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Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

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Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#371

Post by TeMPOraL »

monsieurgaufre wrote: post #304
Pfhortune wrote: post #290

Folks ITT will talk about watches that are similar in hardware, but what was magic about Pebble was the software and ecosystem. The OS was just a delight to use, fast, wonderfully animated, and let you sideload whatever you want. I've tried a couple of Garmin watches (Vivoactive 3 and Forerunner 55) and the Amazfit Bip, and this is where they all fall completely flat. The UX is just horrible by comparison. It's like…

I've never had a Pebble and mostly wanted to comment on the Garmin/smartwatches part of your comment. I was gifted a Garmin Vivoactive 3 a few years ago. Like you, I've come to the exact same conclusion regarding the Garmin watches. It is slow and annoyingly needs to connect to their servers to do anything (couldn't even access my own data when they were hacked). I still use it mostly when i run/cycle but battery lif…

> Yes, the data is interesting, but how many of us really do something from that data? I know I don't. And if you really need this data (professional athlete or whatever), most of the time, someone will pay the gadget for you.

Which is why I was sad when Pebble doubled down on the fitness/sports marketing in the months before they shut down.

I don't care about fitness tracking and sportsball data. What I do care about is an e-paper-like screen (not just the "always on display" phone screen tech, but a proper "looks the same whether I look at it or not" always-on screen), hackability, predictable UI and buttons. The ability to operate the watch (and remotely control the phone, via Pebble/Tasker integration) without looking at it is supremely useful to me. That, and no fucking cloud. Ever. Hardware tied to SaaS is the enemy of all that's holy.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#372

Post by TeMPOraL »

p0pcult wrote: post #66
jpswade wrote: post #47

That doesn’t seem that many, how many people use Fitbit or Apple Watch?

For a watch that you can no longer buy from OEM or get OEM support from, it's a lot, no?

OG Pebble is how many years old now? (EDIT: ten. Ten years old.) Modern hardware rarely lasts that long, but this one does; my wife is still happily using it, and it is still better than Apple Watch in terms of UX / actually useful functionality.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#373

Post by TeMPOraL »

efields wrote: post #261

that is… a small number

It's undercounting a lot - there are many people who use Gadgetbridge instead of Rebble, and I'd argue that most people use neither - the OG stock app and stock firmware forks perfectly fine to this day, even with the very first generation that's few months shy of a decade old, and which my wife still happily uses today.

So, a fraction of users using alternate firmware to the watch that's up to 10 years old - an eternity for modern electronics - and whose vendor shut down 6 years ago. I'd say it's quite a big number.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#374

Post by p0pcult »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #372
p0pcult wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a watch that you can no longer buy from OEM or get OEM support from, it's a lot, no?

OG Pebble is how many years old now? (EDIT: ten. Ten years old.) Modern hardware rarely lasts that long, but this one does; my wife is still happily using it, and it is still better than Apple Watch in terms of UX / actually useful functionality.

I still have 3. They have everything I want in a watch: vibrating alarm, long battery life, calendar functionality. I also use an app that stores my 2FA tokens/passcodes, so that if i ever lose or am away from my phone, i still have access to critical accounts.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#377

Post by LeifCarrotson »

DC-3 wrote: post #295
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and better than that, most new Garmin watches can also store several GB of music on the device itself and play it over Bluetooth headphones, no need to carry your phone with you. Watches are a strange sort of luxury good, where some people will pay thousands of dollars, and Garmin aggressively price-segments their products. Use this comparison tool to see the different features: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/produ…

When people pay large amounts of money for watches, they are doing so for premium materials and exquisite workmanship (brand is often a large factor too, of course). It's not obvious that the same value proposition applies to mass-produced electronics, even if they also tell the time and sit on the wrist.

The materials and workmanship in a Forerunner 955 are almost the same as those in a Forerunner 255.

The latter disables the NFC payments radio on the same radio IC, disables recording power meter and etap/DI2 gear-shift data from bikes even though it has ANT+ radio, disables open-water swim mode, disables multi-sport (triathlon) tracking, disables maps (even though it has the same memory capacity), and doesn't implement the running dynamics/running power software.

It's like a premium printer that's identical to the cheap printer, with the speed inhibitor turned off:

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/12/15/camels-and-rubber-...

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#379

Post by namlem »

aembleton wrote: post #320
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.

Amazfit Bip S - https://www.amazfit.com/uk/amazfit-bip-s.html - 40 day battery life - HR monitor - 11.4mm thickness - Always on transreflective screen It's not hackable, is a bit thicker and only has one button but unlike the Fenix 7 it is very affordable.

A recent update nuked the battery life on mine. It went from 40 days to 10-15.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#380

Post by eddieroger »

nehal3m wrote: post #308
eddieroger wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to do this. I'd be super curious to re-experience life with an offline device in a very online world. I loved every Palm I had up through the Pre, but there was a magic about trying to play Zork on a Palm, or syncing a day's worth of light reading for the (school) bus. I really miss this app Four Point Oh that tracked homework and stuff.

You could pull the SIM out of a smartphone. Not the same, but similar?

I could, but a smartphone is built with the expectation of total connectivity, as are the apps on it. The Palm was built to be offline first, and makes different expectations around data transfer. It also had a different interaction model - stylus with Graffiti instead of a keyboard - which would be fun to revisit. So yeah, I could have an offline device, but it's not the same.
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