Pebble again turns to crowdfunding to take on Apple Watch with new color display model

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 133
    mazda 3s wrote: »
     

    A watch that I can't wear when it's raining outside or when I'm swimming laps is most certainly "limited". I'm am NOT going to take a step back in everyday functionality... period.


    You seem to know a lot about ?Watch that hasn't been announced.

    Tell me, why would ?Watch have a waterproof speaker and sealed electronics if it couldn't go out in the rain?

    But it isn't waterproof. You can't swim with it.
  • Reply 22 of 133
  • Reply 23 of 133
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post





    That isn't accurate. Those funded do not guarantee backers will actually receive anything. They provide goals, not guarantees.

     

    I'm pretty sure you are guaranteed the promised item if funding reaches it's goal. 

     

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-time-awesome-smartwatch-no-compromises

     

    Yeah..I think we're good in that respect. 

     

    Honestly, it was genius of Pebble to do this. The $$ they will raise will be insane. 

  • Reply 24 of 133
    Glad to see them innovating.
  • Reply 25 of 133
    philboogie wrote: »
    Why does it have two bezels?

    1000

    Double the bezels, double the fun!
  • Reply 26 of 133
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post





    But it isn't waterproof. You can't swim with it.

    Apple Watch isn't for swimmers. Wrong device for that. 

     

    But...maybe someone will make a little case for swimmers? Love to see the warranty limitations on *that* if a swimmer takes his/her $20k Edition for a dip.

  • Reply 27 of 133
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     

    Bad move. Mess with fire, you get burned. I think Pebble would have been better to stick with their core strengths and not tried to directly compete with Apple.


     

    I don't think they are directly competing with Apple. The Pebble costs almost half as much at the reported Apple Watch and has a  different feature set. There is some overlap, but I don't think they are going head to head here.

  • Reply 28 of 133
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,211member
    Bad move. Mess with fire, you get burned. I think Pebble would have been better to stick with their core strengths and not tried to directly compete with Apple.

    Ummm... Pebble started shipping smart-watches in 2013. That IS their core business isn't it? :???:
  • Reply 29 of 133
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    sog35 wrote: »
    But the company receiving funding needs to ship a $199 product for only $179
    10% discount for preorders many months (possibly > a year) in advance, before the bulk of the cost of production has been committed to?

    That's a pretty good deal for the manufacturer.
  • Reply 30 of 133
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Bad move. Mess with fire, you get burned. I think Pebble would have been better to stick with their core strengths and not tried to directly compete with Apple.
    What are Pebble's core strengths if not e-ink smart watches?
  • Reply 31 of 133
    crowley wrote: »
    What are Pebble's core strengths if not e-ink smart watches?

    Strengths have a way of eventually becoming a weakness.
  • Reply 32 of 133
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post



    The happiest people are Kickstarter.  Those scammers get 5% fees of of every dollar.




    No, the happiest are those receiving the funding. Free capital without giving up stock or control of the company? Insane. Good for Kickstarter and those who use it.

     

    Something tells me they should be going for VC dollars and giving up some control. If they went all in and did this right, they could get the cost down significantly, up the specs faster, and expand their channels to market. They run the risk of getting knocked out of the market by someone targeting below Apple once the Apple Watch is out and proving that you can have a successful product in the space. I can appreciate them wanting to maintain control and sell to a niche audience. But the reality is that if they do not expand, they will loose their first mover advantage. They probably don't have much IP to protect themselves either.

     

    On the flip side, they may totally be able to survive at their current volumes via Kickstarter funded upgrades for generations to come. Sounds kind of bleak if that is all they want for their customers.

  • Reply 33 of 133
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Phone-UI-Guy View Post

     

     

    Something tells me they should be going for VC dollars and giving up some control. If they went all in and did this right, they could get the cost down significantly, up the specs faster, and expand their channels to market. They run the risk of getting knocked out of the market by someone targeting below Apple once the Apple Watch is out and proving that you can have a successful product in the space. I can appreciate them wanting to maintain control and sell to a niche audience. But the reality is that if they do not expand, they will loose their first mover advantage. They probably don't have much IP to protect themselves either.

     

    On the flip side, they may totally be able to survive at their current volumes via Kickstarter funded upgrades for generations to come. Sounds kind of bleak if that is all they want for their customers.




    VC dollars also do not come without strings. They are making out like bandits under the Kickstarter model.

  • Reply 34 of 133
    gatorguy wrote: »
    Ummm... Pebble started shipping smart-watches in 2013. That IS their core business isn't it? :???:

    Core strengths being the low end of the market. They're heading for the higher end, which is a mistake.
  • Reply 35 of 133
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,211member
    Core strengths being the low end of the market. They're heading for the higher end, which is a mistake.
    $200 would hardly qualify for high end would it?
  • Reply 36 of 133
    I have been using one for about a year. It is pretty good at what it does. I will be very interested in the Apple Watch for obvious reasons but the Pebble was certainly better than Android Wear both for stability and battery life. The 7 days of battery life were not a marketing gimmick. Apple won't come close to this but again it is a completely different technology.
  • Reply 37 of 133
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,211member

    VC dollars also do not come without strings. They are making out like bandits under the Kickstarter model.
    According to Pebble the new Kickstarter funding program was more of a stunt to get attention as well as continue supporting their Kickstarter. They apparently didn't need to go this route.
    http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/24/pebble-hits-its-500k-kickstarter-target-for-pebble-tim-in-just-17-minutes/#wur2RQ:Yup
    http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/24/pebble-time/#wur2RQ:4Rs
  • Reply 38 of 133
    sog35 wrote: »
    very few people swim with their watch.  But if thats your deal, thats your deal.  Apple ain't going to make a more bulky watch to make sure the .000001% who swim with their watches are happy.

    Whats next?  Swimming with your phone in your pocket?

    Even if it was water proof I would not constantly dip an $500 electronic device hundreds of times in the water.

    I don't know a single triathlete that doesn't swim with their watch. But I might be biased; I just ordered a $599 watch, designed for triathletes.

    Try a tri, you might like it.
  • Reply 39 of 133
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post





    I don't know a single triathlete that doesn't swim with their watch. But I might be biased; I just ordered a $599 watch, designed for triathletes.



    Try a tri, you might like it.

    I'm kind of curious: how many triathletes are there in the US? Worldwide? (I'm honestly interested how big the consumer base is for what you describe.)

  • Reply 40 of 133
    clemynxclemynx Posts: 1,552member

    Seen on the Verge comments :

     

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