Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch • Hacker News Board

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#161

Post by koenvdb » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

SyneRyder wrote: post #75

Gigachad wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pebble was a bit of a gimmick. It was the start of the future but on its own it was kind of worse than a regular watch. It looked ugly, had a terrible screen, didn’t have any of the stuff you mostly do with a smartwatch now. And half the features no longer work.

> And half the features no longer work. Which features don't work? I'm still wearing a Pebble Time Steel every day with Rebble Services and not encountering problems. Okay, I guess Apple integration doesn't work anymore, but that's an Apple problem. If Apple allowed sideloading & half of the things you can do on Android, Pebble would still work there. I used to be an iPhone owner (I was one of those queue-on-day-one…

Funny that you say that, I did the exact opposite. Was quite an Android fanatic until I switched to iPhone and noticed how greatly everything was integrated. Next to the integration of my AirPods and Watch the apps on the iPhone are generally of better quality than my experiences on Android. Everything just feels a lot more native and faster. Probably caused by the fact that Apple is just a lot more stricter in what it allows developers to do + the fact that Android runs on literally thousands of different screen sizes, where there are only a couple of screen sizes that a developer has to take into account on the i(Pad)OS side.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#162

Post by fattybob » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

I have one somewhere, lived the idea and possibilities, sadly the watch (steel version) had scarily sharp edges i felt it was dangerous!!! But I still watched them closely hoping they could improve in the model

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#163

Post by edejong » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

There still is no good replacement for these properties of the Pebble 2 smartwatch:

- > 7 days battery life

- HR monitor (useful as a sports watch)

- - toned down to fit different clothing styles

- hackable

- high-contrast, always-on screen

- buttons

I am currently wearing a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire sportswatch, which comes close.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#164

Post by INTPenis » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:38 PM UTC

edejong wrote: post #163

There still is no good replacement for these properties of the Pebble 2 smartwatch: - > 7 days battery life - HR monitor (useful as a sports watch) - - toned down to fit different clothing styles - hackable - high-contrast, always-on screen - buttons I am currently wearing a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire sportswatch, which comes close.

Not hackable but I replaced my Pebble Time with a Fossil Collider HR and was very happy until it broke 1 week ago. Now I'm in a different country trying to get a replacement.

It had a MONTH charge and it filled all my requirements which were mainly about getting notifications.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#165

Post by gnicholas » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:38 PM UTC

edejong wrote: post #163

There still is no good replacement for these properties of the Pebble 2 smartwatch: - > 7 days battery life - HR monitor (useful as a sports watch) - - toned down to fit different clothing styles - hackable - high-contrast, always-on screen - buttons I am currently wearing a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire sportswatch, which comes close.

Can the Garmin control music playback from your smartphone?

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#166

Post by razemio » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:39 PM UTC

edejong wrote: post #163

There still is no good replacement for these properties of the Pebble 2 smartwatch: - > 7 days battery life - HR monitor (useful as a sports watch) - - toned down to fit different clothing styles - hackable - high-contrast, always-on screen - buttons I am currently wearing a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire sportswatch, which comes close.

Just checked the Garmin Fenix 7 and now I want to add one missing point to your list:

- affordable

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#167

Post by chaostheory » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

edejong wrote: post #163

There still is no good replacement for these properties of the Pebble 2 smartwatch: - > 7 days battery life - HR monitor (useful as a sports watch) - - toned down to fit different clothing styles - hackable - high-contrast, always-on screen - buttons I am currently wearing a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire sportswatch, which comes close.

There still isn’t any watch that comes close to the quality and number of watch faces Pebble had right? Aside from battery life, that’s why I kept mine. It’s really cool to see Mario hit a block to update the time on mine.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#168

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

SentientAtom wrote: post #3

If it works for you, why would you migrate to a different product with features or performance outside of your needs? We are so deep into a disposable society that we eagerly await the NEXT BIG THING (TM) without ever evaluating what our need consists of or whether we have any need for an upgrade to begin with.

[deleted]

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#169

Post by gnicholas » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

INTPenis wrote: post #164

edejong wrote: post #163

There still is no good replacement for these properties of the Pebble 2 smartwatch: - > 7 days battery life - HR monitor (useful as a sports watch) - - toned down to fit different clothing styles - hackable - high-contrast, always-on screen - buttons I am currently wearing a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire sportswatch, which comes close.

Not hackable but I replaced my Pebble Time with a Fossil Collider HR and was very happy until it broke 1 week ago. Now I'm in a different country trying to get a replacement. It had a MONTH charge and it filled all my requirements which were mainly about getting notifications.

How did it break? I've read in forums that the screens go bad when exposed to to much sunlight, which seems like an odd weakness for a wearable.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#170

Post by bunderbunder » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 2:41 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #149

olau wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting perspective. I have an iPad 3rd generation where Apple doesn't allow OS updates and doesn't allow installing a non-Apple browser engine. So it's essentially getting bricked as web sites start relying on features not implemented in the ancient Safari engine on it. Twitter, for instance, refuses to load. Youtube does work okayish, as long as you don't log in. Once it's completely bricked, I'm throwing it ou…

What 10 year old iPad alternative is still receiving updates? I get the annoyance, but I just don’t know of viable alternatives.

I imagine the argument is that a less locked-down device would be able to receive community support 10 years later.

I suspect, though, that that’s optimizing for perfection in rare cases rather than doing better overall. The number of iPads that survive to 10 years is presumably puny. The batteries wear out, they get dropped, etc. I would guess that the number of 2-3 year old devices that get replaced simply because the OS updates stop or the UX gets slow is much greater. And, while community OS and firmware projects do exist, they haven’t made it into the mainstream in any meaningful way, so I doubt they make a dent in overall consumer behavior. In which case, perhaps Apple’s way of doing things is a net win (or at least the lesser of some number of evils) compared to others’ in the aggregate.

Hard to say without any hard numbers, though.

(Disclaimer: A couple months back I opted to replace the battery on my 2013 MacBook, which is still going strong, instead of buying a new Framework laptop. That may indicate some bias.)