Open source what should have originally been open sourced?
Pebble's next step
421–430 of 457 posts
Re: Pebble's next step
#422Earlier quoted context omitted.
e.g. a pledge to open source the code base if the company folds?
Could such a pledge provide enough assurance? If the company folds its IP is up for grubs, this might include their products source code. Right? If that's the case I would prefer to purchase devices that are actually already running free software or there is free software available to flash on them. Person
That would be a pre-existing contract that the future IP holder would (or should, if written 'securely') be obligated to uphold.
Re: Pebble's next step
#423I 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.
Do you really sleep comfortable with it on? I can't imagine wearing my (analog) watch to sleep.
Re: Pebble's next step
#424Earlier quoted context omitted.
>"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." What is this based on? I'd be shocked if that worked. I think it'd be a sign of blood in the water, and signal the end (if vendors see this, they're going to want to be paid u…
I would gladly pay around $10 a year, maybe even $15. My Pebble has been worth it. However, I am now going to return it because if the next Android update breaks the app, it will become a paper weight.
I've been wondering about what happens if the next android update breaks the app.
For now I've found this open source app which allows you to use your pebble (and mi bands) without the vendor's app.
Re: Pebble's next step
#425Earlier quoted context omitted.
From what I remember, Fitbit has ~30M customers, and Pebble has ~1M. That's just 3% of Fitbit's userbase, so pretty much a rounding error. I don't believe they will care.
I'm pretty sure the pebble cloud services are going to be up and running for the foreseeable future. source: I do infrastructure stuff at fitbit. Also they explicitly said this in the developer.pebble.com blog post.
Great! Thanks for chiming in.
I mean, I won't really blame Fitbit for whatever happens now. It was Pebble's fuckup, and my anger (which I sadly expressed in the threads last week) is wearing off.
I do hope you guys do something great with all those new people and IP. In the meantime, I guess me and other Pebblers will be extra-careful about our watches. They are really something unique and there's hardly anything like it on the market now.
Re: Pebble's next step
#426Can 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…
That makes sense. Pebble should post this message on their site. This is clear. Thanks a lot.
Re: Pebble's next step
#427Can 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.
Thanks.
Re: Pebble's next step
#428in the words of Jason Scott...
"I can summarize this for you... uh...
..."FUCK"... and uh.. "YOU"."
another victim of "our incredible journey."
Re: Pebble's next step
#429Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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
Right, but I meant a gamble on their side, not the buyers'. Like when MtGox lost their bitcoins and ran as a fractional reserve trying to cover what happened. Or an actual addicted gambler trying to cut their losses by playing more. I wonder when they learned they were going out of business, and if the last Kickstarter was just a Hail Mary...
There are Kickstarter projects that a year or two after the fact, haven't shipped. (for example, the Hydradock, which was to have shipped in June 2015)
Re: Pebble's next step
#430Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Fitbit is not a struggling wearables manufacturer. It is solidly profitable.
Their stock price is down 75% year-over-year, though their watch-ish sales are improving as the Apple Watch declines.