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@@iLikeFrutigerAero Maybe the unnamed insane asylum that Krazy Ken (Subject 7254) is trapped in is 10 stories under the resort and that's where the evil guards are keeping him? The plot thickens.
@@rockpie.iso.tar.bz2 What's wrong with Linode? Or are you just getting sick and tired of the repeating Linode sponsorships? (I can understand the latter)
I was in middle school at the time but I remember hearing about it and looking at their website and thinking it looks so cool. The long battery life and good selection of apps at the time was really appealing. I finally got my first Apple Watch in 2022 and it does have some of that same magic feeling
I had an og pebble in middle school, worked all summer to buy one and was blown away. Kinda the reason I haven’t bought a smart watch since, not much improvement since other than a fancy screen and heart monitor.
@@blastofoeink is sooo much better for reading, but I think when OLEDs got "good enough" the general public just wanted one multipurpose device rather than a dedicated reader, I still love eink for reading though, I just wish Sony had carried on making the PRS line, they were fantastic
I loved my Pebble, I remember being so excited for the device to get on my wrist! At the time I worked at an office where I couldn't check my phone frequently. Having Pebble let me screen incoming calls and text messages without pulling my phone out of my pocket constantly. My Kickstarter edition eventually developed screen issues, but they replaced it painlessly. I eventually upgraded to an Apple Watch series 3, but for years the Pebble did everything I wanted. Glad to see others enjoyed it too!
I was a park ranger, and pulling my phone out in the field was often a bad idea (gloves, guiding groups, wacky terrain/water, or using tools, etc.), so the hard-button minimalist approach on my wrist was awesome. Plus, weather forecast/alerts, scheduling, and the coolest (Round) watchface featuring the day/night ratio and the sun moving around the circumference... Man I loved that watch.
I'll be honest with you, in an Apple, Samsung/Android, and perhaps even Google dominated world, I'd do the exact same thing. While no, these companies are not absolutely infallible, in order for them to fail, lots of people have to hate them. And no matter each one's faults, lots of people currently LOVE them or heacily rely on them. You're fighting a huge uphill battle as a start-up, so if you manage to get something unique to market before them, unless there's some iron-clad way you can shut them out from making something similar (and that's anti-competitive and is illegal), they're going to be chomping on your heels quickly. They already have the competitive advantage in every way. Bigger fanbases, more money for RND, better marketing...it's honestly a little depressing how hopeless it is. We saw juat how quick to action Google suddenly was when ChatGPT stepped on the scene and even if their Bing bot (I can't be bothered to look up it's name) fails, which it likely will, that's still such a quick response from the competition. So, if I were in that guy's position, I would absolutely jump ship the moment a big name came knocking and wanted to buy me out. Maybe if one of these bigger players stumble and begin to fall, I'd hang in there, but right now, it's not worth it in my eyes. Let me take my tens of millions and retire into obscurity, lol.
I'm developer of a game for Pebble. I still miss that watch and think that there are no competitors for it. It did the thing I appreciate so much, taking 100% from the hardware. You do not need that fancy 1GHz CPU and 4Gb of RAM to display that email notification. I remember troubles with just 32Kb of RAM while developing a game that makes me curious why do other need gigabytes for the same things while sacrifying a battery life. I'm missing Pebble, that were good times 🙂
This video hits me hard. Pebble was my first smartwatch and IIRC, it's the first smartwatch that was affordable and practical. I remember even using it to check on my notes since it has Evernote app integration on it. It's just sad seeing Pebble suddenly out of business because it seems that they did everything right on paper.
Indeed. Such a great product. Though I definitely experienced some quality control issues.. they always replaced their products with almost no questions asked.
LOL. 😂 No, pebble was just a quick money grab on rumors Apple was developing a smartwatch. Just throw something out first and hope someone will mistake it for valuable. The same happened again with Oculus Quest.
@@jansix4287 im one of the guys who preordered pebble and was annoyed the new apple watch is going to look like it.. those were totally dirrent product one all show other one a real smart watch
I had a Pebble Time and I was so damn upset they sold out and killed something that had so much potential. Especially as someone that likes to tinker with writing code, I loved just how easy it was to make apps for the Pebble (even my girlfriend at the time made something on her own pretty quickly). Something no other company has managed to pull off yet.
I loved my pebble time because it was more watch than smartwatch. The insane battery life from the E ink display plus the display always being on was awesome and I have yet to see anything similar. I have a fossil sport gen 4 now and it feels more like a smartphone than a watch. The display not being always on annoys me (It has an always on setting but that kills the battery). It takes half a second to check the time and I can't just leave it on my desk and still use it to check the time without reaching over to it.
My mom is still using her Pebble Time Round today. She just wants a small, pretty watch that shows if someone is calling her or sent a message. No other watch can really do that and not be massive like the apple watch
I bought one for the same reason, but since then, there are other smartwatches on the market with the same low power memory LCD displays and even longer battery life, like the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar. It has a 30 day battery life, which goes far beyond the Pebble. Likewise (I think?) the Instinct line.
my missus' has worn her time steel since i gifted it ,non-stop. she only takes it off for charging, and since she upgraded her phone to a pixel 6 pro, a bit more than year ago, the watch stopped syncing. it's only 4 mins slow to the real time, and all the health tracking and sleep tracking work without a phone. the battery still holds 5 days, but i reckon it's because the bluetooth is off, lol. on mine the up button stopped working about a year ago. now i've got a pixel, but i think the sleep tracking on my pebble was better, more accurate. amazing watch!
One of the other factors was the timing of the announcement of Time 2. Pebble 2 was announced, and I initially backed it. After a few months, pebble time 2 was announced, and I immediately canceled my pebble two preorder and backed pebble time 2. This at theme seemed like another Osbourne situation at the time. After watching the video, this may have not been such a big deal. I still want a Time 2 to this day. : (
They should have waited on the Time 2 for a while. Let the market run a bit, they had agreements with BestBuy that were just worked out, and they were killing the competition. Instead of focusing on a new product they should have focused on brand recognition among the noise of budding competition. They had a winning product and spread themselves too thin, expanding too fast, and that is what burst the bubble.
Correction: the Pebble didn't use e-paper. E-paper doesn't have the refresh rates required by the animations on the Pebble, and it suffers from ghosting unless you cycle the screen black, then white a couple of times between screen updates. What the Pebble uses is Sharp's "Memory LCD". Another difference between Memory LCD and e-paper is that e-paper retains its image when you cut the power, whereas Memory LCD requires a small amount of current.
yeah I noticed that, it was behaving *_waaaay_* too responsively to be E-paper. Is that "memory LCD" tech still under patent protection or something? If It was used by this a decade or so ago now then, if we assume Pebble didn't somehow have access to bleeding edge display tech, it's probably around 13+ years old. In spite of that, I can't find any generic displays online that behave similarly and in fact the *_only_* consumer-purchasable standalone display I've found is the Nice!View OLED display which behaves similarly like E-paper with a transflective layer to keep energy usage way down. Even with the Nice View though, I've explicitly seen it called Sharp's 'Memory-In-Pixel' technology, implying it's still not generic. (although in fairness the OLED variant might be it's own patent) I've wanted to do a few low power hobby projects myself and it's quite annoying that everything except E-paper has quite high power draw, but E-paper has a slow refresh rate. It's even more annoying that the technology clearly exists and has for over a decade, but there is still no clear way to get generic displays that use it. (again, except the Nice!View, but that's 20usd for a tiny display which costs several times what a small display like that should, and it's only one model)
@@robonator2945 No clue if it's still under patent or not, but indeed, rather hard to find. Adafruit has two dev boards, but quite pricey for their size. Mouser also has some, but only a total of 3 different models, one of which is from Adafruit. Seems like we don't have the same variety as we do e-paper screens.
@@EvenTheDogAgrees holy mother of, yeah, okay, those are *_far_* better examples of the price difference. The first one I found on adafruit was like 45usd for a display size and resolution that ought to be under 5. It must be some weirdly long lived patent or something. (especially since, again, it explicitly says Sharp display)
God I loved my Pebble, recently bought one again from eBay because there's just no modern equivalent, not that robust or with such a great battery life. Sideloading or Rebble does the job, but I really miss this early era of 'smart' watches, thanks Ken
Modern smartwatches eat donkey balls, but they sell well because: Apple. Everyone loves apple (yuck) But Gary and Karen love their stupid smart watches because they love being Apple's bitches. An apple watch is a status symbol, and only slightly functional. It's just another tool to keep the customer locked into the apple ecosystem. Just like the Google and Samsung watches. It's like Apple air buds (or Google, or Samsung): everyone is breaking down the doors to be able to buy a $200 product with disposable batteries. *everyone* I hate lithium batteries being an excuse for companies to make wireless disposable technology. And everyone eats it up, because for the 2 years that the battery lasts: it's great (I'm assuming)! I personally use my cellphone until the USB jack commits hari-kari. Lucky EU gets a law requiring smartphones to have user replaceable batteries. Maybe the US will get that by 2030.
Garmin makes smartwatches on the market with the same low power memory LCD displays and even longer battery life, like the Fenix 6 Pro Solar. It has a 30 day battery life, which goes far beyond the Pebble. Likewise (I think?) the Instinct line.
I would also suggest looking into the one of the gshocks like the GBD 200. It’s based on the square g shocks , so it’s pretty small and has all of the basic features you’re looking for.
@@Hamdad I'm a big hiker and occasional backpacker. Among the more serious backpackers I know, some of whom go out for weeks on end, all have Garmins. Many of their models are basically perfect for those activities. Super visible in the sunlight, extremely durable, and excellent fitness tracking. As you implied, Garmin long ago surpassed Pebble.
@@Hamdad I have both Garmin and pebble. And it's obvious that notifications on Garmin are something added 'last minute'. It's a sports and health tracking device, which happens to support notifications. Garmin smartwatches: - do not show app icons for an app it's showing notification from - do not change notification header color based upon app icon - show only few lines of a notification, you have to open it, and then scroll it (Pebble allows to scroll it immediately) - can only switch to next song or pause in one click (pebble can pause, switch tracks forward and backward, change volume - all in one short or one long click)
When my Huawei Watch stopped holding a charge about a year ago, I started wearing an original Pebble I had bought used for $20 in probably 2017. I was surprised at just how good it is. The E-Paper display with buttons is a great interface, the battery lasts at least 2-3 days (mine is old), and the software is quick and fun-looking. Makes me sad that Pebble is gone, because they had a great family of products.
I owned the Kickstarter model and the colour model. Both the two best smartwatches I’ve ever owned. Still like it more than my current Apple Watch, tbh. The super long battery life and the epaper like screen were awesome.
@@mirthenary Lol $30 shoes. Man I wish. Try needing a size 16 4E (or 6E depending on the cut of the shoe) and then talk to me. The only people I can reliably find to make one to fit me is New Balance. And if I get lucky and catch them on sale I still pay $60
I was one of those backers for both the original and Pebble Time, and I still have both of them. I absolutely loved the battery life and nothing else has compared to it. It was sad to see them fail ☹️
I remember meeting Eric at a public speaking event where he spoke about the company's rise and downfall back when I was in college. Managed to get a photo with him wearing my Pebble Steel that I wore all the time back then. I definitely recall him being surprised to see me wear such a watch at a time when the Apple Series 3 was out for some time already. Great times. Moved to the Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch since then to keep the "retro" look still. But man, I had great memories with my Pebble back then.
You're the first person on this thread to mention the Fossil Hybrid line. I have one too and adore it. The look, battery life, ease of use. Only thing that upset me was their updated app making it difficult to upload user created watch faces. Otherwise, one of my favorite watches, period.
I stumbled on the Fossil's a couple months ago. I got reminiscing about my Pebble and googled why no one made e-ink smart watches anymore and the Fossils and Garmins popped up. I bought mine back in November when they were clearing out the original hybrids on sale (was like $130). I think I've charged it four times since then. I like that it looks an otherwise normal dressy watch too, I mean I loved the Pebble design because it was large and nerdy and unique, but the Apple/Samsung/Google watches just don't do anything for me. Sadly it looks like Fossil is getting out of the smart watch game already, they ran that sale on the original hybrids earlier in the winter, and now the Gen 6's are on currently for sale on their website for $99
I like the idea of the transflective LCD, it just seems a lot more reasonable than oled, it dramatically cuts power consuption and heating while being readable in all light conditions.
I still use my Pebbles to this day. I've owned one of each model over the years (I gave away my Pebble Classic back in the day), and most days I use my Pebble Time Steel (still gets at least a week and a half of battery life to this day!)
@@Hamdaddifference is that Garmin does it for well north of a grand. Pebble did it for a couple hundred bucks. It’s insane the amount of tech they shove in the watches now though so it’s wholly impressive what Garmin has done.
Backed the KS campaign in 2011. I loved the fact that a bunch of enthusiastic geeks envisioned what people were eager to wear&use and went for it. The battery actually lasted for days, even longer that Apple or Samsung models. Great analysis, by the way!
Glad to have played a BIG research role in the making of this episode! Researching the Pebble was a bit of a challenge, but I think it was worth it in the end. :D As always, keep up the good work Ken! -Sage
Absolutely love my Pebble. Like you said, their big problem was readily apparent when you wore one. Everyone would ask, "What is that?!" Nobody asked what an Apple watch was. They already knew.
That doesn't really sound like much of a problem. Surely, if you want people to think "ooh, he's a fancy boy" when they see your watch you buy a Rolex not an Apple watch.
@@StarkRGI haven't heard of pebble until I watched this video. It is not about bragging, if people don't talk about the brand it gets faded out over time
The perfect example is not that must be an expensive status symbol for having to be wealthy to have! Almost everyone knows what a HP or Dell is, but almost no young person knows what a Compaq or Packard/Bell is/was. @@StarkRG
When Pebble came out there was no such thing as a smart watch. That wasn’t the case by the time Apple Watch came out. For what it was, the original Pebble worked better as wearable tech than the original Apple Watch ever did. But Apple Watch was more highly integrated with the OS, had hundreds of millions in marketing, and was much more flashy
I loved my Pebble Time Steel, but was one of the backers who never got refunded for backing the Pebble Time 2. It's unfortunate that Fitbit didn't do something to honor the kickstarter backers and still launch it, but I still used my Pebble Time Steel until the day it died.
I had a KS-edition Pebble. Lots of fun, and I used its integration for run tracking a lot for the next 6 months. Unfortunately, it bricked itself in a failed update around Jan 2014, and Pebble support ended up being useless. I might still have it somewhere in a drawer.
Hi Ken, There was also an issue with the Pebble Steel that you did not mention. In mid-2014 I received an email from Pebble stating that there was a screen issue with the Steel and affected clients should contact them. I had this issue where the screen would distort and by late 2014 the screen was just unreadable. I contacted them and sent them some photos that they asked for. They then sent me a new watch, yes, a new watch with all the accessories. Pretty certain this issue would have cost them quite a bit in the end.
There is a fix for the screen issue for pebble steel. It was shrinked zebra strips. I suspect using pebble in a sauna caused that. And I was able to fix both the original and the replacement that failed too. Bought new zebra strips and installed following that guide. ua-cam.com/video/PZOVe95sdNE/v-deo.htmlsi=vQu6PS07crrxrkAC
Still running a Pebble Steel. It does exactly what I want, isn't harvesting data, has a great battery, visible in all lighting conditions, and isn't massive. I love this little thing.
I always wondered why my FitBit was unanimously called a Pebble by everyone on the support team when I applied for a replacement (it had a major malfunction). Ended up curious, finding this video.
Yeah, I remember backing up the Pebble Time right away (and yet I was number 4000-ish, it really went fast). I also backed the Time 2 and was very bummed by the cancelation (thankfully, I was refunded). I still think that the Pebble UI was the best, and it didn't try to chew more than it could.
I still have and use my Pebble Time Steel, it's currently outlived 3 phones, but I think it's starting to reach it's end, it's no longer water resistant, and it crashes, to the point it needs to be reset and set up again every few months. What I've always loved about it, is that it is fairly simple, it doesn't act as a phone on your wrist, it's a watch first, and an extension of your phone second.
To be precise, Pebble Round didn't have a round display. It had a square display that was covered by a round bezel. There was unused screen under the bezel
To be pendantic, it's closer to a weird octagon shape. There is indeed unused screen under the bezel, and you can even adjust the overscan in the watch's settings, but it isn't actually a square, and it does cut off in the corners.
I definitely respect the fact that Eric took a good measure of personal responsibility in that article. A lot of people never do that. So good on him for having some integrity in this age of hit and run economic endeavors.
I have two original gray kickstarter Pebbles and a Pebble time. Still use my Pebble time. Its simplicity is what keeps me coming back. I've discovered the Amazfit Neo, which has great battery life and reminds me a bit of the classic Pebble's simplicity.
I still miss mine. To this day, better than any smartwatch in terms of just being a good smartWATCH. Superior to the Galaxy Watches, other wearOS watches and all Apple Watches. All of those are just tiny constrained phones on your wrist. The pebble was a WATCH that had smart capabilities. Simple enough to be a great watch and just smart enough to be a natural evolution to the watch to be a companion to your smartphone.
It's crazy how far we've come...I was looking for a new watch a couple months ago and didn't want one that only lasted a few days before needing charging, like these. I ended up getting a Garmin Instinct 2 and it's awesome. Battery lasts almost a MONTH!!
What you are missing in comparison between apple and pebble displays is that it's epaper display is visible in natural light without a backlight. You also get a 7 day battery light. You don't have to flick your wrist to see it! The lo colour count is all part of its charm.
I value battery life over features in a smart watch. I had Pebbles because of this and always on display. These are the reasons I still choose Ticwatch today. So many "smartwatchs" get away from the watch part and just smart phones on your wrist.
He did, I was one of those backers, I got a refund... I would gladly pay double to get that watch now... Maybe even 3-4x. The quality is unmatched... Can you name any other tech that is still amazing 9 years after it launched, not to mention 7 years after the company's death!?
He did. He took the money he got from selling his valuable tech to FitBit and gave it right back to the Kickstarter backers. He didn't have to do that. He could have absconded with millions of dollars and rested on his laurels. Heck, most Kickstarters do just that; take the money and run -- which is the idea behind Kickstarter, i.e."pay money to support this thing possibly coming into existence".
I still have my Pebble 2 HR. I had to replace the buttons, but it still works fine. And, although it's not my daily driver anymore, I still love to wear it. I realised, I don't need a touchscreen or colour display, the UI and especially UX of Pebble is still one of the best. It's simple and intuitive. You can easily tell the time, check notifications, I love the timetable arrangement. I thought I would get the same experience in Fitbit Ionic. But it was never the same. I wish someday someone will literally copy the same idea. Simple watch, simple display with great readability, no touchscreen, 4 buttons and the same philosophy.
still rocking a pebble watch to this day, after my first one died, i just got a new one since they were not only the cheapest on the market (cuz, pebble died and you could only get them second-hand lol) but they still had great battery life. there's still not a good cheap smart-watch that has decent battery, and has apps and customizable skins. maybe some day that'll change!
The pebble 2 was my gateway into smart watches. If they were still around, I probably never would've switched to a galaxy watch. I still fantasize about how compact my pebble was. lte in the gw has now become a non-negotiable feature for me, so I can't go back😢
I still remember Pebble Time was my first ever smartwatch that I bought with my hard-earned money I saved for 2 years. I was so happy and amazed to the concept of smartwatch, the amazing screen that looks sharp under sunlight, and the battery that lasts 1 week or even more. Too bad that I lost my watch in public restroom, I still mad at myself now for losing it since it has a lot of memories. I don't need fancy apps that spy on me and sell my data, in my smartwatch. I don't need wifi and cellular either. It's a goddamn watch. Telling time, notification, and long lasting battery are the things I ever need from smartwatch. That's all. I wish I could get another Pebble Time, but it's nowhere to find in my country, so yeah. It was fun while it lasted, thanks for the memory... And thanks Ken for this wonderful video!
I bought the original back when there was only the original and the steel. I remember my friend got a Time before me, and I was super jealous, but eventually got my own. I was in 4th grade at the time, and my homeroom teacher was so interested in my passion for the watch that she bought herself a Pebble Time Round, and loved it. I remember being super sad when Pebble died.
I was one of the kickstarter people on the first Peeble- it was so cool! Loved that Peeble to death- sadly I sold it. Got an Apple watch and never looked back. Cool to see that there is still a community for it. Great video- thanks!
I had the pebble steel and I only own a smartwatch for notifications and time. The pebble steel was great because it had a multi colored LED to show what app your notification was from, example: Snapchat yellow light. And it had that legendary battery and it was super durable. It was absolutely fantastic, mine was stolen and I have been searching for a pebble steel ever since.
I owned a Pebble Kickstarter Edition and absolutely loved it -- my favourite feature was the ability to control music on my phone directly from the watch (skip tracks AND volume!) with buttons; something many smartwatches today can't achieve as they rely on taps, swipes, or gestures. I managed to keep it going with Rebble (thank you!) until just recently and wished they hadn't met the demise they did. Good thing I never jumped on that final Kickstarter or my $ would have been lost. I subsequently owned an Amazfit GTR (whose battery bulged after 2 years), and now a Garmin Forerunner 265.
I'm from India and I had my first and affordable smart watch, Pebble Time years ago. I absolutely loved every bit of it, software and hardware. Grateful.
Tbh, I never owned a Pebble either but I always wanted one, even after the Apple Watch came out. I did eventually buy an Apple Watch 5, which I then used for about a month, put in a drawer for about a year, and then gave to my dad who I guess is getting some use out of it. Honestly, I just wanted something lower powered with better battery like the Pebble. I only cared about reading notifications on my wrist and maybe a few other small things. Apple Watch is very fitness oriented and unless you are into that sort of thing, there really isn’t a reason to buy one. I genuinely wish somebody would do the same thing that pebble did and maybe do a better job at marketing it. To be faiir, I might have a soft spot for Kickstarter failures, because I bought an Ouya when it was new and still maintains it’s one of the best emulation machines to play old video games for such a low price.
As someone who used a Pebble and then later a Pebble Time, a big reason for me was the mounting frustration of using the Pebble with iOS. If I didn't make sure to re-open the app every once in a while, it wouldn't get any notifications from the phone anymore. I believe this was a limitation of iOS at the time, the phone would only keep so many apps running in the background at a time so if an app wasn't used frequently enough it would be shut down which kept the Pebble from communicating with the phone anymore. Since notifications on my wrist was the main reason I wanted a smartwatch at all, this was a big problem.
My first smartwatch was a Pebble 1 Classic, then I got the Pebble Time. Both amazing smartwatches. Incredible. I tried using both Apple and Samsung watches but nothing can match that simplicity and overall vibe of Pebble!
I loved my Pebble! I was one of the people asking for water resistance. My main form of exercise was swimming and Pebble was perfect for keeping track of swim distance and time. The battery life was amazing! I own a Galaxy watch now but it seems inferior with it's short battery life. I find it sitting on my desk for charging more than I'm actually using it.
Loved my Pebble Time Round, but this video hits the nail on the head - no-one outside the tech geek community had heard of it - people used to ask me if it was an apple watch. The build quality wasn't really up to the requirements either. After a year or so mine began to fall apart (case opening up). I would have happily bought another but there was never an updated round, which for me, was the big selling point. Also by that time Pebble were pushing the core to their users. And I had no idea why I would want that product. All it seemed to do was record exercise data, sonl you didn't have to wear type watch/carry your phone. As Pebble collapsed I moved to Samsung (still poor build quality) and lately ro Huawei - best watch to date by a country mile. But I still have a soft spot for the Pebble. It felt like you were part of a community at the start of something new (like the early days of home micros). Until the mass-market big boys (Apple, IBM) moved in and made it just a consumer product. Great thought provoking video. Thanks!
My first ever pebble was the classic and I still miss it. I respect Eric for his vision and really want to meet him one day for a coffee. Because the pebble is my favourite watch of all time.
Funny thing about that U2 album is that it came useful a few years ago where a coworker's car stopped working with their iphone, but it started working once a song from iTunes was downloaded so it was fixed without having to buy anything.
I wore a 1st gen Pebble, then a Pebble Time. My Pebble Time still works great, but i switvhed to mechanical analoc watches a couple years ago. Way more relaxing to not have notifications on your wrist Pebble is the only smartwatch that's ever appealed to me, no other company can compete with the week long battery and color pseudo e-paper always-on display
I was a big Pebble guy, I had 3 different watches. I still have my Pebble Time Steel; I just can't get rid of it. I was also looking forward to the 2+. I used it for a while after Pebble went under. One great thing about the Pebble time Steel was that I could do voice replies to texts, and it worked very well. This died with the service, and Rebble wanted like $30 a year or something. I ended up moving to a Garmin Vivoactive and now on a 4.... I do miss the feature and the passion of Pebble owners back the day. I was proud to wear a Pebble watch, the Garmin, not so much....No real passion to it...but, it fits the need....
I was a backer for all the projects and even had the original InPulse. I called their Tech Support for an SDK question and Eric himself answered the phone. Great dude. REQUEST: Can you please do an episode on OnLive? The first real game streaming hardware and ecosystem. Microsoft has a Cloud Play now very similar to what OnLive had. I LOVED OnLive. Thank you for your great channel!!
Among all the BS, I'm happy for the big man. I've never owned a Pebble, or a an iWatch, but I'm glad the Pebble guy has earned his respect. Thank you CC for this story.
There is one thing you failed to mention. Pebble was supposed to have 3rd party hardware adapter (batteries, gps tracking, and other accessories) that were on kick starter as well but never came out. I still have a Pebble Time Steel. Love the battery life and the simplicity of how the watch operates.
Yep, I still have the 3rd party gps strap for the time steel and time steel 2. Et even has the small widow which would work with the time steel 2 hr sensor 😢
I bought a Pebble Time back in the day and I actually really loved it. The color e-paper display looked great and it had pretty much all of the basic functionality you would want, and you didn't have to put it on a charger ever goddamn day. Honestly I think I might try and source one on ebay or something
The E-paper thing is so brilliant for battery reasons, which is why I bought a Fossil 'real' watch with the E-paper display background to show notifications and a few other features beneath real hands.
I'm still using a Pebble! I'm very grateful and If I wasn't between jobs and had the expendable income, I would pay the $3/month for timeline and mic features. My favorite thing about the pebble are the apps users created for Pebble's app store. Most "smart watches" feel more like feature watches, with their limited selection of apps. It's worse than being locked into iOS when I'd rather be a power-user on Android or Windows. My Pebble Time and Time Steel both last several days on a single charge. This video is well researched. There's so many articles that get things wrong, like saying it wasn't water resistant, or saying it had e-ink. P.S. I recieved a refund for the Time 2 realatively early. Also, Time Steel had a 10 day battery life.
I still have and use my Pebble Steel, thanks to Rebble. The battery life is now around 3 days instead of 7 but it still does everything I need it to do.
I took so many calls from people just angry they couldn’t delete the album on their own. For like a month straight it was just “my iPad 2 is bricked” and “get this goddamn album off my iTunes”
The fitbit acquisition makes so much sense. Literally as you were describing the 2 and time versions with color or black and white screens i instantly was reminded of fitbits business models lmao.
I got lots of compliments on my Pebble Round with steel mesh band. Even though the battery life was only 2 days, I loved that old thing. I refuse to wear a square smartwatch, so I've been wearing a Huawei since my Pebble died. It's... Big.
My Pebble Time was my favorite smart watch of all i have used. The display was great and amazingly visible even/especially in bright sunlight. The battery life was outstanding. Charging once every 7-10 days was awesome for sleep tracking apps. I can't sleep with my smart watch now because i need to charge it every night...
Found mine the other day in a packing crate untouched from when I emigrated in 2019. Nice to know I could still fire it up. But my Fenix and Apple Watches would probably bully it so it’ll stay in its box. Excellent video.
I loved the pebble metal I had, it wasn't until my brother got me an ultra 2 this year that I finally encountered a watch with that battery life, pebble was what got me back into jogging.
I bought a 0G Pebble back in late 2014 for AU$99, and I used that thing for as long as I could. One day about 3 years later, I found my Pebble sitting on my desk and the lower band had split completely in half. Like it had been cut. It was the weirdest failure mode. I could have put a new band on, but by then Pebble was out and the future looked grim, so I bought a Fossil Wear OS watch. It was... Ok I guess. Nothing like the Pebble though. Today I wear a Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and honestly this is the first Wear OS device I actually like, if only because the battery life is somewhat acceptable. I recently turned on my Pebble, with its broken band still attached, installed Rebble and the custom Pebble app and was happily surprised to see it work flawlessly still. Honestly, it is simply amazing that the community has kept it all running this long. I'd still be happily using it if there was no alternative. Oh and, the fact the Pebble can still be used, but the original Apple Watch (and even early Android Wear/Wear OS watches) cannot due to dropped support is quite ironic! Long live Pebble
The Pebble was and still is everything I ever needed. Amazing battery life and always readable screen, hardware buttons so I could even use it while wearing gloves through my jacket on my bike. Nothing else on the market ever captured my attention like that, I'd gladly get one again
Loved my pebble, I miss not having to charge my watch every day. Was very disappointed by the failure to deliver the last one, quite wanted the Heart Rate monitor and such.
I LOVED my pebble steel. I’d still wear it today if it hadn’t drifted into obscurity. It did everything I needed in a smartwatch with superb battery life. Still the best smartwatch I ever had.
I owned the 14mm pebble time round and was blown away. Also worked flawlessly with the android ecosystem. Even there is an altstore connection for pebble devices still running today.
Loved my pebble watch. Looked great. Battery lasted forever. Loved the animations and watchfaces. Voice recognition worked so much better than my Versa 2 does.
I loved my OG Pebble and my Pebble Time even more! The battery life was what kept me using it for YEARS. Fitbit dropping support for it was the only reason I ended up moving to other smartwatches. RIP Pebble.
The original pebble is so good because of how basic and to the point it is, it's excellent software and it's bonus extensibility. A smartwatch doesn't have to be able to totally replace your phone like an iWatch can for example.
tbh one important thing that was kinda ommited from this video is google's wear os platform, it came out a year before the apple watch, was basically android phone hardware on a treanchcoat meaning they had capable hardware compared to the pebble and a proper dislay no different from the ones on denet phones but smaller. I actually bought an LG G Watch back then, it was an amazing platform and you had as many customization as you could imagine and even custom roms (got my old 1st gen smartwatch to run wear os 2.0 back then too), there were games of every kind, there were apps like remote camera button with real time preview, apps to make your own watch faces, you could even sideload normal android apks and some would just work, also the os itself saw several updates very quickly and improved a LOT real fast, it also had voice recognition, you could reply to messages received on ur phone from it, even see pictures if someone sent you any, of course had google fit, you could check the weather, set and check reminders etc. it was an amazing time tbh, i think that might've hurt pebble in many ways before apple could, but maybe it's just me
I still have my pebble... somewhere. it was the color model that charged from behind the wrist strap. I've been using mine for YEARS now, and I love the fact that it could be programmed for in python. Very cool little gadget, and I even have a working mapping app on it.
Nice, Vessi. I was in their first round of backers. The first generation soles were prone to shredding and they offered to let me into their headquarters to get a new pair free. They've gone a long way since then.
Wouldn't know. I actually wanted to try a pair, but the problem with them is that they must not think anyone has something more than a tiny foot. Their men's only goes up to a 14. And seemingly with no 4E or 6E widths. So for someone like me who wears a 16 4E or 6E depending on the cut of the shoe, they are totally useless
@@ram89572 To be fair, size 16 feet are extremely rare. Maybe you can find a community large enough and see if there's support for asking some shoe companies for more sizes.
I miss my blackberry. It had text, sms, and other chat, email, and a basic web browser. I think it also had GPS and I loved it's music feature. It was everything I needed in a phone and I wish we had a modern version of the classic Pearl series of messenger phones.
Please try to get your hands on a Vezo 360 dash camera. It's a crowd funded project that promised a feature packed dash cam, shipped what appears to be a single pallet of them and then they've marked it as fulfilled. I'd love to see what they actually shipped.
I loved my Pebble watches. Lack of advertising was their biggest mistake. When the Apple watch launched none of my friends or coworkers were even aware that Pebble existed.
I had one of these and mainly used it while listening to audio books at work, I wanted to be able to pause my books without having to dig my phone out of my pocket. This watch did that trick.
Pebble probably could have kept on existing if they kept it as low cost, low battery usage, highly hackable and modifiable. When you see the price of today's smartwatches, there's definitely a market for the sub-$200 market.
I had a refurbished Pebble Time for the longest... well... time, tanking all sorts of hits, scratches, and dents until the battery got worn out and the power button broke apart earlier this year. I've been running a Garmin since, but I do miss the Pebble. It'll be cool to some day to get the thing back up and running again.
I still think Pebble is the only smartwatch to get smartwatches right. They’re way too complicated now. A pebble with fitness tracking and tap-to-pay would have been perfect. They are accessories to your phone that should reliably not need to be charged for days at a time, with only limited use of specific apps as needed. I used to use my Pebble every day for 4 years. Now I barely use my Apple Watch because of how often it needs to be charged.
I LOVED my pebble. Never wanted a smart watch until the Pebble Steel was gifted to me. It was perfect. Showed me the time, my notifications (so phone stayed in pocket and stopped distracting me. an unforeseen benefit), and battery lasted a week. For years I bought used and like new off Ebay after they were discontinued... until they all gave up the ghost. :(
Thanks Vessi for sponsoring! Check out Vessi styles at vessi.com/computerclan. Use code COMPUTERCLAN for 15% off your order. Free shipping for CA, US, AU, JP, TW, KR, SGP. 🔔P.S. subscribe and stay tuned for my next episode on August 31 about 🍎Apple's ICONIC (yet short-lived) Power Mac G4 Cube flop. It's gonna be fun! 😈
12:07 That looks like Glacier Canyon Lodge.
@@iLikeFrutigerAero Maybe the unnamed insane asylum that Krazy Ken (Subject 7254) is trapped in is 10 stories under the resort and that's where the evil guards are keeping him? The plot thickens.
@@iLikeFrutigerAero❤
Finally, a sponsor that's not Linode.
@@rockpie.iso.tar.bz2 What's wrong with Linode? Or are you just getting sick and tired of the repeating Linode sponsorships? (I can understand the latter)
I remember the time when Pebble used to be the big hit, computer magazines praising it and such. I'm glad that the Community keeps the Pebble alive
I was in middle school at the time but I remember hearing about it and looking at their website and thinking it looks so cool. The long battery life and good selection of apps at the time was really appealing. I finally got my first Apple Watch in 2022 and it does have some of that same magic feeling
I had an og pebble in middle school, worked all summer to buy one and was blown away. Kinda the reason I haven’t bought a smart watch since, not much improvement since other than a fancy screen and heart monitor.
I've always loved e-ink. Crazy how ebook readers are pretty much dead despite e-ink still being superior to LCD screens for reading.
Pebble still gets that battery life that no modern day smartwatch can get
@@blastofoeink is sooo much better for reading, but I think when OLEDs got "good enough" the general public just wanted one multipurpose device rather than a dedicated reader, I still love eink for reading though, I just wish Sony had carried on making the PRS line, they were fantastic
I loved my Pebble, I remember being so excited for the device to get on my wrist!
At the time I worked at an office where I couldn't check my phone frequently. Having Pebble let me screen incoming calls and text messages without pulling my phone out of my pocket constantly. My Kickstarter edition eventually developed screen issues, but they replaced it painlessly. I eventually upgraded to an Apple Watch series 3, but for years the Pebble did everything I wanted. Glad to see others enjoyed it too!
"upgraded to a apple watch" is very loosie used....id call it a downgrade personally
No way. Is that really you ?
@@Techlevel1534.Yeah it's MR BEAAST
I was a park ranger, and pulling my phone out in the field was often a bad idea (gloves, guiding groups, wacky terrain/water, or using tools, etc.), so the hard-button minimalist approach on my wrist was awesome. Plus, weather forecast/alerts, scheduling, and the coolest (Round) watchface featuring the day/night ratio and the sun moving around the circumference... Man I loved that watch.
I still use mine occasionally!
Let's be honest, Pebble did just what they wanted to do. Get a new piece of tech to the market, and wait for someone to buy you out.
He knew how to milk his community of their hard earned.
@@fluphybunny930 That seems to be the business model of most hardware kickstarters I've seen. I made the mistake of backing the All Controller.
I'll be honest with you, in an Apple, Samsung/Android, and perhaps even Google dominated world, I'd do the exact same thing. While no, these companies are not absolutely infallible, in order for them to fail, lots of people have to hate them. And no matter each one's faults, lots of people currently LOVE them or heacily rely on them. You're fighting a huge uphill battle as a start-up, so if you manage to get something unique to market before them, unless there's some iron-clad way you can shut them out from making something similar (and that's anti-competitive and is illegal), they're going to be chomping on your heels quickly. They already have the competitive advantage in every way. Bigger fanbases, more money for RND, better marketing...it's honestly a little depressing how hopeless it is. We saw juat how quick to action Google suddenly was when ChatGPT stepped on the scene and even if their Bing bot (I can't be bothered to look up it's name) fails, which it likely will, that's still such a quick response from the competition.
So, if I were in that guy's position, I would absolutely jump ship the moment a big name came knocking and wanted to buy me out. Maybe if one of these bigger players stumble and begin to fall, I'd hang in there, but right now, it's not worth it in my eyes. Let me take my tens of millions and retire into obscurity, lol.
i doubt it. if that was the case they would have delivered on the final kickstarter.
Their assets were acquired for $23M total. Not even enough to cover the company's outstanding debt
I'm developer of a game for Pebble. I still miss that watch and think that there are no competitors for it. It did the thing I appreciate so much, taking 100% from the hardware. You do not need that fancy 1GHz CPU and 4Gb of RAM to display that email notification. I remember troubles with just 32Kb of RAM while developing a game that makes me curious why do other need gigabytes for the same things while sacrifying a battery life. I'm missing Pebble, that were good times 🙂
I didn’t know there was a new store for it otherwise I would have held on to it.
This video hits me hard. Pebble was my first smartwatch and IIRC, it's the first smartwatch that was affordable and practical. I remember even using it to check on my notes since it has Evernote app integration on it. It's just sad seeing Pebble suddenly out of business because it seems that they did everything right on paper.
Indeed. Such a great product.
Though I definitely experienced some quality control issues.. they always replaced their products with almost no questions asked.
LOL. 😂 No, pebble was just a quick money grab on rumors Apple was developing a smartwatch. Just throw something out first and hope someone will mistake it for valuable. The same happened again with Oculus Quest.
@@jansix4287nah, Pebble was a real deal, haven’t found a smartwatch that i love as much as i loved my Pebble.
@@jansix4287 im one of the guys who preordered pebble and was annoyed the new apple watch is going to look like it.. those were totally dirrent product one all show other one a real smart watch
I remember my mind was blown that I could change to the next song on my watch
I had a Pebble Time and I was so damn upset they sold out and killed something that had so much potential.
Especially as someone that likes to tinker with writing code, I loved just how easy it was to make apps for the Pebble (even my girlfriend at the time made something on her own pretty quickly).
Something no other company has managed to pull off yet.
I loved my pebble time because it was more watch than smartwatch. The insane battery life from the E ink display plus the display always being on was awesome and I have yet to see anything similar.
I have a fossil sport gen 4 now and it feels more like a smartphone than a watch. The display not being always on annoys me (It has an always on setting but that kills the battery). It takes half a second to check the time and I can't just leave it on my desk and still use it to check the time without reaching over to it.
My mom is still using her Pebble Time Round today. She just wants a small, pretty watch that shows if someone is calling her or sent a message. No other watch can really do that and not be massive like the apple watch
Those knock-off apple watches are just like pebble in my opinion, and are considerably cheaper. They come with a watch store, but sadly not apps.
@internet_userr But Pebble has that software polish that no knock off can replicate. It's also fast and not clunky like some knock offs are.
Amazfit
Pebble is still superb today. Its battery life is unmatched. It does everything I need it to.
I bought one for the same reason, but since then, there are other smartwatches on the market with the same low power memory LCD displays and even longer battery life, like the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar. It has a 30 day battery life, which goes far beyond the Pebble. Likewise (I think?) the Instinct line.
Amazfit Bip (2017) with BipOS is better (45 days battery life).
@@netuserproartur8095can the BIP now send texts with your voice without having to use Alexa?
my missus' has worn her time steel since i gifted it ,non-stop. she only takes it off for charging, and since she upgraded her phone to a pixel 6 pro, a bit more than year ago, the watch stopped syncing. it's only 4 mins slow to the real time, and all the health tracking and sleep tracking work without a phone. the battery still holds 5 days, but i reckon it's because the bluetooth is off, lol.
on mine the up button stopped working about a year ago. now i've got a pixel, but i think the sleep tracking on my pebble was better, more accurate.
amazing watch!
@@georgeniculescuGoogle actually updated Pebble app, so it works with pixel too !
One of the other factors was the timing of the announcement of Time 2. Pebble 2 was announced, and I initially backed it. After a few months, pebble time 2 was announced, and I immediately canceled my pebble two preorder and backed pebble time 2. This at theme seemed like another Osbourne situation at the time. After watching the video, this may have not been such a big deal. I still want a Time 2 to this day. : (
Well, what are you waiting for? Kickstarter can help, and maybe Eric, too. And not just because I would add one to my collection, too.
I'd love to get a Time 2 too!
osborne moment
They should have waited on the Time 2 for a while. Let the market run a bit, they had agreements with BestBuy that were just worked out, and they were killing the competition. Instead of focusing on a new product they should have focused on brand recognition among the noise of budding competition. They had a winning product and spread themselves too thin, expanding too fast, and that is what burst the bubble.
Correction: the Pebble didn't use e-paper. E-paper doesn't have the refresh rates required by the animations on the Pebble, and it suffers from ghosting unless you cycle the screen black, then white a couple of times between screen updates. What the Pebble uses is Sharp's "Memory LCD". Another difference between Memory LCD and e-paper is that e-paper retains its image when you cut the power, whereas Memory LCD requires a small amount of current.
yeah I noticed that, it was behaving *_waaaay_* too responsively to be E-paper. Is that "memory LCD" tech still under patent protection or something? If It was used by this a decade or so ago now then, if we assume Pebble didn't somehow have access to bleeding edge display tech, it's probably around 13+ years old. In spite of that, I can't find any generic displays online that behave similarly and in fact the *_only_* consumer-purchasable standalone display I've found is the Nice!View OLED display which behaves similarly like E-paper with a transflective layer to keep energy usage way down. Even with the Nice View though, I've explicitly seen it called Sharp's 'Memory-In-Pixel' technology, implying it's still not generic. (although in fairness the OLED variant might be it's own patent)
I've wanted to do a few low power hobby projects myself and it's quite annoying that everything except E-paper has quite high power draw, but E-paper has a slow refresh rate. It's even more annoying that the technology clearly exists and has for over a decade, but there is still no clear way to get generic displays that use it. (again, except the Nice!View, but that's 20usd for a tiny display which costs several times what a small display like that should, and it's only one model)
@@robonator2945 No clue if it's still under patent or not, but indeed, rather hard to find. Adafruit has two dev boards, but quite pricey for their size. Mouser also has some, but only a total of 3 different models, one of which is from Adafruit. Seems like we don't have the same variety as we do e-paper screens.
@@EvenTheDogAgrees holy mother of, yeah, okay, those are *_far_* better examples of the price difference. The first one I found on adafruit was like 45usd for a display size and resolution that ought to be under 5. It must be some weirdly long lived patent or something. (especially since, again, it explicitly says Sharp display)
It absolutely used e-paper
@@boyeatsworld-vr9ci no, it used a 1.26" 144×168 pixel Sharp Memory transflective LCD.
God I loved my Pebble, recently bought one again from eBay because there's just no modern equivalent, not that robust or with such a great battery life. Sideloading or Rebble does the job, but I really miss this early era of 'smart' watches, thanks Ken
Modern smartwatches eat donkey balls, but they sell well because: Apple. Everyone loves apple (yuck)
But Gary and Karen love their stupid smart watches because they love being Apple's bitches.
An apple watch is a status symbol, and only slightly functional. It's just another tool to keep the customer locked into the apple ecosystem. Just like the Google and Samsung watches.
It's like Apple air buds (or Google, or Samsung): everyone is breaking down the doors to be able to buy a $200 product with disposable batteries. *everyone*
I hate lithium batteries being an excuse for companies to make wireless disposable technology.
And everyone eats it up, because for the 2 years that the battery lasts: it's great (I'm assuming)!
I personally use my cellphone until the USB jack commits hari-kari.
Lucky EU gets a law requiring smartphones to have user replaceable batteries. Maybe the US will get that by 2030.
Garmin makes smartwatches on the market with the same low power memory LCD displays and even longer battery life, like the Fenix 6 Pro Solar. It has a 30 day battery life, which goes far beyond the Pebble. Likewise (I think?) the Instinct line.
I would also suggest looking into the one of the gshocks like the GBD 200.
It’s based on the square g shocks , so it’s pretty small and has all of the basic features you’re looking for.
@@Hamdad I'm a big hiker and occasional backpacker. Among the more serious backpackers I know, some of whom go out for weeks on end, all have Garmins. Many of their models are basically perfect for those activities. Super visible in the sunlight, extremely durable, and excellent fitness tracking.
As you implied, Garmin long ago surpassed Pebble.
@@Hamdad I have both Garmin and pebble. And it's obvious that notifications on Garmin are something added 'last minute'. It's a sports and health tracking device, which happens to support notifications.
Garmin smartwatches:
- do not show app icons for an app it's showing notification from
- do not change notification header color based upon app icon
- show only few lines of a notification, you have to open it, and then scroll it (Pebble allows to scroll it immediately)
- can only switch to next song or pause in one click (pebble can pause, switch tracks forward and backward, change volume - all in one short or one long click)
Rebble is great, I upgraded from a pebble classic to a pebble time two years ago and still use it every day.
When my Huawei Watch stopped holding a charge about a year ago, I started wearing an original Pebble I had bought used for $20 in probably 2017. I was surprised at just how good it is. The E-Paper display with buttons is a great interface, the battery lasts at least 2-3 days (mine is old), and the software is quick and fun-looking. Makes me sad that Pebble is gone, because they had a great family of products.
I owned the Kickstarter model and the colour model. Both the two best smartwatches I’ve ever owned.
Still like it more than my current Apple Watch, tbh. The super long battery life and the epaper like screen were awesome.
Garmin makes some 30 day battery life memory lcd display smartwatches these days
@@HamdadGarmin watches are more activity focused, not "classic" smartwatches, ofc they last longer.
@@alihordaalso they are huge and a little overkill for an average user like me, wish there was something like the Pebble nowadays.
@@Hamdadtheir watches are ugly, massive and waaaaaay overpriced
"You can just tie them once and then treat them as a slip on." As if I don't already do that with every pair of shoes I own.
Exactly what I do with every pair of shoes I buy from Walmart and they only cost 30 bucks, not 100 and they last just as long
@@mirthenary Lol $30 shoes. Man I wish. Try needing a size 16 4E (or 6E depending on the cut of the shoe) and then talk to me. The only people I can reliably find to make one to fit me is New Balance. And if I get lucky and catch them on sale I still pay $60
I was one of those backers for both the original and Pebble Time, and I still have both of them. I absolutely loved the battery life and nothing else has compared to it. It was sad to see them fail ☹️
I remember meeting Eric at a public speaking event where he spoke about the company's rise and downfall back when I was in college. Managed to get a photo with him wearing my Pebble Steel that I wore all the time back then. I definitely recall him being surprised to see me wear such a watch at a time when the Apple Series 3 was out for some time already. Great times. Moved to the Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch since then to keep the "retro" look still. But man, I had great memories with my Pebble back then.
You're the first person on this thread to mention the Fossil Hybrid line. I have one too and adore it. The look, battery life, ease of use. Only thing that upset me was their updated app making it difficult to upload user created watch faces. Otherwise, one of my favorite watches, period.
I stumbled on the Fossil's a couple months ago. I got reminiscing about my Pebble and googled why no one made e-ink smart watches anymore and the Fossils and Garmins popped up. I bought mine back in November when they were clearing out the original hybrids on sale (was like $130). I think I've charged it four times since then. I like that it looks an otherwise normal dressy watch too, I mean I loved the Pebble design because it was large and nerdy and unique, but the Apple/Samsung/Google watches just don't do anything for me.
Sadly it looks like Fossil is getting out of the smart watch game already, they ran that sale on the original hybrids earlier in the winter, and now the Gen 6's are on currently for sale on their website for $99
I like the idea of the transflective LCD, it just seems a lot more reasonable than oled, it dramatically cuts power consuption and heating while being readable in all light conditions.
I still use my Pebbles to this day. I've owned one of each model over the years (I gave away my Pebble Classic back in the day), and most days I use my Pebble Time Steel (still gets at least a week and a half of battery life to this day!)
Garmin makes some 30 day battery life memory lcd display smartwatches these days
@@Hamdaddifference is that Garmin does it for well north of a grand. Pebble did it for a couple hundred bucks. It’s insane the amount of tech they shove in the watches now though so it’s wholly impressive what Garmin has done.
Backed the KS campaign in 2011. I loved the fact that a bunch of enthusiastic geeks envisioned what people were eager to wear&use and went for it. The battery actually lasted for days, even longer that Apple or Samsung models. Great analysis, by the way!
Glad to have played a BIG research role in the making of this episode! Researching the Pebble was a bit of a challenge, but I think it was worth it in the end. :D
As always, keep up the good work Ken! -Sage
Absolutely love my Pebble. Like you said, their big problem was readily apparent when you wore one. Everyone would ask, "What is that?!" Nobody asked what an Apple watch was. They already knew.
That doesn't really sound like much of a problem. Surely, if you want people to think "ooh, he's a fancy boy" when they see your watch you buy a Rolex not an Apple watch.
@@StarkRGI haven't heard of pebble until I watched this video. It is not about bragging, if people don't talk about the brand it gets faded out over time
The perfect example is not that must be an expensive status symbol for having to be wealthy to have! Almost everyone knows what a HP or Dell is, but almost no young person knows what a Compaq or Packard/Bell is/was. @@StarkRG
@@alihorda exactly. Nothing about being fancy. Just nobody knew about them. Makes it hard to sell!
When Pebble came out there was no such thing as a smart watch. That wasn’t the case by the time Apple Watch came out. For what it was, the original Pebble worked better as wearable tech than the original Apple Watch ever did. But Apple Watch was more highly integrated with the OS, had hundreds of millions in marketing, and was much more flashy
I loved my Pebble Time Steel, but was one of the backers who never got refunded for backing the Pebble Time 2. It's unfortunate that Fitbit didn't do something to honor the kickstarter backers and still launch it, but I still used my Pebble Time Steel until the day it died.
I had a KS-edition Pebble. Lots of fun, and I used its integration for run tracking a lot for the next 6 months. Unfortunately, it bricked itself in a failed update around Jan 2014, and Pebble support ended up being useless. I might still have it somewhere in a drawer.
Hi Ken, There was also an issue with the Pebble Steel that you did not mention. In mid-2014 I received an email from Pebble stating that there was a screen issue with the Steel and affected clients should contact them. I had this issue where the screen would distort and by late 2014 the screen was just unreadable. I contacted them and sent them some photos that they asked for. They then sent me a new watch, yes, a new watch with all the accessories. Pretty certain this issue would have cost them quite a bit in the end.
There is a fix for the screen issue for pebble steel. It was shrinked zebra strips. I suspect using pebble in a sauna caused that. And I was able to fix both the original and the replacement that failed too. Bought new zebra strips and installed following that guide. ua-cam.com/video/PZOVe95sdNE/v-deo.htmlsi=vQu6PS07crrxrkAC
You got a new replacement sent to you from the unsold overstock. ..?
I ended up opening my Pebble up and replacing the zebra strip for the LCD, been working totally fine every since - been about 3 years
Still running a Pebble Steel. It does exactly what I want, isn't harvesting data, has a great battery, visible in all lighting conditions, and isn't massive. I love this little thing.
I always wondered why my FitBit was unanimously called a Pebble by everyone on the support team when I applied for a replacement (it had a major malfunction). Ended up curious, finding this video.
I had an original Kickstarter Pebble, and I miss it every day...
The vibration motor was by far the best of any smart watch I've ever owned.
Yeah, I remember backing up the Pebble Time right away (and yet I was number 4000-ish, it really went fast). I also backed the Time 2 and was very bummed by the cancelation (thankfully, I was refunded).
I still think that the Pebble UI was the best, and it didn't try to chew more than it could.
I still have and use my Pebble Time Steel, it's currently outlived 3 phones, but I think it's starting to reach it's end, it's no longer water resistant, and it crashes, to the point it needs to be reset and set up again every few months. What I've always loved about it, is that it is fairly simple, it doesn't act as a phone on your wrist, it's a watch first, and an extension of your phone second.
To be precise, Pebble Round didn't have a round display. It had a square display that was covered by a round bezel. There was unused screen under the bezel
To be pendantic, it's closer to a weird octagon shape. There is indeed unused screen under the bezel, and you can even adjust the overscan in the watch's settings, but it isn't actually a square, and it does cut off in the corners.
Pedantic* not to be too pedantic... ; p
I definitely respect the fact that Eric took a good measure of personal responsibility in that article. A lot of people never do that. So good on him for having some integrity in this age of hit and run economic endeavors.
Excellent retrospective. I loved my Pebbles. And so sad the Pebble Time 2 never shipped.
I have two original gray kickstarter Pebbles and a Pebble time. Still use my Pebble time. Its simplicity is what keeps me coming back. I've discovered the Amazfit Neo, which has great battery life and reminds me a bit of the classic Pebble's simplicity.
I still miss mine. To this day, better than any smartwatch in terms of just being a good smartWATCH.
Superior to the Galaxy Watches, other wearOS watches and all Apple Watches. All of those are just tiny constrained phones on your wrist. The pebble was a WATCH that had smart capabilities. Simple enough to be a great watch and just smart enough to be a natural evolution to the watch to be a companion to your smartphone.
It's crazy how far we've come...I was looking for a new watch a couple months ago and didn't want one that only lasted a few days before needing charging, like these. I ended up getting a Garmin Instinct 2 and it's awesome. Battery lasts almost a MONTH!!
What you are missing in comparison between apple and pebble displays is that it's epaper display is visible in natural light without a backlight. You also get a 7 day battery light. You don't have to flick your wrist to see it! The lo colour count is all part of its charm.
I value battery life over features in a smart watch. I had Pebbles because of this and always on display. These are the reasons I still choose Ticwatch today. So many "smartwatchs" get away from the watch part and just smart phones on your wrist.
If Eric took 100% responsibility as he claims he does he would have paid back all the backers when his company went tits up.
Didn't it show that he refunded backers of Time 2?
How it's not his money anymore
@@TheMajorLeagueGingerno
He did, I was one of those backers, I got a refund... I would gladly pay double to get that watch now... Maybe even 3-4x.
The quality is unmatched...
Can you name any other tech that is still amazing 9 years after it launched, not to mention 7 years after the company's death!?
He did. He took the money he got from selling his valuable tech to FitBit and gave it right back to the Kickstarter backers. He didn't have to do that. He could have absconded with millions of dollars and rested on his laurels. Heck, most Kickstarters do just that; take the money and run -- which is the idea behind Kickstarter, i.e."pay money to support this thing possibly coming into existence".
I still have my Pebble 2 HR. I had to replace the buttons, but it still works fine. And, although it's not my daily driver anymore, I still love to wear it. I realised, I don't need a touchscreen or colour display, the UI and especially UX of Pebble is still one of the best. It's simple and intuitive. You can easily tell the time, check notifications, I love the timetable arrangement. I thought I would get the same experience in Fitbit Ionic. But it was never the same. I wish someday someone will literally copy the same idea. Simple watch, simple display with great readability, no touchscreen, 4 buttons and the same philosophy.
still rocking a pebble watch to this day, after my first one died, i just got a new one since they were not only the cheapest on the market (cuz, pebble died and you could only get them second-hand lol) but they still had great battery life. there's still not a good cheap smart-watch that has decent battery, and has apps and customizable skins. maybe some day that'll change!
The pebble 2 was my gateway into smart watches. If they were still around, I probably never would've switched to a galaxy watch. I still fantasize about how compact my pebble was.
lte in the gw has now become a non-negotiable feature for me, so I can't go back😢
I still remember Pebble Time was my first ever smartwatch that I bought with my hard-earned money I saved for 2 years.
I was so happy and amazed to the concept of smartwatch, the amazing screen that looks sharp under sunlight, and the battery that lasts 1 week or even more.
Too bad that I lost my watch in public restroom, I still mad at myself now for losing it since it has a lot of memories.
I don't need fancy apps that spy on me and sell my data, in my smartwatch. I don't need wifi and cellular either. It's a goddamn watch.
Telling time, notification, and long lasting battery are the things I ever need from smartwatch. That's all.
I wish I could get another Pebble Time, but it's nowhere to find in my country, so yeah. It was fun while it lasted, thanks for the memory...
And thanks Ken for this wonderful video!
I bought the original back when there was only the original and the steel. I remember my friend got a Time before me, and I was super jealous, but eventually got my own. I was in 4th grade at the time, and my homeroom teacher was so interested in my passion for the watch that she bought herself a Pebble Time Round, and loved it. I remember being super sad when Pebble died.
I was one of the kickstarter people on the first Peeble- it was so cool! Loved that Peeble to death- sadly I sold it. Got an Apple watch and never looked back. Cool to see that there is still a community for it. Great video- thanks!
I had the pebble steel and I only own a smartwatch for notifications and time. The pebble steel was great because it had a multi colored LED to show what app your notification was from, example: Snapchat yellow light. And it had that legendary battery and it was super durable. It was absolutely fantastic, mine was stolen and I have been searching for a pebble steel ever since.
I owned a Pebble Kickstarter Edition and absolutely loved it -- my favourite feature was the ability to control music on my phone directly from the watch (skip tracks AND volume!) with buttons; something many smartwatches today can't achieve as they rely on taps, swipes, or gestures. I managed to keep it going with Rebble (thank you!) until just recently and wished they hadn't met the demise they did. Good thing I never jumped on that final Kickstarter or my $ would have been lost. I subsequently owned an Amazfit GTR (whose battery bulged after 2 years), and now a Garmin Forerunner 265.
Eric was an engineer with an idea, not a financial guy with a scheme, and that made all the difference in the world
I'm from India and I had my first and affordable smart watch, Pebble Time years ago. I absolutely loved every bit of it, software and hardware. Grateful.
Tbh, I never owned a Pebble either but I always wanted one, even after the Apple Watch came out. I did eventually buy an Apple Watch 5, which I then used for about a month, put in a drawer for about a year, and then gave to my dad who I guess is getting some use out of it. Honestly, I just wanted something lower powered with better battery like the Pebble. I only cared about reading notifications on my wrist and maybe a few other small things. Apple Watch is very fitness oriented and unless you are into that sort of thing, there really isn’t a reason to buy one. I genuinely wish somebody would do the same thing that pebble did and maybe do a better job at marketing it. To be faiir, I might have a soft spot for Kickstarter failures, because I bought an Ouya when it was new and still maintains it’s one of the best emulation machines to play old video games for such a low price.
Like kronaby a clock whit few smart features
@@ThePapaja1996 exactly.
As someone who used a Pebble and then later a Pebble Time, a big reason for me was the mounting frustration of using the Pebble with iOS. If I didn't make sure to re-open the app every once in a while, it wouldn't get any notifications from the phone anymore. I believe this was a limitation of iOS at the time, the phone would only keep so many apps running in the background at a time so if an app wasn't used frequently enough it would be shut down which kept the Pebble from communicating with the phone anymore. Since notifications on my wrist was the main reason I wanted a smartwatch at all, this was a big problem.
My first smartwatch was a Pebble 1 Classic, then I got the Pebble Time. Both amazing smartwatches. Incredible. I tried using both Apple and Samsung watches but nothing can match that simplicity and overall vibe of Pebble!
I loved my Pebble! I was one of the people asking for water resistance. My main form of exercise was swimming and Pebble was perfect for keeping track of swim distance and time. The battery life was amazing! I own a Galaxy watch now but it seems inferior with it's short battery life. I find it sitting on my desk for charging more than I'm actually using it.
Loved my Pebble Time Round, but this video hits the nail on the head - no-one outside the tech geek community had heard of it - people used to ask me if it was an apple watch. The build quality wasn't really up to the requirements either. After a year or so mine began to fall apart (case opening up). I would have happily bought another but there was never an updated round, which for me, was the big selling point. Also by that time Pebble were pushing the core to their users. And I had no idea why I would want that product. All it seemed to do was record exercise data, sonl you didn't have to wear type watch/carry your phone. As Pebble collapsed I moved to Samsung (still poor build quality) and lately ro Huawei - best watch to date by a country mile. But I still have a soft spot for the Pebble. It felt like you were part of a community at the start of something new (like the early days of home micros). Until the mass-market big boys (Apple, IBM) moved in and made it just a consumer product. Great thought provoking video. Thanks!
My first ever pebble was the classic and I still miss it. I respect Eric for his vision and really want to meet him one day for a coffee. Because the pebble is my favourite watch of all time.
Funny thing about that U2 album is that it came useful a few years ago where a coworker's car stopped working with their iphone, but it started working once a song from iTunes was downloaded so it was fixed without having to buy anything.
I wore a 1st gen Pebble, then a Pebble Time. My Pebble Time still works great, but i switvhed to mechanical analoc watches a couple years ago. Way more relaxing to not have notifications on your wrist
Pebble is the only smartwatch that's ever appealed to me, no other company can compete with the week long battery and color pseudo e-paper always-on display
I was a big Pebble guy, I had 3 different watches. I still have my Pebble Time Steel; I just can't get rid of it. I was also looking forward to the 2+. I used it for a while after Pebble went under. One great thing about the Pebble time Steel was that I could do voice replies to texts, and it worked very well. This died with the service, and Rebble wanted like $30 a year or something. I ended up moving to a Garmin Vivoactive and now on a 4.... I do miss the feature and the passion of Pebble owners back the day. I was proud to wear a Pebble watch, the Garmin, not so much....No real passion to it...but, it fits the need....
I was a backer for all the projects and even had the original InPulse. I called their Tech Support for an SDK question and Eric himself answered the phone. Great dude. REQUEST: Can you please do an episode on OnLive? The first real game streaming hardware and ecosystem. Microsoft has a Cloud Play now very similar to what OnLive had. I LOVED OnLive. Thank you for your great channel!!
Among all the BS, I'm happy for the big man. I've never owned a Pebble, or a an iWatch, but I'm glad the Pebble guy has earned his respect. Thank you CC for this story.
There is one thing you failed to mention. Pebble was supposed to have 3rd party hardware adapter (batteries, gps tracking, and other accessories) that were on kick starter as well but never came out.
I still have a Pebble Time Steel. Love the battery life and the simplicity of how the watch operates.
Yep, I still have the 3rd party gps strap for the time steel and time steel 2. Et even has the small widow which would work with the time steel 2 hr sensor 😢
I bought a Pebble Time back in the day and I actually really loved it. The color e-paper display looked great and it had pretty much all of the basic functionality you would want, and you didn't have to put it on a charger ever goddamn day. Honestly I think I might try and source one on ebay or something
Do it! It's totally worth it
The E-paper thing is so brilliant for battery reasons, which is why I bought a Fossil 'real' watch with the E-paper display background to show notifications and a few other features beneath real hands.
I'm still using a Pebble! I'm very grateful and If I wasn't between jobs and had the expendable income, I would pay the $3/month for timeline and mic features.
My favorite thing about the pebble are the apps users created for Pebble's app store. Most "smart watches" feel more like feature watches, with their limited selection of apps. It's worse than being locked into iOS when I'd rather be a power-user on Android or Windows.
My Pebble Time and Time Steel both last several days on a single charge.
This video is well researched. There's so many articles that get things wrong, like saying it wasn't water resistant, or saying it had e-ink.
P.S. I recieved a refund for the Time 2 realatively early. Also, Time Steel had a 10 day battery life.
I still have and use my Pebble Steel, thanks to Rebble. The battery life is now around 3 days instead of 7 but it still does everything I need it to do.
I took so many calls from people just angry they couldn’t delete the album on their own. For like a month straight it was just “my iPad 2 is bricked” and “get this goddamn album off my iTunes”
The fitbit acquisition makes so much sense. Literally as you were describing the 2 and time versions with color or black and white screens i instantly was reminded of fitbits business models lmao.
I got lots of compliments on my Pebble Round with steel mesh band. Even though the battery life was only 2 days, I loved that old thing. I refuse to wear a square smartwatch, so I've been wearing a Huawei since my Pebble died. It's... Big.
My Pebble Time was my favorite smart watch of all i have used. The display was great and amazingly visible even/especially in bright sunlight. The battery life was outstanding. Charging once every 7-10 days was awesome for sleep tracking apps. I can't sleep with my smart watch now because i need to charge it every night...
Found mine the other day in a packing crate untouched from when I emigrated in 2019. Nice to know I could still fire it up. But my Fenix and Apple Watches would probably bully it so it’ll stay in its box. Excellent video.
I loved the pebble metal I had, it wasn't until my brother got me an ultra 2 this year that I finally encountered a watch with that battery life, pebble was what got me back into jogging.
I just wanted to acknowledge this channel's digging and journalistic skills. That, and the cheeky charismatic host elevates it to something special.
I bought a 0G Pebble back in late 2014 for AU$99, and I used that thing for as long as I could. One day about 3 years later, I found my Pebble sitting on my desk and the lower band had split completely in half. Like it had been cut. It was the weirdest failure mode. I could have put a new band on, but by then Pebble was out and the future looked grim, so I bought a Fossil Wear OS watch. It was... Ok I guess. Nothing like the Pebble though.
Today I wear a Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and honestly this is the first Wear OS device I actually like, if only because the battery life is somewhat acceptable.
I recently turned on my Pebble, with its broken band still attached, installed Rebble and the custom Pebble app and was happily surprised to see it work flawlessly still. Honestly, it is simply amazing that the community has kept it all running this long. I'd still be happily using it if there was no alternative.
Oh and, the fact the Pebble can still be used, but the original Apple Watch (and even early Android Wear/Wear OS watches) cannot due to dropped support is quite ironic!
Long live Pebble
I just did a couple of repairs to my Pebble Steel that should let it last another couple of years. It's basic, but that's kinda why I like it.
The Pebble was and still is everything I ever needed. Amazing battery life and always readable screen, hardware buttons so I could even use it while wearing gloves through my jacket on my bike. Nothing else on the market ever captured my attention like that, I'd gladly get one again
Loved my pebble, I miss not having to charge my watch every day. Was very disappointed by the failure to deliver the last one, quite wanted the Heart Rate monitor and such.
I LOVED my pebble steel. I’d still wear it today if it hadn’t drifted into obscurity. It did everything I needed in a smartwatch with superb battery life. Still the best smartwatch I ever had.
I owned the 14mm pebble time round and was blown away. Also worked flawlessly with the android ecosystem. Even there is an altstore connection for pebble devices still running today.
Loved my pebble watch. Looked great. Battery lasted forever. Loved the animations and watchfaces. Voice recognition worked so much better than my Versa 2 does.
Quality of this video is just insane. Best YT production I watched this month.
I bought a new pebble a year ago on ebay and still to this day it is the best watch. its simple, it works, and does what i need it to do.
I loved my OG Pebble and my Pebble Time even more! The battery life was what kept me using it for YEARS. Fitbit dropping support for it was the only reason I ended up moving to other smartwatches. RIP Pebble.
The original pebble is so good because of how basic and to the point it is, it's excellent software and it's bonus extensibility. A smartwatch doesn't have to be able to totally replace your phone like an iWatch can for example.
6:20 this actually got me. I was folding clothes and inmediately paid atrention when i heard this
tbh one important thing that was kinda ommited from this video is google's wear os platform, it came out a year before the apple watch, was basically android phone hardware on a treanchcoat meaning they had capable hardware compared to the pebble and a proper dislay no different from the ones on denet phones but smaller.
I actually bought an LG G Watch back then, it was an amazing platform and you had as many customization as you could imagine and even custom roms (got my old 1st gen smartwatch to run wear os 2.0 back then too), there were games of every kind, there were apps like remote camera button with real time preview, apps to make your own watch faces, you could even sideload normal android apks and some would just work, also the os itself saw several updates very quickly and improved a LOT real fast, it also had voice recognition, you could reply to messages received on ur phone from it, even see pictures if someone sent you any, of course had google fit, you could check the weather, set and check reminders etc. it was an amazing time tbh, i think that might've hurt pebble in many ways before apple could, but maybe it's just me
I still have my pebble... somewhere. it was the color model that charged from behind the wrist strap. I've been using mine for YEARS now, and I love the fact that it could be programmed for in python. Very cool little gadget, and I even have a working mapping app on it.
Nice, Vessi. I was in their first round of backers. The first generation soles were prone to shredding and they offered to let me into their headquarters to get a new pair free. They've gone a long way since then.
Wouldn't know. I actually wanted to try a pair, but the problem with them is that they must not think anyone has something more than a tiny foot. Their men's only goes up to a 14. And seemingly with no 4E or 6E widths. So for someone like me who wears a 16 4E or 6E depending on the cut of the shoe, they are totally useless
@@ram89572 To be fair, size 16 feet are extremely rare. Maybe you can find a community large enough and see if there's support for asking some shoe companies for more sizes.
The dude who founded Pebble cofounded Beeper!?!? Huh! No wonder it’s awesome.
I miss my blackberry. It had text, sms, and other chat, email, and a basic web browser. I think it also had GPS and I loved it's music feature.
It was everything I needed in a phone and I wish we had a modern version of the classic Pearl series of messenger phones.
My wife and I still wear and use our Pebbles daily. The Rebel OS replacement makes them perfectly good smart watches even today.
Please try to get your hands on a Vezo 360 dash camera. It's a crowd funded project that promised a feature packed dash cam, shipped what appears to be a single pallet of them and then they've marked it as fulfilled. I'd love to see what they actually shipped.
I loved my Pebble watches. Lack of advertising was their biggest mistake. When the Apple watch launched none of my friends or coworkers were even aware that Pebble existed.
I had one of these and mainly used it while listening to audio books at work, I wanted to be able to pause my books without having to dig my phone out of my pocket. This watch did that trick.
I'm an OG Pebble Kickstarter supporter. Have all 5 launch models, and one of the few lucky ones who had their Pebble 2 shipped before the shutdown.
Pebble probably could have kept on existing if they kept it as low cost, low battery usage, highly hackable and modifiable.
When you see the price of today's smartwatches, there's definitely a market for the sub-$200 market.
I had a refurbished Pebble Time for the longest... well... time, tanking all sorts of hits, scratches, and dents until the battery got worn out and the power button broke apart earlier this year. I've been running a Garmin since, but I do miss the Pebble. It'll be cool to some day to get the thing back up and running again.
I still think Pebble is the only smartwatch to get smartwatches right. They’re way too complicated now. A pebble with fitness tracking and tap-to-pay would have been perfect.
They are accessories to your phone that should reliably not need to be charged for days at a time, with only limited use of specific apps as needed.
I used to use my Pebble every day for 4 years. Now I barely use my Apple Watch because of how often it needs to be charged.
I liked how I crowdfunded it and they were like "nah, we sold out, go away".
I LOVED my pebble. Never wanted a smart watch until the Pebble Steel was gifted to me. It was perfect. Showed me the time, my notifications (so phone stayed in pocket and stopped distracting me. an unforeseen benefit), and battery lasted a week. For years I bought used and like new off Ebay after they were discontinued... until they all gave up the ghost. :(
Honestly a shame this company floundered, every person I ever knew that had a pebble LOVED the thing.