<story><title>Pebble CEO explains why he sold to Fitbit</title><url>https://backchannel.com/the-real-story-behind-pebbles-demise-303802a7afaa#.7uvcar7gj</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>themihai</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Carrying two smart devices makes no sense, and the phone got here first.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve always believed the watch will replace the phone. It&amp;#x27;s easier to carry than a phone.
 I would replace my iphone with a smartwatch in a heartbeat  but unfortunately the current models are too limited: no 4g&amp;#x2F;lte, poor battery, no carplay, not easy to read data(i.e emails), too bulky etc.
  The main issue is that the watch is just not good enough for now but eventually it will get a big chunk of the marketshare.</text></item><item><author>padobson</author><text>I think the problem with crowdfunding (and early adopters in general) is that product hype can be a product unto itself. That&amp;#x27;s part of the value that Kickstarter provides, but it disappears when a product hits the wider market, and all that&amp;#x27;s left is the actual value of the product.&lt;p&gt;Wearables will gain more traction when wearing them actually enhances their value (fitness trackers that measure your pulse, VR headsets glasses that change what you see).&lt;p&gt;Smart watches, unfortunately, were just redundant. The entire idea of a smart device is that it has everything you need on one device. Carrying two smart devices makes no sense, and the phone got here first.</text></item><item><author>fudged71</author><text>Pebble crowdfunded as an alternative to venture capital. Their huge success on the platform was an inspiration to so many other hardware startups that it sparked an entire generation of products (in my opinion). Kudos to that.&lt;p&gt;I still wear my original Pebble. It&amp;#x27;s reliable with very long battery life, and is one of the very few wearables that works well while wearing gloves.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>flukus</author><text>The biggest limitation is the screen size. Watches could arguably be made to do everything we want, but we&amp;#x27;d still need to plugin an external screen. I&amp;#x27;d like to see someone give an futurama style armband a go.</text></comment>
<story><title>Pebble CEO explains why he sold to Fitbit</title><url>https://backchannel.com/the-real-story-behind-pebbles-demise-303802a7afaa#.7uvcar7gj</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>themihai</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Carrying two smart devices makes no sense, and the phone got here first.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve always believed the watch will replace the phone. It&amp;#x27;s easier to carry than a phone.
 I would replace my iphone with a smartwatch in a heartbeat  but unfortunately the current models are too limited: no 4g&amp;#x2F;lte, poor battery, no carplay, not easy to read data(i.e emails), too bulky etc.
  The main issue is that the watch is just not good enough for now but eventually it will get a big chunk of the marketshare.</text></item><item><author>padobson</author><text>I think the problem with crowdfunding (and early adopters in general) is that product hype can be a product unto itself. That&amp;#x27;s part of the value that Kickstarter provides, but it disappears when a product hits the wider market, and all that&amp;#x27;s left is the actual value of the product.&lt;p&gt;Wearables will gain more traction when wearing them actually enhances their value (fitness trackers that measure your pulse, VR headsets glasses that change what you see).&lt;p&gt;Smart watches, unfortunately, were just redundant. The entire idea of a smart device is that it has everything you need on one device. Carrying two smart devices makes no sense, and the phone got here first.</text></item><item><author>fudged71</author><text>Pebble crowdfunded as an alternative to venture capital. Their huge success on the platform was an inspiration to so many other hardware startups that it sparked an entire generation of products (in my opinion). Kudos to that.&lt;p&gt;I still wear my original Pebble. It&amp;#x27;s reliable with very long battery life, and is one of the very few wearables that works well while wearing gloves.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bmm6o</author><text>Has anyone figured out how to integrate a camera into a watch?  Nobody would replace a phone with a device without a camera.</text></comment>