

Pebble Smartwatch Is Coming To Best Buy On July 7 For $149.95 - yurisagalov
http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/02/pebble-smartwatch-is-coming-to-best-buy-july-7-for-149-95/

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Zikes
A year ago people were foaming at the mouth at the prospect of a watch that
was a vibrating e-ink backlit display with buttons and customizable watch face
options and a battery that could go a week between charges.

Now it's getting panned for being nothing but a vibrating e-ink backlit
display with buttons and customizable watch face options and a battery that
could go a week between charges. Go figure.

I backed them on Kickstarter and got a black watch in the mail a couple months
ago. I was surprised that it doesn't show me every notification by default,
but somebody made a Pebble Notifier app to fill in the gaps there. Other than
that, it fulfilled every expectation I had when I backed it, and I love the
convenience of checking my notifications without having to pull my phone out
of my pocket. The music controls are a pretty nifty feature I use often, too.

It sucks that they don't have their color options available yet, I don't know
what their excuse is for that, but if they've worked all the kinks out in
producing the black model then why shouldn't they get that on retail shelves
as soon as possible?

I mean, the reason Kickstarter exists is so we regular consumers can recognize
a company's potential and help them succeed, and now that this company is on
the road to success we're going to get out our torches and pitchforks because
they're struggling to ship certain variations of the product? I am
flabbergasted at the entitlement some people feel, such that they think this
company should run themselves into the ground financially just because they
didn't get their special-colored watch yet.

~~~
heyitsnick
Isn't this the classic mistake of assuming "people" on the internet are a
single homogeneous group? When Pebble had a kickstarter, a lot of proponents
were vocal. Now its going into best-buy, those that are vocal are (a different
set of) people who have the opportunity to criticize. Those who successfully
funded the project and are proud users of Pebble maybe see less desire to be
vocal.

There's nothing really to "go figure", its just different people being
selectively vocal in their support/dismissal.

~~~
lukifer
This is spot-on, and an exceedingly common flaw in human cognition. It drives
me crazy when I hear things like "Google wants to _____", "France believes
_____", "The government is trying to _____", etc. While sometimes it's a
linguistic proxy for something concrete (a specific leader, opinion polls,
cultural zeitgeist), it's usually a victim of that insidious Dunbar number,
and the brain's attempt to cope by treating a large, complex, heterogeneous
institution or culture as though it were a single person.

~~~
purplelobster
I don't think it's quite the same phenomenon, although related. This is about
the mental error that people do in assuming that a swing in vocalized opinion
is due to people changing their minds, while it's actually just different
people speaking up at different times (when it suits them). Example: "Apple
fan-boys used to claim skeuomorphism is the best, but now they suddenly prefer
flat design, such hypocrites!".

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SnowLprd
Here's the product page:
[http://www.bestbuy.com/pebble](http://www.bestbuy.com/pebble)

This news makes me very disappointed in the company's handling of their
KickStarter campaign.

I backed their KickStarter campaign and ordered a white Pebble in May of last
year, and I still haven't received it. So if I understand correctly, someone
who walks into Best Buy next week will get a Pebble before I do?

While I understand the desire to stay out in front of Apple, Sony, and any
other companies who may enter the smartwatch market, as one of the people who
funded and helped make the Pebble possible, I am disappointed at how this was
handled. The whole experience will make me think twice about backing KS
campaigns in the future.

~~~
spullara
You aren't missing anything. I got mine months ago. It is the most
disappointing thing I have supported on kickstarter. I would literally send
you mine but one of the buttons fell off the first (and only) day I wore it.

~~~
fr0sty
I'll take a free Pebble-minus-one-button.

I'd even pay S&H...

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btucker
Honest question: Has anyone actually found a good use for their Pebble? I wore
mine once the day after it arrived, felt totally ridiculous, and it hasn't
left the drawer since.

~~~
asciimo
I got back to learning C so that I can make a space invaders watch face. I
look forward to the satisfaction of wearing my accomplishment on my sleeve...
eventually.

~~~
crb
Not a watch face, but a Space Invaders game for Pebble:
[http://www.mypebblefaces.com/view?fID=2052&aName=pocketscien...](http://www.mypebblefaces.com/view?fID=2052&aName=pocketscience&pageTitle=Space+Invaders&auID=938)

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jbrooksuk
I'm extremely disappointed by how Pebble have handled their entire operation.

I originally backed an Artic White Pebble on Kickstarter, they had issues, I
switched to Black. And they sent me a watch without a Kickstarter stamp. As an
apology I'm supposedly getting a sweat band - what?

Their entire operation has been mistake after mistake. And to be honest,
that's no excuse for a company who has prior experience.

~~~
smackfu
Getting upset over the stamp seems pretty pointless.

~~~
jbrooksuk
It's not the stamp, it's the way they've dealt with it.

~~~
alan_cx
To me the stamp would be an acknowledgement of my support and a thank you for
it. So to me, it would be about the stamp. Other wise, why not wait and just
buy the thing? Not to ignore your other legitimate issues, I think the lack of
a stamp is important.

~~~
smackfu
The other reason to buy it as a pre-order was because it was cheaper. $125 for
color via Kickstarter vs $150 for black from Best Buy.

~~~
einai
There is always a chance that you won't get anything when you order on
Kickstarter. The risk is higher.

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ck2
Pebble sounds like a polite, social alternative to google glass, no?

~~~
twistedpair
No, not at all. Have you used either device? Totally different use cases,
design goals and purposes. Not comparable.

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williamcotton
In middle school I was forcibly imprisoned in my locker for wearing a
calculator watch, and honestly, it was a good learning experience.

That thing is really ugly.

~~~
wam
Hey, likewise! Unfortunately there's no kickstarter for better bullying
utilities. At least this does things that they might also want to do?
Calculating: still for nerds. But imagine being able to check your
notifications while holding someone's head under the faucet.

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donniezazen
I couldn't find much information if it could be used like fitbit for step and
sleep tracking.

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captainbeef
Let he who is without blame cast the first pebble

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ChristianMarks
I'll wait for a Dick Tracy watch not tethered to any phone.

