We're bringing Pebble back • Hacker News Board

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#101

Post by elric » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:43 PM UTC

hparadiz wrote: post #77

abraxas wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just gave away a very expensive Garmin to my son. Its feature set is to dream of. Its user interface is hot garbage. When I'm out on a hike or in the pool trying to just measure my fsking laps I need a single click option or something. Their paradigm of "button 1, button 3, button 5, long press button 4, button 1 again to confirm. Now you can push off the wall in 3... 2... 1" is beyond fucking stupid. Does anyone a…

All this plus not being able to see any data while offline. Super useful when you're 13,000 feet up on a mountain somewhere.

Which data are you unable to view while offline? I never sync my Garmin watch to my phone, and I'm able to view all the data that interests me on the watch.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#102

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:44 PM UTC

drawkward wrote: post #82

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Garmin Fenix 8 is $1,099

And worth every penny. (I say this as a former pebble and then rebble user.)

I moved from Pebble to Casio F-91W. Worth every penny!

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#103

Post by bullen » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:44 PM UTC

erohead wrote: post #67

kilroy123 wrote: post #20

Does this mean things have worked out with Beeper? What will happen with that? I noticed development seemed to have stopped. It's nothing like it was before.

Things worked out! We got acquired. Heads down on merging - https://ericmigi.com/blog/why-were-bringing-pebble-back

Hi, please support vanilla linux phones this time?

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#104

Post by dtj1123 » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

I was really hoping the Flipper team would champion something like this after they came out with that weird desktop busy panel. I've never understood the value proposition of a high pixel density, power hungry display on a watch. Can't wait to see what these guys can achieve with modern tech!

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#105

Post by taeric » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:46 PM UTC

seltzered_ wrote: post #64

taeric wrote: post #12

First, let me say it is always fun to see people having fun with hobbies like this. Cool to see them making headway and having fun! I'm curious what the specific pitch is on this device? I have, so far, avoided Garmin in the watch space, but I'm growing very short on justifications for that. Would love to hear what the general value add for other options is.

I'm not sure you can put it in MBA language like 'specific pitch' or 'value add', you had to try it and see if it felt right for you. The watch had a pretty coherent ux flow for a non-touchscreen device, and could be easily used with gloves on without even looking at the watch in some scenarios (e.g. shortcutting to music controls). It later paired some unique animations to make things feel friendly and a bit quirky…

Fair that I do seem to be asking for MBA speak. Not my intent.

For me, the big mental block is that I can't think of much I want to do from my watch. A readable screen is obviously nice. So is advanced battery life. But, if I'm going to be dipping into health tracking, it seems Garmin is the baseline there.

The UX flow is one that has me somewhat intrigued. How often are you interacting with the device? And for what reasons?

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#106

Post by cantsingh » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

I loved the idea of Pebble watches, but I found them too bulky for what they offered. I hope the relaunch focuses on the same core functionality in a much much sleeker design.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#107

Post by BlueTemplar » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

mazambazz wrote: post #81

Even though I haven't used one in a really long time, the Pebble Time still stands out to me as something I wish I still had. It's an absolutely shame that Pebble was so innovative and functional, but couldn't reach mass market. But, I am extremely excited and happy that the Pebble team can start it again. I don't like Google for many things, but, I am grateful that the open-sourced PebbleOS. What a joyous day!

I'm still using it, in fact to the point that it's probably the biggest factor why I have been procrastinating on still staying on Android rather than trying alternatives like PinePhone.

That the OS has been open sourced is great news (though it's sad it was on GitHub... and hopefully other communities around Pebble will spring up outside of platforms (article only mentions Discord and Reddit)).

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#108

Post by ge96 » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

Watches are cool, I wish I was a watch person but I am not. Pinetime for example seemed neat.

edit: there is one use case I'm considering it's for sleep tracking since my ideal life I sleep whenever and it seems my ideal operating mode is to be slightly sleep deprived (about 5 hours each night) so it knows when I fell asleep and sets a 5hr timer from there.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#109

Post by drawkward » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #102

drawkward wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And worth every penny. (I say this as a former pebble and then rebble user.)

I moved from Pebble to Casio F-91W. Worth every penny!

Different users; different needs!

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#110

Post by wilg » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

The Apple Watch is just okay but sells like 25x per year Pebble's entire lifetime sales. I guess people love their Pebbles but this seems like a lot of effort for something most people probably don't want.