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I can't believe this, just got a Pebble 2 a week ago and now they are literally saying it may not work in the future. If we rely on their cloud services for ac

I can't believe this, just got a Pebble 2 a week ago and now they are literally saying it may not work in the future. If we rely on their cloud services for activity tracking and app downloads then it will be useless if FitBit doesn't maintain the platform. I have to say I'm really disappointed and this is a huge blow to people that invest in startups offering hardware. If the company fails forget about the smart stuff you bought, it just won't work anymore. We should look for ways to minimize the impact on backers. Sadly we'll see more of this in a future in which the products depend a lot on the company cloud services to operate.

michaelsbradley 10y ago
Caveat emptor.
- denzil_correa 10y ago
  I'm not sure if this even makes sense here.
  - michaelsbradley 10y ago
    It does, if one broadens "quality and suitability of goods" to include the manufacturer–originator, which seems like a reasonable thing to do for a tech gadget purchase that will involve a long/ish term relationship with the corporation that makes the gadget in question.
twistedpair 10y ago
e.g. a pledge to open source the code base if the company folds?
- alonsonic 10y ago
  That sounds like a really good idea, and gives more confidence to the early adopters that the platform might live even if they fail
- elkos 10y ago
  Could such a pledge provide enough assurance? If the company folds its IP is up for grubs, this might include their products source code. Right? If that's the case I would prefer to purchase devices that are actually already running free software or there is free software available to flash on them. Person
  - FireBeyond 10y ago
    That would be a pre-existing contract that the future IP holder would (or should, if written 'securely') be obligated to uphold.
    - elkos 10y ago
      Thanks hmm... that indeed sounds legit. Would definitely like to see that. If I have no open source alternative for a connected hardware device that seems to me like the next best thing.
syshum 10y ago
>>I have to say I'm really disappointed and this is a huge blow to people that invest in startups offering hardware. Buyers need to start demanding Open Source Software and Open Hardware... With out that, you will always be screwed
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- yunolisten 10y ago
  >>Buyers need to start demanding Open Source Software and Open Hardware... Exactly
  - this-dang-guy 10y ago
    Point me to an F/OSS and Open Hardware version and I'm there. Seriously, I'm always backing those sorts of devices over proprietary ones every chance I get - though it's rare as heck.
    - bradyo 10y ago
      Pretty sure this is still under active development, but it's supposed to be a completely open fitness tracker: http://openhealth.wemaketotem.org/ http://openhealth.wemaketotem.org/ There's also the FOSS smart watch OS Asteroid OS: http://asteroidos.org/ http://asteroidos.org/
      - this-dang-guy 10y ago
        Thanks! Not sure that the tracker is what I'm looking for (or I'd be into the fitbit move), but Asteroid looks intriguing. I'm following both now. Appreciate the tip!
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Or at least treat any kind of cloud integration as a big negative. Without cloud dependence, the devices can always be hacked and made to work again until hardware dies.
antoniuschan99 10y ago
It would seem that fitbit would want to retain pebble customers. If they discontinue cloud support for pebble that won't be a good thing
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  From what I remember, Fitbit has ~30M customers, and Pebble has ~1M. That's just 3% of Fitbit's userbase, so pretty much a rounding error. I don't believe they will care.
  - benley 10y ago
    I'm pretty sure the pebble cloud services are going to be up and running for the foreseeable future. source: I do infrastructure stuff at fitbit. Also they explicitly said this in the developer.pebble.com blog post.
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      Great! Thanks for chiming in. I mean, I won't really blame Fitbit for whatever happens now. It was Pebble's fuckup, and my anger (which I sadly expressed in the threads last week) is wearing off. I do hope you guys do something great with all those new people and IP. In the meantime, I guess me and other Pebblers will be extra-careful about our watches. They are really something unique and there's hardly anything like it on the market now.
    - minner1234 10y ago
      fogive my ignorance but what is pebble cloud service exactly? same as cloudpebble? i just can't figure out and can't find useful info. i would be much appreciated for help. thanks.
hobo_mark 10y ago
I also have a Pebble 2, what cloud services? The android app checks for a firmware update when you pair but is otherwise standalone. I enabled sync to google fit because I hoped it would backup sleep data but that does nothing sensible, it's all stored locally (and in fact if you reinstall the Pebble app you lose all your data). ps: if anyone knows of some software to export these data from an android phone, I'd love to know because I could not find anything
- wvenable 10y ago
  The timeline and dictation both require cloud services to function. Also, the app store is a cloud service.
  - hobo_mark 10y ago
    I see, good thing I don't use any of those then...
- IanCal 10y ago
  The timeline has features which rely on a service, and all of the voice stuff is processed remotely by nuance.
fma 10y ago
I like how they announce it after Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales. I'm sure they knew of it during the acquisition as it would be all laid out, but they wanted to squeeze in more sales. Hopefully the average consumer gets wind of this and return their product.
- dashoffset 10y ago
  I'm really thinking about returning mine. I just don't know what I would get instead since the competition is either crap or crazy expensive.
  - fma 10y ago
    I think it's likely their product will reduce in price for fire sale, like the HP Touchpad. At least with HP Touchpad you could flash the ROM and change the OS. It is a difficult sell to have someone pay full price for a product when the manufacturer openly states they won't support it anymore, and may even reduce functionality in the future. You can keep yours till the end of the return period and see if the price drops. Or maybe pebble will change their own, or open source their software (but now you paid full price for a product with no hardware support). Depending on where you bought, some stores have extended returns for the holidays.

michaelsbradley 10y ago

Caveat emptor.

denzil_correa 10y ago
I'm not sure if this even makes sense here.
- michaelsbradley 10y ago
  It does, if one broadens "quality and suitability of goods" to include the manufacturer–originator, which seems like a reasonable thing to do for a tech gadget purchase that will involve a long/ish term relationship with the corporation that makes the gadget in question.

twistedpair 10y ago

e.g. a pledge to open source the code base if the company folds?

alonsonic 10y ago
That sounds like a really good idea, and gives more confidence to the early adopters that the platform might live even if they fail
elkos 10y ago
Could such a pledge provide enough assurance? If the company folds its IP is up for grubs, this might include their products source code. Right? If that's the case I would prefer to purchase devices that are actually already running free software or there is free software available to flash on them. Person
- FireBeyond 10y ago
  That would be a pre-existing contract that the future IP holder would (or should, if written 'securely') be obligated to uphold.
  - elkos 10y ago
    Thanks hmm... that indeed sounds legit. Would definitely like to see that. If I have no open source alternative for a connected hardware device that seems to me like the next best thing.

syshum 10y ago

>>I have to say I'm really disappointed and this is a huge blow to people that invest in startups offering hardware. Buyers need to start demanding Open Source Software and Open Hardware... With out that, you will always be screwed

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
yunolisten 10y ago
>>Buyers need to start demanding Open Source Software and Open Hardware... Exactly
- this-dang-guy 10y ago
  Point me to an F/OSS and Open Hardware version and I'm there. Seriously, I'm always backing those sorts of devices over proprietary ones every chance I get - though it's rare as heck.
  - bradyo 10y ago
    Pretty sure this is still under active development, but it's supposed to be a completely open fitness tracker: http://openhealth.wemaketotem.org/ http://openhealth.wemaketotem.org/ There's also the FOSS smart watch OS Asteroid OS: http://asteroidos.org/ http://asteroidos.org/
    - this-dang-guy 10y ago
      Thanks! Not sure that the tracker is what I'm looking for (or I'd be into the fitbit move), but Asteroid looks intriguing. I'm following both now. Appreciate the tip!
TeMPOraL 10y ago
Or at least treat any kind of cloud integration as a big negative. Without cloud dependence, the devices can always be hacked and made to work again until hardware dies.

antoniuschan99 10y ago

It would seem that fitbit would want to retain pebble customers. If they discontinue cloud support for pebble that won't be a good thing

TeMPOraL 10y ago
From what I remember, Fitbit has ~30M customers, and Pebble has ~1M. That's just 3% of Fitbit's userbase, so pretty much a rounding error. I don't believe they will care.
- benley 10y ago
  I'm pretty sure the pebble cloud services are going to be up and running for the foreseeable future. source: I do infrastructure stuff at fitbit. Also they explicitly said this in the developer.pebble.com blog post.
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Great! Thanks for chiming in. I mean, I won't really blame Fitbit for whatever happens now. It was Pebble's fuckup, and my anger (which I sadly expressed in the threads last week) is wearing off. I do hope you guys do something great with all those new people and IP. In the meantime, I guess me and other Pebblers will be extra-careful about our watches. They are really something unique and there's hardly anything like it on the market now.
  - minner1234 10y ago
    fogive my ignorance but what is pebble cloud service exactly? same as cloudpebble? i just can't figure out and can't find useful info. i would be much appreciated for help. thanks.

hobo_mark 10y ago

I also have a Pebble 2, what cloud services? The android app checks for a firmware update when you pair but is otherwise standalone. I enabled sync to google fit because I hoped it would backup sleep data but that does nothing sensible, it's all stored locally (and in fact if you reinstall the Pebble app you lose all your data). ps: if anyone knows of some software to export these data from an android phone, I'd love to know because I could not find anything

wvenable 10y ago
The timeline and dictation both require cloud services to function. Also, the app store is a cloud service.
- hobo_mark 10y ago
  I see, good thing I don't use any of those then...
IanCal 10y ago
The timeline has features which rely on a service, and all of the voice stuff is processed remotely by nuance.

fma 10y ago

I like how they announce it after Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales. I'm sure they knew of it during the acquisition as it would be all laid out, but they wanted to squeeze in more sales. Hopefully the average consumer gets wind of this and return their product.

dashoffset 10y ago
I'm really thinking about returning mine. I just don't know what I would get instead since the competition is either crap or crazy expensive.
- fma 10y ago
  I think it's likely their product will reduce in price for fire sale, like the HP Touchpad. At least with HP Touchpad you could flash the ROM and change the OS. It is a difficult sell to have someone pay full price for a product when the manufacturer openly states they won't support it anymore, and may even reduce functionality in the future. You can keep yours till the end of the return period and see if the price drops. Or maybe pebble will change their own, or open source their software (but now you paid full price for a product with no hardware support). Depending on where you bought, some stores have extended returns for the holidays.