A year ago people were foaming at the mouth at the prospect of a watch that was a vibrating e-ink backlit display with buttons and customizable watch face options and a battery that could go a week between charges.
Now it's getting panned for being nothing but a vibrating e-ink backlit display with buttons and customizable watch face options and a battery that could go a week between charges. Go figure.
I backed them on Kickstarter and got a black watch in the mail a couple months ago. I was surprised that it doesn't show me every notification by default, but somebody made a Pebble Notifier app to fill in the gaps there. Other than that, it fulfilled every expectation I had when I backed it, and I love the convenience of checking my notifications without having to pull my phone out of my pocket. The music controls are a pretty nifty feature I use often, too.
It sucks that they don't have their color options available yet, I don't know what their excuse is for that, but if they've worked all the kinks out in producing the black model then why shouldn't they get that on retail shelves as soon as possible?
I mean, the reason Kickstarter exists is so we regular consumers can recognize a company's potential and help them succeed, and now that this company is on the road to success we're going to get out our torches and pitchforks because they're struggling to ship certain variations of the product? I am flabbergasted at the entitlement some people feel, such that they think this company should run themselves into the ground financially just because they didn't get their special-colored watch yet.
Isn't this the classic mistake of assuming "people" on the internet are a single homogeneous group? When Pebble had a kickstarter, a lot of proponents were vocal. Now its going into best-buy, those that are vocal are (a different set of) people who have the opportunity to criticize. Those who successfully funded the project and are proud users of Pebble maybe see less desire to be vocal.
There's nothing really to "go figure", its just different people being selectively vocal in their support/dismissal.
This is spot-on, and an exceedingly common flaw in human cognition. It drives me crazy when I hear things like "Google wants to _____", "France believes _____", "The government is trying to _____", etc. While sometimes it's a linguistic proxy for something concrete (a specific leader, opinion polls, cultural zeitgeist), it's usually a victim of that insidious Dunbar number, and the brain's attempt to cope by treating a large, complex, heterogeneous institution or culture as though it were a single person.
I don't think it's quite the same phenomenon, although related. This is about the mental error that people do in assuming that a swing in vocalized opinion is due to people changing their minds, while it's actually just different people speaking up at different times (when it suits them). Example: "Apple fan-boys used to claim skeuomorphism is the best, but now they suddenly prefer flat design, such hypocrites!".
"E-Paper" is the term they used. Yeah, it's an LCD, but it has the features one would want from e-ink in this context; namely, good daylight visibility and low power draw.
There's this big discussion about what constitutes "e-paper". Apparently, in some circles, e-paper is any display technology that is low-power and readable in daylight. The display in a pebble is a low-power transflective LCD display manufactured by Sharp. In Sharp's product brochure, they don't use the term e-paper though. They only say the display is "paper-like".
Wait, is this "low-power LCD" stuff seems an awful lot like what I had in my quartz crystal watch in the 90s. Sure that wasn't "smart" and didn't display raster graphics, but otherwise are we talking about fundamentally different technology?
It's a weird little thing, an LCD where each pixel has a bit of memory. This means that you can simply provide enough power to the LCD to drive the pixels and because of the built in memory it will display whatever it had been displaying, there's no need to continuously refresh the display from a buffer or any of the usual tricks of driving a display.
Unlike true e-ink it won't retain its state while unpowered but it does require incredibly low power for operation (tens of microwatts). They are commercially available components: http://www.sharpmemorylcd.com/
I didn't back it because it seemed like it was just a vibrating etc.
I have not changed my opinion since that time. I think the thing is that the number of people that didn't back it far outnumber the number of people that did back it. Now the non-backers are saying, "I still don't get why I'd want this."
This news makes me very disappointed in the company's handling of their KickStarter campaign.
I backed their KickStarter campaign and ordered a white Pebble in May of last year, and I still haven't received it. So if I understand correctly, someone who walks into Best Buy next week will get a Pebble before I do?
While I understand the desire to stay out in front of Apple, Sony, and any other companies who may enter the smartwatch market, as one of the people who funded and helped make the Pebble possible, I am disappointed at how this was handled. The whole experience will make me think twice about backing KS campaigns in the future.
They offered you the chance to switch to the black one a month or two ago, which is what Best Buy is selling. That seems fair and reasonable. You can certainly still be upset that the color you picked got the short end of the stick, but one of them had to be last.
I agree with you. One must realize that you didn't just order a Pebble, but a Black Pebble, or a White Pebble, each with their own manufacturing constraints and variations in popularity.
In this case someone is getting a Black Pebble before they get a White Pebble. If they wanted a Black Pebble they could have had that.
The reverse is to say they'll be one of the first with a White Pebble while the plebeians are stuck with black and red.
Did you order a black Pebble or another colour? The black Pebbles have been shipping in large quantities for ages (I got mine some time ago) but the colour ones are taking a little more time to get right.
Assuming you opted for a colour other than black, you should still get it before the general public does.
"A little more time" is a bit of an understatement. The Pebbles started shipping Jan 31 this year. It's been a full six months and the final colors haven't shown up yet.
Not to mention the original timeline called for the watches to start shipping in Sep 2012.
I can appreciate that the folks at Pebble are doing their damndest, but there's no other way to cut it: this product has been extremely late across nearly all of its milestones.
To be fair, they're one of the few hardware Kickstarters to actually even ship something that closely resembles the original pitch. Their feedback to backers through the delays has also been noteworthy - though it's been disappointing that once Pebble hit the big-times the backers that are still hanging on have been left mostly out of the loop.
It's only been five months since Jan 31, but regardless, remember that Kickstarter projects are often run by people fairly (or completely) new to the manufacturing industry. It's no surprise that they wouldn't have properly planned for all the kinks and obstacles they would run into. It seems foolish to get upset at a group of guys who really had no way to know how long the process would actually take (having never done it before) and made the best educated guess they could because Kickstarter made them pick a date. Of course the deadline wasn't met. And, as you mentioned, they've been surprisingly open about all their problems throughout the process.
And here lies my greatest frustration with hardware Kickstarters.
Despite Kickstarter's protestations, hardware kickstarters have been de facto preorders. The expectations here are vastly different than "I've never done this before, help me do this".
Kickstarter introduced the "risks and challenges" section after some particularly infamous failures. This section is still routinely glossed over, and project owners continue to project authority and confidence, even if in reality the "I have no idea what I'm doing" meme dog is more appropriate.
I do not back hardware kickstarters as a rule. I backed Pebble because I knew the founder, and knew that he has a track record delivering hardware - and for the most part this has held true. Hardware Kickstarters that are later or failing to deliver anything resembling the original pitch are depressingly common.
Pebble can't be fairly singled out here, this is a huge problem with crowdfunding hardware projects in general.
> "And, as you mentioned, they've been surprisingly open about all their problems throughout the process."
The bulk of the process complaints here have been from color backers (I was one, until I switched to black), and that's telling. The Pebble team was extremely on top of the ball prior to the black watches shipping out. Lots of detailed updates about where they are and what the expected schedule is.
Personally I was completely nonplussed by the various delays because of how transparent they were.
Then the black watches shipped out and the color backers were forgotten. There was a vague "after the black watches", and a lot of silence. There was more silence until the color backers suddenly found out that color Pebbles were in trouble and there was an option to switch.
A lot of color backers - and from this thread I'm obviously not the only one - were left in the lurch. There was no timeline for anything except "late" - and in the mean time there were big announcements about the SDK, RunKeeper, and other software stack progress, with nothing for other backers.
I have zero doubt that Pebble is working as hard as they can to fulfill the rest of their orders, but looking in from the outside, it's hard for color backers to feel anything but forgotten. The frustration at the Best Buy news I don't think comes from some entitled "I should get it before everyone else" mentality, but rather annoyance at every piece of news from the company, for months on end, not address their chief concern ("where is my watch").
If the updates on color manufacturing was even half as frequent and detailed as the pre-launch updates, this whole thing would be a non-issue, even if color backers still don't have their watches.
It seems like their biggest failure was offering multiple colors. It seems like for a kickstarter they should be working on the minimum viable product. In this case, that should be just a black version.
> Despite Kickstarter's protestations, hardware kickstarters have been de facto preorders.
I hear this all the time, but from day one on KickStarter, it's made it clear what it was about (and this was before the Pebble KS). So, I keep hearing this, but I can't find any sympathy for the backers that complain about it.
> This section is still routinely glossed over,
I imagine most of it is glossed over by the backers. =)
> "I imagine most of it is glossed over by the backers. =)"
I disagree heavily. There's never any honesty in this section - the thought that maybe, just maybe, this project can't be delivered at all, is never brought up.
This section is the Kickstarter equivalent of "what's your greatest weakness", where project owners do their best to downplay actual risks or not mention them at all. It's the place where you admit to your most softball, most mitigable risk and leave everything else behind the curtain.
If there were any honesty in this section at all, "none of us have manufactured anything before" would be top, in bold, in many of them.
> "but from day one on KickStarter, it's made it clear what it was about"
Who's making it clear though? It's obvious that Kickstarter themselves would rather be a funding machine than a preorder machine - but look at hardware kickstarters. Project owners routinely position their campaigns as presales or preorders, not simple crowdfunding.
The difference is more stark if you look at arts category kickstarters, where the reward tiers, as well as the language used, is much more obviously "support us and get a gift in return". Hardware kickstarters are, almost without fail, "come buy this thing".
In the hardware category at least, project owners have an opposing conflict of interest with Kickstarter.
> the thought that maybe, just maybe, this project can't be delivered at all, is never brought up.
That's the inherent nature of KS. Does it really need to be brought up time and time again?
> Who's making it clear though?
KickStarter. The wording they use (pledges), funding, and even the warning on their payment page. Even on the main project pages, even the rewards aren't a promise. Hell, even the date isn't a promise.
So, what more can they do?
Hell, even you assert that the backers read through everything!
> I disagree heavily.
If this were the case, then people wouldn't be confused about what KickStarter is.
Sorry, but every time I see a complain like this come out, it's always based on fantasies and delusions. Not reality.
You aren't missing anything. I got mine months ago. It is the most disappointing thing I have supported on kickstarter. I would literally send you mine but one of the buttons fell off the first (and only) day I wore it.
It looks like Best Buy are selling the black watches, which were all shipped to backers quite a while ago now (I've had mine for a few months).
While I can understand your frustration whether they sell black Pebbles to Best Buy or not makes little difference to when coloured ones ship since they go through a different molding process.
Indeed. I didn't back them, but I pre-ordered a black Pebble many moons ago. My account page still insists they estimate shipping will start in late may (for those not keeping track, it is now early july).
yeah, still waiting on my arctic white one as well.. not too bothered though. having been on kickstarter a little while now i've come to shut-out any mention of 'planned release windows'. its pretty much hopeless. anyways, its kind of nice being surprised every once in a while when a package shows-up containing a cool little gadget i totally forgot i ordered..
Not exactly. Here's a quote from the article: "The watch is lovely. Truly. Considering that I paid $125 for it - a reasonable price considering its potential - I'm happy with it and would recommend it."
Honest question: Has anyone actually found a good use for their Pebble? I wore mine once the day after it arrived, felt totally ridiculous, and it hasn't left the drawer since.
I think it depends on if you wear a watch normally. I do and I've found that I use it most for doing things like getting texts while on the subway and not having to fish through my pocket to get out my phone.
Do I absolutely need my Pebble? Heck no. Does it make some things simpler? Yep.
To me, I funded a neat middle-step in wearable computing.
I've had and worn one for a few months, and while I can't say its radically changed my life it has been pretty neat.
One of the things I particularly like is that it allows me to have the sound turned off on my phone all the time, and still notice when its going off because my watch vibrates. The Runkeeper integration has been nice as well, previously when running I wore my phone on a truly ridiculous arm band, while now I can throw it in my bag and not have it getting in the way.
I'm not sure I would have paid full price for one, but at the reduced Kickstarter price it was definitely worth it for me.
I get 60 minute and 10 minute reminders for upcoming meetings by way of SMS, which then shows up on my Pebble.
I've been using the 60/10 minute reminders through Google Calendar for over a year now, but the Pebble has really made that feature a killer feature for me. Previously, I'd run the risk of my phone being on silent and missing the reminder. Now I get discrete reminders on my wrist.
Please take this as a friendly tip, rather than a mean-spirited needling: I think you mean "discreet" (quiet) rather than "discrete" (distinct). I know Taleb hates nit-picking editors, but I like my prose to mean precisely what I intend.
* Switching music while in the shower / while hosting parties
* Runkeeper for cycling
* I have pushover setup for any important server issues / growl notifications / iffit stuff to send to my watch (best imo is I get a message every morning when my alarm goes off telling me what the weather will be for the day)
* 7 Min workout app is pretty cool
* Tetris app if i'm bored
But its really great for meetings so I can see if I actually need to look at my phone or not to pickup a call / respond to texts
Yes! besides the obvious stuff (SMS, notifications, caller-ID, music controls):
- I have a pomodoro app to keep track of time I spend on tasks
- I have a stopwatch/lap counter app for keeping track of my lap swimming
- I use the runkeeper app which displays my pace/time/distance on my Pebble while I run.
- quick calculator for the times I don't want to whip my phone out.
I've worn mine every day for three months now. It's fantastic. I can preview mail and read whole text messages without having to take out my phone or stop what I'm doing. Plus I use the Glance app to send quick replies to text messages I receive.
My favorite use is when i'm driving or it's hooked up to Jambox and I either want to change the current song or answer/end a call. It's also nice seeing stats whilst running.
I got back to learning C so that I can make a space invaders watch face. I look forward to the satisfaction of wearing my accomplishment on my sleeve... eventually.
If you're on a team that uses groupme, kik, sms, or what-have-you for coordination and you're often at events or jobs where you are physically quite busy then it's enormously useful. Being able to read notifications without pulling our your phone is very helpful.
I'm extremely disappointed by how Pebble have handled their entire operation.
I originally backed an Artic White Pebble on Kickstarter, they had issues, I switched to Black. And they sent me a watch without a Kickstarter stamp. As an apology I'm supposedly getting a sweat band - what?
Their entire operation has been mistake after mistake. And to be honest, that's no excuse for a company who has prior experience.
The whole fiasco with their SDK supposedly shipping, promised to be shipping, pretty promised to be shipping, and finally shipping about 9mo late in a "warranty voided if used" alpha version annoyed me to no end.
The leaders of the project lack the most prosaic communication skills. Hopefully their recent investor infusion will get them to hire someone who does.
In the real world, Hu-Mans have emotional desires which aren't perfectly rational. If you're running a company, it's kinda important to understand this.
To me the stamp would be an acknowledgement of my support and a thank you for it. So to me, it would be about the stamp. Other wise, why not wait and just buy the thing? Not to ignore your other legitimate issues, I think the lack of a stamp is important.
Hey, likewise! Unfortunately there's no kickstarter for better bullying utilities. At least this does things that they might also want to do? Calculating: still for nerds. But imagine being able to check your notifications while holding someone's head under the faucet.
Now it's getting panned for being nothing but a vibrating e-ink backlit display with buttons and customizable watch face options and a battery that could go a week between charges. Go figure.
I backed them on Kickstarter and got a black watch in the mail a couple months ago. I was surprised that it doesn't show me every notification by default, but somebody made a Pebble Notifier app to fill in the gaps there. Other than that, it fulfilled every expectation I had when I backed it, and I love the convenience of checking my notifications without having to pull my phone out of my pocket. The music controls are a pretty nifty feature I use often, too.
It sucks that they don't have their color options available yet, I don't know what their excuse is for that, but if they've worked all the kinks out in producing the black model then why shouldn't they get that on retail shelves as soon as possible?
I mean, the reason Kickstarter exists is so we regular consumers can recognize a company's potential and help them succeed, and now that this company is on the road to success we're going to get out our torches and pitchforks because they're struggling to ship certain variations of the product? I am flabbergasted at the entitlement some people feel, such that they think this company should run themselves into the ground financially just because they didn't get their special-colored watch yet.