Really curious to hear more about the color e-ink display in the Pebble Time as it has implications for app functionality. What is the max refresh rate? Contrast ratio? Refresh duration? Burn in? Etc etc I haven't seen color e-ink like this before. Who makes it?? :O
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A happy 2x backer. I feel like having a Pebble stamped with "Kickstarter Edition" is the new status symbol.
@noinput Whoa that's awesome! Thanks for saddling up a second time. It's gonna be a fun ride!
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Timeline is brilliant. I'm surprised people aren't talking about it more.
We already look at our watches and think "shoot I have to be there in 30 min" or "how long has it been since ____?" that it makes so much sense to add and display information in that context. People are calling it Pebble's version of Google Now, but that seems inaccurate since Google Now is predictive and you can't cycle through a timeline after a card disappears.
I've been pretty skeptical about smartwatches, too, since they all seem to be notification or app extensions, but now I can see how they could be really useful. This could be the killer smartwatch app that @jason and others are talking about.
Edit: This is the best feature I could find that really digs into Timeline.
https://medium.com/backchannel/t...
Really crazy start. They reached their 500k goal in under 20 minutes. In the last 20 minutes they've raised:
$37,142 per minute
which translates to
$2,228,571 per hour
$53,485,725 per day
and it's been increasing...
I made this little site to track it: https://pebbletimetracker.heroku...
Should have posted this earlier when we were live, but we did a Reddit IAmA today. It was a blast and gave us a chance to field Pebblers' most burning questions directly. http://pbl.io/ks2ama
@jisforjoe I got the e-mail whilst sleeping, woke up to find it was over. Very disappoint :)
One thing I don't see in there is much mention of your Kickstarter strategy and I'd love to pick your brain. Maybe @shobeir & @ericmigi can chip in as well.
Obviously Pebble has a lot of clout from a Kickstarter street cred point of view, but from what I can see, you guys aren't just relying on "sticking it up there and seeing what happens". You're ticking all the boxes in terms of doing a proper Kickstarter launch.
Within 30 minutes of launching on Kickstarter you had a behind-the-scenes Medium article and a ProductHunt post. A Reddit AMA on launch day is genius as well. What else did you do, or are you doing, as part of your launch strategy?
@shobeir@ericmigi@rossdcurrie Without giving away the keys to the kingdom, I will say that it's a mix of specifically planned out things + fortuitous timing.
The Product Hunt post was simply @rrhoover being amazeballs and up early.
When this campaign is in the books, there will be lots of time to reflect and assess what worked and what didn't. We'd love to share insights at that time.
Thanks for the support Ryan, and all the Pebblers who've raised their hands today who believe there's a much cooler way to make something people love. It's going to be a month of fun so keep tuned in!
Kickstarter has blogged a bit of info about the records that Pebble has broken: https://www.kickstarter.com/blog...
I'd also add that since Pebble passed ~$8.8m they've held 2 of the "Top 3 Most Funded Projects Of All Time", knocking out Exploding Kittens who had held the spot for less than a week.
Now at $9.7m they're close to overtaking their last project @ $10.2m and Coolest Cooler is definitely in sight @ $13.2m.
Anyone who sees Kickstarter as a funding platform and not a marketing platform is short-sighted. Great job Pebble!
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@rossdcurrie The rich get richer...what happened to "Kickstarter Is Not A Store"?
@mzuvella You should check out the answer they gave in their Reddit AMA about this very topic. I think they sum it up quite well: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/com...
But also I think it's important to note that the "Kickstarter is not a Store" article (https://www.kickstarter.com/blog...) isn't really talking about companies that use the platform to launch their products. It's actually directed at Backers who back a project and then get upset when it doesn't ship right away.
I ran a successful Kickstarter project to produce the first iteration of one of my products and I am 100% definitely going to use it to launch the second iteration. In fact, I feel I owe it to the Kickstarter community, who got me started in the first place, to give them the chance to get first dibs on version 2.
Plus, it's a great marketing tool. If you don't like "the rich" using Kickstarter, quit complaining about it and go launch your own project. Pebble's first project was the most funded project ever until Coolest Cooler and when they launched it they certainly weren't in the position they are now. You could do the same.
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@rossdcurrie Pebble claiming they are 'small guy' (via Reddit AMA) is a load of BS...they have $40+m in venture capital funding. Kickstarter is not designed for companies like that and I feel that was the point of the "Kickstarter Is Not A Store" blog post.
Not complaining. Not denying its a great marketing tool. Stating a point that companies with $40 million in their pockets shouldn't be allowed on Kickstarter.
Pebble 2, Time 2 + All-New Pebble Core
Starry
Pebble 2, Time 2 + All-New Pebble Core
Brutal Teardowns
Pebble 2, Time 2 + All-New Pebble Core
Pebble 2, Time 2 + All-New Pebble Core
Brutal Teardowns
Brutal Teardowns