Live data from Hacker News

Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

repebble.com

531–540 of 615 posts

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#531
post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Our product is designed to be refurbished, but not user-replaceable. Why?

I'm not who you asked that question, but I'd guess it's because it requires "proprietary tools, thermal energy, or solvents to disassemble the product." It'd be hard to design/manufacture a device that reliably remains waterproof after a typical not-specially-skilled owner opens it up to replace a battery. It's really common to hear of people damaging watches due to water ingress after battery replacements, getting s…

> I can see myself becoming reliant on this right before they sell out to Garmin or whoever and tell all their customers to FOAD again. Trust is very hard to win back.

This product is perfect for that case, though: you have to decide to buy another one each time the battery runs down, which aligns seller incentives with the user/purchaser. The danger cases are mainly when the seller gets up front money and then has to provide something indefinitely.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#532

Reading this thread on HN made me sad. Massive negativity/cynicism. Where have all the hackers gone? Those who enjoy discussing technology, or appreciate something clever. Discussion of CPUs and sensors, or miniaturization and packaging. Any other good forums where people discuss engineering and technology? Or even design and usability? (I'm not against sustainability, but long discussions on EU regulations get tires…

I don’t know, I see a lot of people excited about it and many others trying hard to imagine a use case. Many comments from people saying they’re ordering one.

Commenters are discussing the design and usability. Not all of that is going to be positive.

If you’re looking for a positivity-only environment where no critical questioning is socially acceptable, maybe try LinkedIn or Product Hunt? There are forums where negativity is not allowed or not socially acceptable, but those forums are not good sources for actual critical thinking or discussion.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#533

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I mean, that's what I do with my ring...

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#534

Reading this thread on HN made me sad. Massive negativity/cynicism. Where have all the hackers gone? Those who enjoy discussing technology, or appreciate something clever. Discussion of CPUs and sensors, or miniaturization and packaging. Any other good forums where people discuss engineering and technology? Or even design and usability? (I'm not against sustainability, but long discussions on EU regulations get tires…

I don’t know, I see a lot of people excited about it and many others trying hard to imagine a use case. Many comments from people saying they’re ordering one. Commenters are discussing the design and usability. Not all of that is going to be positive. If you’re looking for a positivity-only environment where no critical questioning is socially acceptable, maybe try LinkedIn or Product Hunt? There are forums where neg…

Ouch...

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#535
Maybe I'm just weird but I have notes on my phone that I just add stuff to when I want to remember it. Random possible future project idea? Goes in the project ideas note. Something I need to buy? Goes in the shopping list note. The idea of having to tell my hand what my idea is, and by extension everyone around me, feels horrible, when I could privately just add it in and not have to worry about if text to speech actually got what I said right

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#536
post #123

I'm sold enough on this form factor to take a flyer on a pre-order. I've been hunting for ways to minimize friction when quickly capturing random thoughts and this is a novel idea that seems to go further than anything else I've tried. The lack of battery charging/replacement is a bummer, but slimness is far more critical for a ring than just about any other device so I understand the tradeoff. I've also seen stories…

> I've been hunting for ways to minimize friction when quickly capturing random thoughts and this is a novel idea that seems to go further than anything else I've tried.

Since you’re the target audience, I’ll ask you: How do you envision you’ll work through all of the captured notes? Do it all at the end of the day? Go back and look for something after you remember making the note?

I’m wondering if this product will have the same problem that many discover after they buy a Moleskin journal and think it will solve specific problems in their life: Recording the thought or idea is the easy part, but it only defers the action. Additional diligence is required to review the notes and act on them.

For a very specific type of person who is both forgetful but also diligent enough to process the notes thoroughly and in a timely manner I could see this being helpful. For the people saying this will help with easily distracted people I’m not so sure. It could easily become a tool which gives a false sense of handling a task when really it just blackholes the thought into an ever growing collection of 3-second notes that are never revisited. Like the person who clicks the “mark as unread” button on every email with the intention of responding later, but then has 100 messages in their inbox by the end of the week.

The advertised use case of recording 20 short thoughts per day means over 100 notes to process every week. For a highly diligent person who clears their inbox (and now audio notes) every day that’s nothing. For all of the commenters thinking this is going to solve their distractability problems, I have my doubts.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#537
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.

Dry-ish, it'll always be somewhat moist from sweat and natural oils and stuff. Which is why most jewelry is low or nonreactive.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#538
post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its going to be interesting to see what will happen with Airpods and the like…

Apple will proudly announce that they've invented the replaceable battery.

Unapologetically plastic. or replaceable. Their marketing department will work hard to sell it as revolutionary.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#539
post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> So people should make their own choices about the products they buy? A little, yeah. Buy and don't use: your problem. Buy and can't use because I can't change the battery: subject to regulation. We can't stop anyone from making dumb monetary decisions, but we can stop products not being repairable.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about an iPhone. Can you change the battery without specialized tools?

From 2027 onwards the answer will need to be yes, as a result of these standards.

And this time the whole world can thank the EU, Apple is definitely not going to create a special iPhone hardware just for us.
Post reply on HN