Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain • Hacker News Board

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#511

Post by swiftcoder » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 12:27 PM UTC

pedalpete wrote: post #321

rendx wrote: 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…

We regularly get contacted by people in Europe who want to buy our product, but we haven't been providing support due to the cost of certs, and other regulatory needs (medical/wellness device). We want to help people in the EU, but with laws like replaceable batteries, it's going to push us further and further away from being able to do that. Our product is designed to be refurbished, but not user-replaceable. At the…

> Do people replace their phones because the battery isn't good anymore

Pretty much exclusively? The last 4-5 iPhone purchases in my family have all been due to dying batteries (plus a couple of off-brand battery replacements by local cellphone techs).

Nothing else on iPhones really ever breaks, provided you keep some sort of case on it. The only non-battery failure I've ever had was a corroded lightning port (on a iPhone that was regularly used in a salt-chlorine swimming pool). And of course a couple of replacements due to critical banking apps that have drop support for old iOS versions...

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#512

Post by wongarsu » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 12:39 PM UTC

fainpul wrote: post #500

cush wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about you but I regularly wash my hands

Not sure about you, but my hands are primarily dry and only occasionally get wet.

Having to take a ring off whenever you wash your hands would be very inconvenient. At least in the spirit of the law this should qualify

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#513

Post by jeremyjh » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 12:46 PM UTC

ddoeth wrote: post #470

jeremyjh wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What difference does it make if you can replace the batteries in a toy the animal loses interest in within 20 minutes?

Then don't buy it? I'm not buying these toys, and why would I?

So people should make their own choices about the products they buy? Glad we agree. This thread is about a law that prevents it.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#514

Post by esel2k » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 12:56 PM UTC

Pebble user here - the old ones:).

I use the todo app to speak to create my shopping list before going to the store. I look into the fridge and little room to check whats needed. In the shop I tick off stuff.

It is life changing? No, but one central place that is intelligent would be nice:

- remind me off - add to shopping list - etc

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#515

Post by dangus » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 1:12 PM UTC

scratchyone wrote: post #389

rbits wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if it counts as "primarily" operating in those conditions.

From my reading, the conditions seem to apply to the environment it primarily operates in, not the product itself. So the product primarily operates in the environment of the hand, and the hand is definitely "regularly subject to splashing water".

I hate to say it, but none of this matters. This product is going to fail anyway.

It’s a niche within a niche within a niche. It’s designed to do solve a problem that only one person has.

You have to:

- want to make voice memos (how many people do that?)

- find your watch insufficient for that purpose

- find your phone insufficient for that purpose

- be willing to wear a ring on a specific finger (this isn’t practical on most of your fingers because it’s hard to press the button)

- commit to custom sized jewelry

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#516

Post by albert_e » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 1:12 PM UTC

tenacious_tuna wrote: post #20

agildehaus wrote: post #13

> since it’s always with you Isn't my watch always with me? Why not use that instead of have some new device?

from the article: > 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 feel there may still be a way solve it using existing hardware -- rather than go build entirely new hardware for it.

Some low effort ideas I cna think of -- a wake word instead of button press; a flick of the wrist; or maybe press the watch to your chin; There must a few more elegant solutions possible if smarter people put their minds to it.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#517

Post by dangus » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 1:14 PM UTC

pedalpete wrote: post #321

rendx wrote: 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…

We regularly get contacted by people in Europe who want to buy our product, but we haven't been providing support due to the cost of certs, and other regulatory needs (medical/wellness device). We want to help people in the EU, but with laws like replaceable batteries, it's going to push us further and further away from being able to do that. Our product is designed to be refurbished, but not user-replaceable. At the…

I’m playing my tiny violin right now for your pain.

It’s so tragic that people can’t buy your product that will end up in a landfill.

Maybe we don’t have to focus society so much on buying products? What a wild concept.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#518

Post by embedding-shape » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 1:15 PM UTC

dangus wrote: post #515

scratchyone wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my reading, the conditions seem to apply to the environment it primarily operates in, not the product itself. So the product primarily operates in the environment of the hand, and the hand is definitely "regularly subject to splashing water".

I hate to say it, but none of this matters. This product is going to fail anyway. It’s a niche within a niche within a niche. It’s designed to do solve a problem that only one person has. You have to: - want to make voice memos (how many people do that?) - find your watch insufficient for that purpose - find your phone insufficient for that purpose - be willing to wear a ring on a specific finger (this isn’t practica…

I hate to be the person to break it to you, but you're in the wrong subthread and none of what you wrote matters, the context is specifically about the regulation. There is a bunch of other subthreads where people moan about that this doesn't have any actual market.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#519

Post by embedding-shape » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 1:17 PM UTC

dangus wrote: post #517

pedalpete wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We regularly get contacted by people in Europe who want to buy our product, but we haven't been providing support due to the cost of certs, and other regulatory needs (medical/wellness device). We want to help people in the EU, but with laws like replaceable batteries, it's going to push us further and further away from being able to do that. Our product is designed to be refurbished, but not user-replaceable. At the…

I’m playing my tiny violin right now for your pain. It’s so tragic that people can’t buy your product that will end up in a landfill. Maybe we don’t have to focus society so much on buying products? What a wild concept.

Yeah, reading this part:

> We want to help people in the EU, but with laws like replaceable batteries, it's going to push us further and further away from being able to do that.

All I could think of was "Wow, the regulation works better than expected".

It's incredible the other side think of themselves as "We want to help people in this environment we don't understand, but receiving pushback" and yet they don't want to adjust, no, it's the environment that is wrong, even if it's built up by people.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#520

Post by dangus » Wed, Dec 10, 2025, 1:20 PM UTC

embedding-shape wrote: post #518

dangus wrote: post #515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate to say it, but none of this matters. This product is going to fail anyway. It’s a niche within a niche within a niche. It’s designed to do solve a problem that only one person has. You have to: - want to make voice memos (how many people do that?) - find your watch insufficient for that purpose - find your phone insufficient for that purpose - be willing to wear a ring on a specific finger (this isn’t practica…

I hate to be the person to break it to you, but you're in the wrong subthread and none of what you wrote matters, the context is specifically about the regulation. There is a bunch of other subthreads where people moan about that this doesn't have any actual market.

I’m fully aware that the context is about the regulation.

But this thread is like pointing out that the cybertruck doesn’t meet EU regulations. It doesn’t matter because the truck is a sales disaster in its most potent market and will probably be discontinued.