• ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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    9 hours ago

    This is sold by the same guy that created Pebble and then sold and killed it screwing the entire community, right? And it’s the same guy that later sold messaging app based on breaking e2e encryption that worked for like a week before being killed by Apple? Do I remember this correctly? I think I will pass, even with screws.

    • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz
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      5 hours ago

      Ran out of money, went belly up, and sold the software assets to Fitbit so they could refund all the Kickstarter orders they couldn’t fulfill, that guy.

      Difference is that this time he is doing the watches with a 5 man team, not a bloated 100+ employee company with investors breathing down their necks, and the software is fully open source. Even released the Pebble 2 Duo hardware designs as a reference for others wanting to make a PebbleOS watch.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOP
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      9 hours ago

      Same guy. This time the whole thing is open source though, even the hardware. So that’s insurance for what it’s worth.

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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        9 hours ago

        So it’s best to wait for some other manufacturer to show up. If no one else is able to setup the manufacturing process it’s still up to this one guy to keep making them or sell and kill it again.

        • Rooster326@programming.dev
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          3 hours ago

          It is almost always best to ‘wait and see’ for most things.

          But of course if everyone did that - it would never have taken off in the first place.

          • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOP
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            2 hours ago

            That’s the issue. It’s why I’ve learned that when I can afford it and I reasonably believe this firm or project should exist, and it has a decent chance not to fall flat, I end up buying in. It’s literally upfront investment in the thing. I’m still salty for not backing the Ubuntu Phone back in 2012 or so. I looked at it as another phone compared to what’s available on the market and how the price stacks up for the features. That’s very much the wrong way to do it. A part of the value it provides is the existence of the project and the labour dedicated to it. In the case of the new Pebble, I’m backing it despite Eric, and because it’s fully open source and that’s something I want to exist. A fully open alternative in the sea of proprietary wearable crap.