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We're bringing Pebble back

repebble.com

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Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#281

Post by bigstrat2003 »

MostlyStable wrote: post #244
zem wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

third party apps (particularly stuff like messaging, banking and government services) only supporting the main two operating systems is a big barrier to a new one getting any traction.

On android at least, it's entirely possible to have weird, niche, hardware options. Why do no android phones have IR blasters anymore? Or FM Radio support? Why has the headphone jack almost entirely disappeared? (as far as I can tell, Sony is the only manufacturer with phones that will work on American networks). These are options that the mainstream consumer has decided they don't want, but I don't buy that there ar…

> These are options that the mainstream consumer has decided they don't want...

I don't even think it's that. I think companies are so blinded by copying Apple that they have lost sight of the fact that they can have a competitive edge if they don't. Like, if people wanted what Apple was offering they would just buy Apple in the first place! And companies used to try to differentiate themselves (I remember marketing specifically making fun of the lack of headphone jacks on the iPhone), but they seem to have just given up.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#282

Post by modeless »

Reposting the comment I made when Fitbit acquired the hollowed-out shell of Pebble, which still applies today:

I liked Pebble as a company because they knew how to make just the right engineering compromises to make their product work. The smartwatch everyone wants has a battery that lasts for weeks, a high contrast always-on color screen visible in daylight and total darkness, no bezel, and a round case only a few mm thick. That perfect watch is impossible to build, but Pebble found compromises that worked. They chose different compromises than those of Apple and Google, and IMHO better ones. The Pebble Time Round is a tiny little triumph of smart engineering compared with any other product on the market, including the Apple Watch.

In particular it's incredible what the Pebble firmware team was able to accomplish. They built a bespoke OS that's extremely reliable (certainly more reliable than Android Wear), with an app SDK and store, plus a well thought out user interface with a striking visual design and even fun little animated flourishes, despite running in a fraction of the power budget of Apple or Android smartwatches. The Pebble has 256 kilobytes of RAM! How many companies could have done all that in 256 KB?

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#285

Post by cbogie »

modeless wrote: post #282

Reposting the comment I made when Fitbit acquired the hollowed-out shell of Pebble, which still applies today: I liked Pebble as a company because they knew how to make just the right engineering compromises to make their product work. The smartwatch everyone wants has a battery that lasts for weeks, a high contrast always-on color screen visible in daylight and total darkness, no bezel, and a round case only a few m…

pebble the company reminds me of teenage engineering

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#286

Post by eiiot »

girvo wrote: post #16

My Pebble Time Round is still the single best piece of tech I have ever owned and used, and I miss it every day. If it can be brought back, I’d pay whatever is necessary, and I’d love to contribute now that I’ve spent many years doing embedded firmware development professionally!

I still use my PTR daily! See https://rebble.io/ :)

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#287

Post by modeless »

cbogie wrote: post #285
modeless wrote: post #282

Reposting the comment I made when Fitbit acquired the hollowed-out shell of Pebble, which still applies today: I liked Pebble as a company because they knew how to make just the right engineering compromises to make their product work. The smartwatch everyone wants has a battery that lasts for weeks, a high contrast always-on color screen visible in daylight and total darkness, no bezel, and a round case only a few m…

pebble the company reminds me of teenage engineering

Except reasonably priced :)

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#288

Post by happyopossum »

IgorPartola wrote: post #258
amatecha wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also have waterproof with magnetic pin charging like "magsafe" style (doesn't have to be wireless per se) :)

True but that means a proprietary charger standard too.

I don’t believe that there are any wireless charging standards small enough for a watch (qi/qi2 is far too big), so it’d be proprietary anyway.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#289

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

modeless wrote: post #282

Reposting the comment I made when Fitbit acquired the hollowed-out shell of Pebble, which still applies today: I liked Pebble as a company because they knew how to make just the right engineering compromises to make their product work. The smartwatch everyone wants has a battery that lasts for weeks, a high contrast always-on color screen visible in daylight and total darkness, no bezel, and a round case only a few m…

> "The smartwatch everyone wants has a battery that lasts for weeks, a high contrast always-on color screen visible in daylight and total darkness, no bezel, and a round case only a few mm thick."

The Garmin watches that have a MIP (Memory In Pixel) display already cover most of that, provided you avoid using some of the more power hungry features that the Pebbles never had anyway. What is the Pebble Watch's value proposition in 2025?

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