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Pebble's next step

blog.getpebble.com

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Re: Pebble's next step

#211

Post by TeMPOraL »

jotjotzzz8 wrote: post #166

I'm curious why they didn't take the Citizen offer for $700+ million. And then that Intel offer, which is now a better deal than what Fitbit offered. There must be more to the story. I feel that the CEO bears the blame for letting this company down, could it be hubris? Can't wait to read more when this story comes out.

I suppose that they believed then that they could succeed. Selling out almost always mean destroying the product and fucking the userbase over. Maybe they didn't want to do it until they had no other choice?

At least that's what I want to believe about them; Pebble always seemed like an unique company in this market, trying to make a useful device instead of making money off selling trinkets.

Re: Pebble's next step

#212

Post by gnicholas »

any idea how long before Fitbit can be expected to come out with a product that integrates some of Pebble's goodies? I have been waiting on a Time Steel 2 since June, but I don't want to wait another 12 months for the teams to integrate and a product to be released (and hope the first effort won't be a frankenwatch).

I guess I'll have to look into the Apple Watch again—I didn't love it when I first tried it, but that was with the old OS and slow processor. Hope Fitbit can get something out the door before my Time Steel kicks the bucket!

Re: Pebble's next step

#213

Post by chrisper »

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

Shenzhen is booming because of Open Source hardware. It's amazing. They realized that IP is garbage and only holds back everyone.

Re: Pebble's next step

#214

Post by AtheistOfFail »

JonFish85 wrote: post #172
paulftw wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably thought a big KS would convince investors to give them couple hundred million. What they should have done is cut costs and develop 10x fewer features, let the community grow slowly but organically and wait out the bad times.

"What they should have done is cut costs and develop 10x fewer features, let the community grow slowly but organically and wait out the bad times." It's easy to say that, but when you are up against the Apple/Samsung type companies who have much deeper pockets, don't have to wait out bad times, have the ability to lean on vendors, have contracts in place with manufacturing and the supply chain to efficiently deliver…

> once you take VC money

their goals become your goals and their goals are almost always "Make more money now"

Re: Pebble's next step

#215

Post by hinkley »

distantsounds wrote: post #201
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…

This last kickstarter raised $12million while only requiring $1million to fund. I'm really unsure how they managed to get 12x the "required" funding but still fail to deliver.

Did you see that picture of the development team in the article? That's a hell of a lot of mouths to feed.

Re: Pebble's next step

#216

Post by TeMPOraL »

sreenadh wrote: post #184

Can one please explain in simple english what actually happened? I did read that fitbit was interested in buying pebble. I assumed it will be like apple buying beats, and pebble will continue as usual. Is fitbit shutting down pebble as pebble is a superior product over the crappy fitbits? The core strength of Pebble was its simple OS and energy efficient device. I hope they opensource the OS.

TL;DR: Pebble run out of money and can't fulfill orders anymore. Fitbit has bought their IP and has offered jobs to about 40% of Pebble's employees, while Pebble the company is shutting down. No orders will be fulfilled anymore; Kickstarter backers will get refunds. Fitbit is phasing out Pebble's product line. As for what they will do with the IP, only time will tell.

Re: Pebble's next step

#217

Post by uiri »

sreenadh wrote: post #184

Can one please explain in simple english what actually happened? I did read that fitbit was interested in buying pebble. I assumed it will be like apple buying beats, and pebble will continue as usual. Is fitbit shutting down pebble as pebble is a superior product over the crappy fitbits? The core strength of Pebble was its simple OS and energy efficient device. I hope they opensource the OS.

Pebble is bankrupt. It owes more money to people/companies than it has/is owed. People whom Pebble owes money to ("creditors") will be ordered in a list. FitBit is buying some of the assets (software, IP, etc.). The proceeds from this sale will go to their creditors, proceeding down the list. The creditors at the end of the list won't get any of the money that they are owed.

The founders and investors walk away with nothing because the company's value is negative. Limited liability means that they are not personally on the hook for any of the debts.

Pebble is winding down operations. Warranty, support, &c. stops because Pebble as an entity will cease to exist. FitBit isn't buying Pebble the entity, it is buying some of the things of value which Pebble the entity owned.

Re: Pebble's next step

#218

Post by headgasket »

I also blame Apple. When you are a 1T$ company, I think it's a social responsibility to not be ruthless in your pricing with small innovating competitors running on the midnight oil. It's a page out of MS playbook. I feel like a traitor for owning an apple watch. But at this rate, with their ipadification (dropped all ports off the mbp) and product lineup explosion, Apple is going where it was in the 90s anyway...

Re: Pebble's next step

#219

Post by soneil »

dag11 wrote: post #37
pbnjay wrote: post #32

Wow this is even worse than expected from the previous news articles... If they're winding down all support and warranties, PLEASE release as much of the watch operating system code as possible! I know some of the IP was sold, but if Fitbit won't be continuing support please help those of us who love our current watches keep them going!

That's Fitbit's call. Would be a great way to retain some product/brand loyalty among its supporters though!

The name would be something of a poisoned chalice if they can't fulfil existing orders.

They've bought the parts that are worth something. They haven't bought the liabilities. It seems like a pretty obvious move, in that cold light.

Re: Pebble's next step

#220

Post by michaelsbradley »

denzil_correa wrote: post #114
michaelsbradley wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Caveat emptor.

I'm not sure if this even makes sense here.

It does, if one broadens "quality and suitability of goods" to include the manufacturer–originator, which seems like a reasonable thing to do for a tech gadget purchase that will involve a long/ish term relationship with the corporation that makes the gadget in question.
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