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Pebble's next step

blog.getpebble.com

151–160 of 457 posts

Re: Pebble's next step

#151
I'm still interested in getting a Time Round and/or Time Steel.

I love my Pebble Time, and the best features I use it for do required any cloud support: alarm, watchfaces, music control (to fast rewind/forward when listening to podcasts while on bike), I mostly switch-off notifications, but even those, I believe, won't require cloud support.

Re: Pebble's next step

#152
post #55

Whenever this kind of things happens. It will make all the more difficult for startups to acquire users because this reiterates "Startups are either going to be acquired and killed or die prematurely".

This hurts, because Pebble always seemed to me like the "good" kind of startup that will live long.

Re: Pebble's next step

#153

The iFixit was very interesting. It has a freakin FPGA?? A comment said it was there to drive the e-ink display, while the MCU slept. Any confirmation on that? Also, what the heck was the smart strap supposed to be? This is sad because I was just about to get a Pebble (had tried beefier watches but felt battery life was too limited).

>> This is sad because I was just about to get a Pebble (had tried beefier watches but felt battery life was too limited).

Yeah this is sad. I had a Pebble 2 on my short list as a fitness tracker but went with something else. I liked that their devices didn't try to be too much. They were good at a few things and had a battery life I could live with.

Re: Pebble's next step

#154
post #63

I'll trade my refund for a postmortem.

I'd love to know what the ratio of incompetence to malice was.

They dropped 90% of their valuation... It's rare for that to be malice. Most likely their costs overran them and they couldn't find funding.

Re: Pebble's next step

#155

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…

Totally this. I'd gladly pay double for Time 2 if it meant the platform will grow sustainably. > Sometimes I think there is a secret cabal conspiring so we can't have nice things ;-). The same one that decided that cell phone batteries have to be non-removable, touchscreens glossy, and wearables either mini-smartphones or bluetooth-step-counters. I feel that all the time. Of course it's not a secret cabal, just the f…

Yep, everything in the past year has indicated that they were underpricing their offerings. I'm not even talking about turning a large margin, but that they were offering more services than they could sustain, regardless of market penetration.

Re: Pebble's next step

#156
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…

I agree entirely. It's very rare that something fits a niche so nicely, while the competition misses it by miles. I have the same feeling about my simple sigma bike computer (though at least there's more options in that niche). I will use my pebble as long as it continues to work, then it'll get retired to my shelf of tech fails. Most of which failed FAR more spectacularly.

What else is on your tech fail shelf? I'm curious...

Re: Pebble's next step

#157
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…

I agree entirely. It's very rare that something fits a niche so nicely, while the competition misses it by miles. I have the same feeling about my simple sigma bike computer (though at least there's more options in that niche). I will use my pebble as long as it continues to work, then it'll get retired to my shelf of tech fails. Most of which failed FAR more spectacularly.

[deleted]

Re: Pebble's next step

#158

I note this from Pebble's developer blog, suggesting that a Fitbit-targeting successor to Pebble's app SDK may be a big part of the plan: "Although this chapter in Pebble’s developer story is closing, our team and ethos have found a new, welcoming home at Fitbit. We can’t wait to have you alongside us for this next adventure. Third-party Pebble developers have a massive opportunity to drive how a Fitbit developer eco…

This sound like typical post-acquihire PR bullshit. New 'exciting opportunities' and 'building the foundation for the next great wearable experience' does not in any way imply that any useful thing resembling a smartwatch will be created. It doesn't imply there will be a developer-friendly platform. Nor does this message actually make sense. "We want you—our fantastic developer community—to keep playing a crucial rol…

No argument over the phrasing. However, an evolution of the Fitbit Blaze device platform hooked up to something inspired by the CloudPebble online SDK doesn't seem implausible.

Re: Pebble's next step

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think they failed? Didn't FitBit just buy them?

Pebble have entered insolvency: http://www.proofofclaims.com/PebbleTech/documents/

A bankruptcy judge is going to have to approve all this. You can't sell all the valuable assets of a company the same day you declare bankruptcy - that could be considered fraud. If I had just fulfilled a big order of theirs yesterday on net 60 terms we had been operating under for the past 5 years I would be pretty upset.

Re: Pebble's next step

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think they failed? Didn't FitBit just buy them?

FitBit bought just their software assets for under $40 million. In 2015, Citizen offered to buy the whole company for $740 million. FitBit did not acquire their $24 million in debt or any physical asserts. They offered jobs to 40% of the staff.

> In 2015, Citizen offered to buy the whole company for $740 million

ouch, i can only imagine how the founders feel

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