Re:Pebble Watch SDK Coming in April
by mongol on Saturday March 16, 2013 @06:29PM
(#5387057)
From a startup perspective, Pebble is an example of how to ruin an opportunity to build a community around a product offer. The communication around the SDK to prospective developers that backed the project has been absolutely abysmal. The absence of transparency to those that backed it and neglect of promises during financing period (Especially concerning "Update 4" in its Kickstarter page) are what other investors should study to learn about that.
Re:Pebble Watch SDK Coming in April
by halmcelroy on Saturday March 16, 2013 @08:26PM
(#5387393)
I backed the watch last April. To be fair, they did a kickass job on the hardware itself. But the software leaves a lot to be desired. It's very buggy and the iOS integration has a long way to go.
I too feel that the bad communication regarding the SDK was very poor form. They could've just said, "Hey, sorry for the delay, but we're working hard on bringing the SDK to you. Here's what's going on with it.". Instead, they went totally radio silent, leading to speculations that they're in talks with Apple to be acquired.
When you're a small company, and have springboarded from a platform like Kickstarter, I would've thought that your best advocates are the early adopters who backed you and helped you bring this wonderful product to life. They will live though the rough edges and evangelize to no end if they feel that the company has their interests as customers/developers at heart. Instead if you go to the forums, you feel like the majority feel like they were betrayed. I guess if they were trying to emulate Apple in their communication approach, it backfired on them completely.
Re:Pebble Watch SDK Coming in April
by benologist on Saturday March 16, 2013 @10:09PM
(#5387698)
This whole article is somewhere between spam and plagiarism. Probably both. Mashable didn't even bother linking to the product or kickstarter or official update they reworded!
Re:Pebble Watch SDK Coming in April
by joenathan on Saturday March 16, 2013 @09:04PM
(#5387495)
My expected ship date seems to be "shipping address complete", I wish I had a shipping date, this all the info I have. http://i.minus.com/ibrC8T8Nc6rI5v.PNG
I too feel that the bad communication regarding the SDK was very poor form. They could've just said, "Hey, sorry for the delay, but we're working hard on bringing the SDK to you. Here's what's going on with it.". Instead, they went totally radio silent, leading to speculations that they're in talks with Apple to be acquired.
When you're a small company, and have springboarded from a platform like Kickstarter, I would've thought that your best advocates are the early adopters who backed you and helped you bring this wonderful product to life. They will live though the rough edges and evangelize to no end if they feel that the company has their interests as customers/developers at heart. Instead if you go to the forums, you feel like the majority feel like they were betrayed. I guess if they were trying to emulate Apple in their communication approach, it backfired on them completely.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper...