ARTS & CULTURE
16 Obiter Dicta
The Pebble Watch is Back—But Don’t Expect it to
Cost $13,000
The old adage doesn’t fail
michael ly › contributor
A
wise old man once said, “if it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it.” Why bother messing around
with something if it was absolutely amaz ing the first time around? Many would
believe that you ought to stick to what works!
The Pebble Technology team took that to heart
when they designed their third-generation smartwatch. In February 2015, the company launched
pre-orders for its new line of smartwatches, and the
old adage couldn’t have been more on point. Casting
orders on Kickstarter (the global crowdfunding platform), Pebble Technology not only did incredibly well
but it obliterated Kickstarter crowdfunding records!
To date, the top two Kickstarter projects (by total
funds pledged) were Pebble’s second-generation
smartwatch and the so-called “21st Century Cooler
that’s actually Cooler.” The new Pebble Smartwatch
not only beat itself but took over the “Cooler” to claim
the title as the most funded Kickstarter campaign
of all time; an astonishing eighteen million dollars
pledged to date with seventy thousand backers, all
while achieving thirty-six thousand per cent of their
funding goal.
And yes, they did it while keeping to their roots.
The new Pebble Watch includes many features customers enjoyed in the original—no surprises, nothing overly excessive or fancy, but instead just what
works. The new Pebble has several recognizable features: always-on display, impeccable battery life (up
to a week!), a daylight readable screen, water resistance, and tactile buttons. Though the team has kept
to its roots, there are undoubtedly some new features
that will also excite customers. New features, such as
a colour e-paper display and microphone provide a
fresh upgrade to the Pebble smartwatch lineup without ruining the integrity of what it represents: a practical, inexpensive, and durable product that does
everything you need and not hing more.
Canadian Roots
So how did Pebble Technology get to where they are
today? Don’t worry, we don’t have to look far! Born in
Vancouver, BC, systems design engineer and founder,
ê Photo credit: TechHive.com
Eric Migicovsky, began building smartwatches alongside a group of friends while studying at the University
of Waterloo. He was one of the first classes of students
to come through the University of Waterloo’s accelerator network, Velocity, which is designed to help students with innovative business ideas.
Building the first prototype in his dorm, the firstgeneration product was called the InPulse. But like
any successful entrepreneur, Migicovsky faced several setbacks with his product. Migicovsky was not
able to raise enough funds through the Y Combinator
business incubator program—the same program
that has raised the likes of Dropbox, BufferBox, and
Reddit. Furthermore, the InPulse was exclusive to
BlackBerry’s platform—leaving out a giant market of
Android and iOS users. “We didn’t build what people
wanted,” says Migicovsky.
Devastated but unwilling to give up, in April 2012,
Migicovsky and his team brought the new Pebble
Watch to Kickstarter. Having reinvented it from the
ground up, the Pebble worked on several platforms,
had Bluetooth capability, and a longer battery life,
amongst other
ch a nge s.
A nd
that’s when things
rea l ly
st a r ted
to fall in place;
within only two
hours of going live,
the project had met its goal of one hundred thousand
dollars and, by the end of it all, Pebble Technology
raised over ten million dollars, backed by sixty-eight
thousand people. At the time, it was the most funded
Kickstarter campaign.
a “small fish.” In an American Public Media interview,
Migicovsky conceded that Apple could buy Pebble
Technology with its pocket change. Yet, Migicovsky
repeatedly stated that he would never sell his company to Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple. He further added that although there are obvious overlaps
between the Pebble Watch and other smartwatches
in the market, the Pebble targets a different consumer
base. Pebble doesn’t target a customer base looking
for a luxury product. Instead, Pebble consumers are
those who don’t want a watch that makes life more
complicated with even more notifications or having to
charge their smartwatch every few days. They want a
durable and practical watch without a hefty price tag;
no fancy gimmicks and no compromises.
Though still a relatively small tech company,
Pebble has also received its fair share of public criticism. Namely, some consumers questioned why
Pebble decided to launch its recent smartwatch on
Kickstarter, again. Unlike the first time around,
Pebble now certainly has enough capital, consumer
awareness, and resources to launch on its own; the
crowdfunding platform is
designed to help
those who are
just starting out
to bring creative
projects to life.
Migicovsky stated that his team decided to return
to Kickstarter to reward its loyal Kickstart fan base—
loyal customers get neat rewards for supporting them
the second time around such as “extra special engraving,” and easier product upgrades. It was also more
efficient with regards to cost and shipping expediency
for Pebble to launch on Kickstarter. Geez, is there
anything these guys can’t do right?
“Pebble consumers are those
who don’t want a watch that
makes life more complicated . . .”
Competition: David Versus Goliath?
Migicovsky Doesn’t Think So
There is no secret that the wearable devices market
is becoming increasingly saturated. There are some
hefty competitors out there; products include the
classy Motorola Moto 360 Smartwatch and the
recently released Apple Watch, which includes the
Edition version priced at thirteen thousand dollars.
One might wonder how Pebble Technology plans to
compete against these tech giants.
Pebble Technology knows that it is still considered
Moving Forward
What’s next for Pebble Technology? Migicovsky hasn’t
given the tech world many hints. If the new distributor tier in its recent Kickstarter is any indication,
Pebble Technology wants its presence in stores. There
is great benefit to having customers be able to physically see and play around with the product in retailers. Now that they have more capital, why be limited
to only online purchases? Furthermore, Pebble could
enter into various partnerships; wouldn’t it be cool if
Pebble would sync with your car, television, or even
your drone?
If one thing is clear, the future generation of Pebble
smartwatches won’t be looking drastically different from previous ones. They also won’t carry a hefty
price tag of thirteen thousand dollars and contain
eighteen-karat gold. It might be bad news for Pebble if
they try to enter into the luxury market and compete
with the likes of Apple. Better to stick to what works
and continue to provide its loyal customers exactly
with what they’re looking for. Indeed, it’s what Pebble
Technology has been doing since its inception.