I’m pretty excited about this; my Pebble Time was the best watch I’ve even owned - smart or otherwise.
That said, I don’t think I’m going to be preordering this given how badly the last Pebble Kickstarter went. For those who weren’t around at the time, Pebble (whose CEO is behind this venture) built his whole business around Kickstarter. The first 2 generations were wildly successful, but for the third generation they massively overextended themselves trying to get hardware into mainstream retailers, prioritised building stock for retail channels (because contracts) and ran out of cash before shipping for the majority of backers who had bankrolled this whole thing. Eventually everyone who hadn’t had their orders fulfilled got a refund, but that was only because FitBit decided to buy them. Eric seems like a nice guy and great at the technology - and I’m not saying that I could run a business any better - but I think I’ll wait until there is stock on hand for me to buy outright before I hand over my cash
You need a perfectly polished smartwatch. This project is a labour of love rather than a startup trying to sell millions of watches. There may be some rough edges (literally). Things will get delayed. Some features will not be ready at launch. Things could break. Things could not last as long as you’d like. The only thing we can guarantee is that it will be awesome and a lot of fun! Every time you look down at your watch, you will smile
So yeah, I’d say your take is pretty accurate. At least they’re honest lol
Understandable, which is why I’m choosing to not preorder. However, they also have a full refund policy that’s good until your unit is being prepared to ship, and several notifications leading up to that point. One of the best ways to handle preorders I’ve encountered.
Honestly that is something I’ve always been ok with on Kickstarter. But it’s 50% scams now of people who never intended to deliver anything in the first place and Kickstarter is taking a lot of steps to protect the scammers in this. The only reason I ever back anything on there anymore is because of campaigns by companies I trust will at least try. I trust Pebble will try, so I personally am very tempted.
I’m pretty excited about this; my Pebble Time was the best watch I’ve even owned - smart or otherwise.
That said, I don’t think I’m going to be preordering this given how badly the last Pebble Kickstarter went. For those who weren’t around at the time, Pebble (whose CEO is behind this venture) built his whole business around Kickstarter. The first 2 generations were wildly successful, but for the third generation they massively overextended themselves trying to get hardware into mainstream retailers, prioritised building stock for retail channels (because contracts) and ran out of cash before shipping for the majority of backers who had bankrolled this whole thing. Eventually everyone who hadn’t had their orders fulfilled got a refund, but that was only because FitBit decided to buy them. Eric seems like a nice guy and great at the technology - and I’m not saying that I could run a business any better - but I think I’ll wait until there is stock on hand for me to buy outright before I hand over my cash
From their FAQ, emphasis mine:
So yeah, I’d say your take is pretty accurate. At least they’re honest lol
My concern isn’t that things will get delayed, it’s that I’ll give them my money and get nothing in return
Understandable, which is why I’m choosing to not preorder. However, they also have a full refund policy that’s good until your unit is being prepared to ship, and several notifications leading up to that point. One of the best ways to handle preorders I’ve encountered.
That’s. Uh… the entire idea of a kickstarter.
It may crash and burn. Don’t want that, don’t back anything on kickstarter.
Honestly that is something I’ve always been ok with on Kickstarter. But it’s 50% scams now of people who never intended to deliver anything in the first place and Kickstarter is taking a lot of steps to protect the scammers in this. The only reason I ever back anything on there anymore is because of campaigns by companies I trust will at least try. I trust Pebble will try, so I personally am very tempted.
… so I shouldn’t use the CEOs history of bankruptcy and failed a Kickstarter when judging if I think it is going to succeed or not?
Yep im also going to wait til its out to make a judgement call.
Ditto, even though I’m in the market to replace my smartwatch since the buttons fell off.