step

#134

Post by distantsounds » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:41 PM UTC

tedajax wrote: post #5

As someone who quite likes their time steel and who was patiently waiting for their time 2 this is incredibly frustrating. No other watches do what I want so I guess my foray into smart watches is over. It's a shame too because I appreciate the convenience it offers but I probably won't miss it much after a couple of weeks

Hear hear. I wish I could get the simplistic-but-effective features of a Pebble elsewhere. Track my steps, send me the notifications I want, and let me customize the watchface. The heart rate monitoring was what I was looking forward to the most, it would have made it /perfect/ for my use case.

Re: Pebble's next step

#135

Post by maxerickson » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:42 PM UTC

tokenizerrr wrote: post #86

fudgy73 wrote: post #77

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 Stan…

I'm not a lawperson, but can companies really just terminate a warranty like that?

Presumably the people affected could sue over it, but if there isn't any money left in the entity responsible for the warranties it is kind of a futile gesture.

Re: Pebble's next step

#136

Post by blackguardx » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:42 PM UTC

lettergram wrote: post #88

mabbo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is success? The product they named their company after is never going to be manufactured again. People who paid them for that product but haven't received it yet never will. Their company is dead. Or do you mean the fact that their founders and owners probably got some cash back for selling the whole thing? Well, how much do you get back for an acquihire? Fitbit didn't buy them for their tech, or they'd still be…

They may have bought them for patents though. E-ink display on a watch could be pretty important for fitbit going forward.

Pebble never used an E-Ink display. They used Sharp memory LCD displays (which Nike funded the development of in the watch formfactor) and called them E-Paper because they promised E-Ink in one of their kickstarters.

Re: Pebble's next step

#137

Post by ohyoutravel » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:42 PM UTC

I had two Basis (original and the newer one) watches and when they had a recall/shut down operations, they did a buy back of them. So I got a check for the original purchase price of each and mailed them into Basis. Now that I have a couple of presumably soon-to-be-useless Pebble watches sitting around, it would be nice if they did the same thing. I nearly ordered a Time 2, but am liking my Garmin Vivoactive HR, so thank goodness I didn't order one.

Re: Pebble's next step

#138

Post by paulftw » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:44 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…

They genuinely believed they were going to change the world, drank too much of their own kool-aid and eventually ran out of money.

Pretty sure they feel terrible right now and I don't think they slept well for the past 6 months. Could someone reasonable see this coming before KS? Most likely yes. Would they get this far without taking big risks? Most likely no.

You feel angry you didn't get your pebbles, I feel angry I didn't get my two pebbles and a core.

Imagine how they feel - reportedly turned down $750 mil and less than a year later had to apply for a job at another struggling wearables manufacturer.

Re: Pebble's next step

#139

Post by Twirrim » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:44 PM UTC

iamatworknow wrote: post #102

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.

I charge my first gen Pebble literally once a week. Monday morning, I get to work, and put my pebble on charge. By the time stand-up happens a couple of hours later (my first meeting of the day) it's back on my wrist and good to go for the next week.

I was aiming to get a new Pebble after Christmas, as mine suffers from that screen corruption glitch that plagued the first gens.

I expect this is actually part of the problem, and likely affects many smartwatch producing companies: If it wasn't for the screen glitch, I wouldn't be replacing my watch. It works, does everything I need, and speed isn't an issue. A colour display would be nice, but it's far from important to me. I'm sure the same is true for many Joe Average consumers. There isn't the same impetus to frequently upgrade a watch.

Re: Pebble's next step

#140

Post by asmithmd1 » Wed, Dec 07, 2016, 3:45 PM UTC

lettergram wrote: post #109

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 o…

This is exactly right. 100s of thousands of well off techies strap your product to our body and the best deal you could arrange is to put a bullet in the companies head?

It seems very strange they are basically just shutting down. That has to be an ego driven decision on the FitBit side - they wanted to kill Pebble. Are they even going to use the brand name? The combination of: working production facility, users in the wild, and (the biggest asset) a developer community had to have some value. Now that the deal is done there is no chance to pry that out of publicly traded FitBit, but it seems like this could have had a better outcome.