Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

kickstarter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 97 posts

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#71

Post by vacri »

adestefan wrote: post #18
marknutter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just plug it in when you take it off at night. That step can't be that inconvenient, can it?

Yes it is. If you could put it on an inductive charging pad that would be fine, but I'm not going to fish around for a micro USB plug that probably has fallen behind my nightstand for the 500th time every few days.

USB is also a crappy way to recharge things. It takes ages for the paltry USB power to recharge my smartphone, particularly if I don't turn the screen off (phone stays awake with USB attached)

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#72

Post by vacri »

Ralith wrote: post #4
webjprgm wrote: post #3

I'd love the idea, except that I don't want to recharge my watch like a cell phone. I'm used to my watch lasting years without changing the battery. But if I can program my own custom watch face with a button that turns off the Bluetooth, thus extending the battery life ...

> I don't want to recharge my watch like a cell phone Isn't that (part of) why it's got an eink display?

it'll be the bluetooth that's the power hog

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#74

Post by ajuc »

FaceKicker wrote: post #69
thetron wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had contributed to a Kickstarter project (a piece of software) that failed to finish. Recently, the author wrote an update offering refunds (plus 5% interest) to all backers. Personally, I consider all Kickstarter donations to be be just that, even if the reward includes some sort of 'preorder' - although saying that, I would be super disappointed if I invested $100+ in a project that then fell on its face. I guess…

So if this team just decided to run off with the $1.6M right now for essentially writing a page worth of text and making a couple concept videos, would there be any legal recourse for the donors? Not that I have any suspicion at all that that's what this team is doing, but Kickstarter projects in general seem like a relatively easy way for someone to make a good chunk of money for the cost of a couple hours' worth of…

I thought they won't get the money until they finish the product?

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#75

Post by thetron »

ajuc wrote: post #74
FaceKicker wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if this team just decided to run off with the $1.6M right now for essentially writing a page worth of text and making a couple concept videos, would there be any legal recourse for the donors? Not that I have any suspicion at all that that's what this team is doing, but Kickstarter projects in general seem like a relatively easy way for someone to make a good chunk of money for the cost of a couple hours' worth of…

I thought they won't get the money until they finish the product?

As I understand it, Kickstarter projects get the money as soon as the 40 day countdown is up, but only if they get 100% funded.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#76

Post by regularfry »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #32
webjprgm wrote: post #3

I'd love the idea, except that I don't want to recharge my watch like a cell phone. I'm used to my watch lasting years without changing the battery. But if I can program my own custom watch face with a button that turns off the Bluetooth, thus extending the battery life ...

It's an MVP, I'm sure future versions will compensate. Anyway, flip-phone batteries can last weeks but I'm sure you still use a smartphone.

They won't compensate unless the market pushes back. If they can sell this with a 7-day life, my guess is that they will keep that battery life and use tech advances to add features. That's precisely what's happened in the smartphone market.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#77

Post by thetron »

FaceKicker wrote: post #69
thetron wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had contributed to a Kickstarter project (a piece of software) that failed to finish. Recently, the author wrote an update offering refunds (plus 5% interest) to all backers. Personally, I consider all Kickstarter donations to be be just that, even if the reward includes some sort of 'preorder' - although saying that, I would be super disappointed if I invested $100+ in a project that then fell on its face. I guess…

So if this team just decided to run off with the $1.6M right now for essentially writing a page worth of text and making a couple concept videos, would there be any legal recourse for the donors? Not that I have any suspicion at all that that's what this team is doing, but Kickstarter projects in general seem like a relatively easy way for someone to make a good chunk of money for the cost of a couple hours' worth of…

Correct - it's all trust based. For reference, here the 'accountability' section from the Kickstarter FAQ:

http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/backing%20a%20project#Ac...

I think these 'big budget' projects are generally from groups/people that are known to communities, or have some existing goodwill. Looks like these guys had previously taken a watch to market that worked only with Blackberry devices.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#78

Post by mryan »

ajuc wrote: post #74
FaceKicker wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if this team just decided to run off with the $1.6M right now for essentially writing a page worth of text and making a couple concept videos, would there be any legal recourse for the donors? Not that I have any suspicion at all that that's what this team is doing, but Kickstarter projects in general seem like a relatively easy way for someone to make a good chunk of money for the cost of a couple hours' worth of…

I thought they won't get the money until they finish the product?

For many projects the money is used to build/develop the project, so it would not be possible to withhold the money until the project is complete.

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#79

Post by doe88 »

I'm wondering if their iPhone application needs to remain in foreground/active in order to receive notifications? I doubt it because it would be a quite big shortcoming but on other hand given the state of third-party 'multitasking' on iOS I'm not sure it is technically possible without it. Anybody wants to chime in?

Re: Pebble E-Paper Watch Raises $1M In 28 Hours

#80

Post by officemonkey »

adestefan wrote: post #18
marknutter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just plug it in when you take it off at night. That step can't be that inconvenient, can it?

Yes it is. If you could put it on an inductive charging pad that would be fine, but I'm not going to fish around for a micro USB plug that probably has fallen behind my nightstand for the 500th time every few days.

There has been a big uptick in the last 12 years on rechargeable gadgets. We used to put double AA batteries in everything. The only thing that needed a charger was the gigantic Motorola MicroTAC cell phone. Nowadays, it's the opposite. I count seven of them in my house alone. The only thing I need a battery for is my television remote.

Inductive charging pads are a great idea, but you need a big vendor to make a standard one. Apple is probably the only company with large enough marketshare. If they came up with an inductive charger for their iPhones/iPads, their product would quickly become _the_ standard. Eventually Amazon would install the technology in the Kindle, Android handset makers would do it just to keep in the game. 3rd-Parties would make inductive power stations for cars, bedside tables, dressers, desks, you name it.

And I would buy at least three.

Post reply on HN