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Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

repebble.com

351–360 of 615 posts

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a watch person, and the only reason I occasionally wear one is because it's a Garmin and I'm recording an outdoor activity with it. But while cycling, when the phone in my backpack makes a notification noise, it is kind of handy to just be able to look at the watch to see what kind of notification it is - the kind hardly worth looking at or the kind worth stopping and pulling out the phone to reply to. This p…

> if there was a single button audio recording app Would the watch require 1 or 2 hands to record audio? The ring seems easier to use while biking. Or driving.

Can't you just say "Hey siri, add a note"? I add reminders, send texts, etc. that way.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#352
post #47

12-15 hours of recording is maybe 2 weeks usage for heavy users. It would've been perfect if it could connect to computers and had a rechargeable battery. Oh well, hope someone else takes inspiration and makes the same thing but can recharge.

> It would've been perfect if it could connect to computers If their goal truly is "New Pebble", then surely something that could connect to a phone could connect to a computer, granted you have the available radios connected to your computer. Seems to be BT in this case. > and had a rechargeable battery Yeah, seems like a weird thing to do, but I guess trying to solve this would make the device a lot harder. Hoping…

It's very clear that you have to buy a new one.

> Before the battery runs out, the Pebble app notifies and asks if you’d like to order another ring.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#353
Couldn't you, like, build this into the Pebble Watch? I think I might be interested in this but I fundamentally don't want to wear a ring on my finger.

(Also, I do really want an excuse to switch from my Apple Watch to a new Pebble.)

The blog post says:

> Initially, we experimented by building this as an app on Pebble, since it has a mic and I’m always wearing one. But, I realized quickly that this was suboptimal - it required me to use my other hand to press the button to start recording (lift-to-wake gestures and wake-words are too unreliable). This was tough to use while bicycling or carrying stuff.

I don't understand how the ring makes any of this better.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#354
post #96

Instead of a stand-alone piece of e-waste, how about this: a device with the same format (a ring and an button) but the only thing it does is trigger the pebble watch to start recording a message. This way the microphone isn't needed, just the radio (and much weaker radio at that), and the battery will last exponentially longer. Then just expose the charging terminals so that we can at least hack the device with cust…

Or better yet. Use your cellphone wich most of us carry 90% of the time?

iOS has recently added a ”trigger voice recorder” to the swipe-down screen from the lock screen.

It takes a random length of time to start recording. But it’s always too long. And it’s unreliable.

This would be much more convenient. Though I’m not sure the battery situation would convince me.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and then they go on to say there's no subscription involved. At $99 every 2 years it might as well be a subscription.

Not even just a flat-fee subscription, but technically a usage based one! Since every time you activate the device it consumes power stored in the battery, it essentially turns electricity into credits and now your hardware-based device is a usage based subscription. What a time to be alive!

Sure the world was destroyed but at one beautiful point in time we created a lot of value for shareholders.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#356
post #269

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023 concerning batteries and waste batteries Article 11 Removability and replaceability of portable batteries and LMT batteries 1. Any natural or legal person that places on the market products incorporating portable batteries shall ensure that those batteries are readily removable and replaceable by the end-user at any time during th…

Good thing that there are plenty of markets outside of EU

Cynical thinking ahead.

What has been long considered one of the most wealthy markets is a country descending into a billionaire controlled kleptocracy. And they're pissing off every other country in the world with tariff blackmail and punishment (or extra judicial executions) for any country that fails to bend the knee and fawn obsequiously enough to their leader.

One of the most populous markets is a country that manufactures approximately 100% of all consumer electronics, and will have a hundred versions of this available for 10% of Pebble's price on AliExpress as soon as it shows any signs of gaining market traction anywhere (quite likely stolen or "3rd shift" ones from Pebble's own outsourced production line).

India, who these days has more than enough local skill and experienced ex-H1B tech people to create this from scratch at home (and at least some with a deep resentment over how they were treated by US tech companies while they were there)?

One of the no longer EU markets is suffering post Brexit austerity and isn't likely to be buying a heap if tech toys - even if their fucked up new importing goods paperwork doesn't make it impossible to get your product into the country.

There goes about 40% of the planet's population.

That leaves, what? Manufacture locally and try surviving by selling to the US market at prices driven by US labor costs which'd make the product prohibitively expensive globally? South East Asia, who're likely to buy the Samsung copy over one from a US company? Russia, who (at least for now) is under trade sanctions for a US based company like Pebble? So perhaps Canada (until their southern neighbour make good on their threat to try and make them the 51st state)? South Africa? Australia and New Zealand?

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#357

Couldn't you, like, build this into the Pebble Watch? I think I might be interested in this but I fundamentally don't want to wear a ring on my finger. (Also, I do really want an excuse to switch from my Apple Watch to a new Pebble.) The blog post says: > Initially, we experimented by building this as an app on Pebble, since it has a mic and I’m always wearing one. But, I realized quickly that this was suboptimal - i…

> I don't understand how the ring makes any of this better.

You press the button with your thumb on the same hand.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter if it's plausible or not. It's the fact that it's non-rechargeable device with 12 hours of recording...

I wouldn't think about the total recording time so much as the actual usage you'll get out of it. If based on typical usage, you could get even eighteen months out of it, then you're looking at around $5/month for a device to serve this purpose for you. Is that worth it to you? Perhaps not. But plenty of us pay similar amounts of money for software subscriptions related to productivity, so it's not especially outland…

I sometimes speak into my voice recorder when I’m out for a walk and have a thought. Those voice notes can be many minutes long, and full of repetition and silence.

When no one’s looking obviously.

Not sure how that would work with the ring. Either lots of small similar notes. Or a dead battery.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#359

Couldn't you, like, build this into the Pebble Watch? I think I might be interested in this but I fundamentally don't want to wear a ring on my finger. (Also, I do really want an excuse to switch from my Apple Watch to a new Pebble.) The blog post says: > Initially, we experimented by building this as an app on Pebble, since it has a mic and I’m always wearing one. But, I realized quickly that this was suboptimal - i…

It's one handed? The hand with the ring is the same hand that uses the thumb to hit the button?

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#360
post #99

I'll be honest, after seeing a nightmare situation where a smartring battery inflated and cut off circulation to a finger, I will never ever buy a ring with a battery in it.

Mentioned elsewhere: this is why they didn't go with a rechargeable battery.
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