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Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

kickstarter.com

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Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#81

Post by robin_reala »

phlyingpenguin wrote: post #60
motti_s wrote: post #27

As a gadget freak and a hacker, I love this product. But I wonder how many people use a watch these days. Of course this is no ordinary watch, but when you have a supercomputer (in the shape of a phone) in your pocket, is it really needed? I suppose it's great for sports, but I'm not sure whether it has mass market potential (selling ~10K in a few hours is amazing, but isn't mass market yet). I'm actually on the fenc…

I find the use of cell phones as pocket watches tacky. As a grad student, I've seen many speakers come in and open a cell phone in the middle of a talk to check their time usage, which I find utterly unacceptable. Depending on your situation, look around a bit and see who's wearing a watch. It may not be the norm anymore, but it's still not an unusual thing to do at all. If nothing else, they are a good fashion acces…

It’s no different to pulling out a pocket-watch (although, granted, a pocket-watch is a little more stylish).

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#82

Post by noahbrier »

ajuc wrote: post #74
FaceKicker wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if this team just decided to run off with the $1.6M right now for essentially writing a page worth of text and making a couple concept videos, would there be any legal recourse for the donors? Not that I have any suspicion at all that that's what this team is doing, but Kickstarter projects in general seem like a relatively easy way for someone to make a good chunk of money for the cost of a couple hours' worth of…

I thought they won't get the money until they finish the product?

I've funded a few projects. The money goes through as soon as the funding period is over assuming the project has surpassed it's funding goal. I've funded 9 projects and received 6 rewards (just checked). Two of the last three are from the last six months and still in progress (one is an apology for being late with an excuse of the creator quitting his job and moving) and the last was a project that launched but I never received the reward on my funding level (not that I care all that much, as it was a series of letterpress postcards).

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#83

Post by ma2rten »

motti_s wrote: post #27

As a gadget freak and a hacker, I love this product. But I wonder how many people use a watch these days. Of course this is no ordinary watch, but when you have a supercomputer (in the shape of a phone) in your pocket, is it really needed? I suppose it's great for sports, but I'm not sure whether it has mass market potential (selling ~10K in a few hours is amazing, but isn't mass market yet). I'm actually on the fenc…

To us the iPhone is a powerful computing device. But I think the truth is that most people who buy an iPhone, are really buying a fashion item. How many apps do most people actually have installed? And how many of them do they use regularly? Not a lot.

Now, people who wear watches these days also are also doing so to be fashionable. This is why I think this has mass market potential.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#84

Post by gaius »

webjprgm wrote: post #3

I'd love the idea, except that I don't want to recharge my watch like a cell phone. I'm used to my watch lasting years without changing the battery. But if I can program my own custom watch face with a button that turns off the Bluetooth, thus extending the battery life ...

I'm not sure how much of a problem this will be. People have worn mechanical watches for a hundred years, and many people who could wear any watch they like choose to continue to do so. Winding is not a barrier to adoption, so why should charging be?

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#85

Post by nextparadigms »

Do people really care more about a watch that may not even be all that practical, to give it $1 million in 1 day, than an ISP that vows to protect your privacy, or is it just because he didn't use Kickstarter (he couldn't):

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57413511-281/privacy-prote...

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#86

Post by smackfu »

qq66 wrote: post #59

What's the general-case solution to technical failure of a Kickstarter project? For example, what happens if the organizers spend the money they raised to build the product, but it turns out that they underestimated the costs, and now can't deliver what they promised to give you if you pledge $x? I ask because usually when you buy a product, it's already been made -- if a Kickstarter investment is purely a donation t…

Here's another example, where someone made a metal iPhone case that didn't really work since it interfered with calls. http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/01/lessons-for-kickstart...

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#87

Post by icebraining »

vacri wrote: post #71
adestefan wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is. If you could put it on an inductive charging pad that would be fine, but I'm not going to fish around for a micro USB plug that probably has fallen behind my nightstand for the 500th time every few days.

USB is also a crappy way to recharge things. It takes ages for the paltry USB power to recharge my smartphone, particularly if I don't turn the screen off (phone stays awake with USB attached)

USB doesn't really have anything to do with it, it's about the devices (both the phone and the charger). The specs say an USB charger can provide up to 5A, which is more than enough to reach the battery charging limits, AFAIK.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#88

Post by vinayan3 »

webjprgm wrote: post #3

I'd love the idea, except that I don't want to recharge my watch like a cell phone. I'm used to my watch lasting years without changing the battery. But if I can program my own custom watch face with a button that turns off the Bluetooth, thus extending the battery life ...

I suspect that watch could last maybe a few days without charging. I am quite tempted to get one however if it needs to be charged every few days it might be annoying when traveling. I already have to carry enough cables when I travel.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#89

Post by Retric »

ma2rten wrote: post #83
motti_s wrote: post #27

As a gadget freak and a hacker, I love this product. But I wonder how many people use a watch these days. Of course this is no ordinary watch, but when you have a supercomputer (in the shape of a phone) in your pocket, is it really needed? I suppose it's great for sports, but I'm not sure whether it has mass market potential (selling ~10K in a few hours is amazing, but isn't mass market yet). I'm actually on the fenc…

To us the iPhone is a powerful computing device. But I think the truth is that most people who buy an iPhone, are really buying a fashion item. How many apps do most people actually have installed? And how many of them do they use regularly? Not a lot. Now, people who wear watches these days also are also doing so to be fashionable. This is why I think this has mass market potential.

Most people watch video's and surf the web even without installing apps. This takes a lot more processing power than you might think. What they don't use is the GPU, but that's a small fraction of the cost of an iPhone.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#90

Post by timmins »

adestefan wrote: post #18
marknutter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just plug it in when you take it off at night. That step can't be that inconvenient, can it?

Yes it is. If you could put it on an inductive charging pad that would be fine, but I'm not going to fish around for a micro USB plug that probably has fallen behind my nightstand for the 500th time every few days.

They announced yesterday that as a result of water-proofing it will have a special plug.

"Pebble's USB cable is custom cable because the watch will be waterproof and can't have a big hole for the regular USB socket. We will be selling extra cables as well."

I'd rather have micro USB than waterproof, IMO.

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