Pebble launched a low-cost, no-charging, private, open smart ring today. But it's part of a bigger story about how smart rings will help kill the smartphone.
This is a fascinating pivot for Pebble, and I appreciate how cleanly they’ve committed to a single, private function rather than trying to mimic a miniature smartwatch. A sub-$100 on-device recorder with no cloud dependency feels like exactly the kind of quiet innovation that pushes wearables deeper into everyday use. If this really is the point where ring-based interfaces begin replacing pieces of the phone, Pebble may have just stepped back into the conversation at exactly the right moment.
I think you have an overblown idea of how much everyday people want gadgets. Look around on the streets, as many people use their phones without headphones as do, apple watches may be slowly becoming ubiquitous but I do not see a world where the "normies" are going to want to have to keep track of, and for most devices charge, headphones, glasses, rings, and god knows what else. One of the main reasons, IMO, that smartphones have become what they are is because the are a multifunction tool. Break all the usefulness into multiple devices and I think you lose people.
I'm lucky in that I work in elementary education, in a private school in New York and have a huge age range of coworkers and students and parents. The income range is broad as well from upper middle to lower. You definitely see massively different levels of technological adoption across all ranges, and it doesn't seem to break down neatly along income levels or age groups.
It's an interesting time to be interested in tech!
You are mistaken about what happens when the battery in the ring dies. Eric's post said that you can send the ring back to Pebble to be **recycled**, not recharged.
I bought one of Pebble's new watches, and was intrigued enough to consider buying the ring, but decided against it when I read that it becomes e-waste when the battery runs out.
This is a fascinating pivot for Pebble, and I appreciate how cleanly they’ve committed to a single, private function rather than trying to mimic a miniature smartwatch. A sub-$100 on-device recorder with no cloud dependency feels like exactly the kind of quiet innovation that pushes wearables deeper into everyday use. If this really is the point where ring-based interfaces begin replacing pieces of the phone, Pebble may have just stepped back into the conversation at exactly the right moment.
I think you have an overblown idea of how much everyday people want gadgets. Look around on the streets, as many people use their phones without headphones as do, apple watches may be slowly becoming ubiquitous but I do not see a world where the "normies" are going to want to have to keep track of, and for most devices charge, headphones, glasses, rings, and god knows what else. One of the main reasons, IMO, that smartphones have become what they are is because the are a multifunction tool. Break all the usefulness into multiple devices and I think you lose people.
You might be right. This is new territory. Nobody really knows
what the general public will accept.
Agreed
I'm lucky in that I work in elementary education, in a private school in New York and have a huge age range of coworkers and students and parents. The income range is broad as well from upper middle to lower. You definitely see massively different levels of technological adoption across all ranges, and it doesn't seem to break down neatly along income levels or age groups.
It's an interesting time to be interested in tech!
You are mistaken about what happens when the battery in the ring dies. Eric's post said that you can send the ring back to Pebble to be **recycled**, not recharged.
I bought one of Pebble's new watches, and was intrigued enough to consider buying the ring, but decided against it when I read that it becomes e-waste when the battery runs out.
Yeah, that was a type that I corrected on the web version (but sadly can‘t correct on the already emailed version…)