[mazambazz]

Even though I haven't used one in a really long time, the Pebble Time still stands out to me as something I wish I still had.

It's an absolutely shame that Pebble was so innovative and functional, but couldn't reach mass market. But, I am extremely excited and happy that the Pebble team can start it again. I don't like Google for many things, but, I am grateful that the open-sourced PebbleOS. What a joyous day!

[TeMPOraL]

> It's an absolutely shame that Pebble was so innovative and functional, but couldn't reach mass market.

I think trying to reach "mass market" - or specifically, the market of people who are into fitness and sportsball - is largely what killed them. I'd like to believe that they could've catered to existing userbase a bit longer, grew a little more slowly but sustainably by doubling down on an idea of an ergonomic, battery-efficient, programmable smartwatch extension - a tool, not a toy.

Alas, maybe the whole thing was over once Apple, and Samsung got their marketing wheels spinning.

[Avamander]

> Alas, maybe the whole thing was over once Apple, and Samsung got their marketing wheels spinning.

Totally possible, like Nokia vs the iPhone. Difficult to say for sure though, seeing vendors like Fitbit and Garmin still operate in the same space.

[blackdisk]

I think the ethos if the tech world is "grow as fast as possible or die" but there should be more companies that create good products and make a profit catering to a small demographic. 2 million customers is nothing to sneeze at.

[BlueTemplar]

I'm still using it, in fact to the point that it's probably the biggest factor why I have been procrastinating on still staying on Android rather than trying alternatives like PinePhone.

That the OS has been open sourced is great news (though it's sad it was on GitHub... and hopefully other communities around Pebble will spring up outside of platforms (article only mentions Discord and Reddit)).

[zokier]

Pebble Time (Steel) Kickstarter is the only crowdfunding I truly regret missing out on. I remember seeing it at the time, but I think the reward levels I wanted were sold out or something.

Even in retrospect it seems weird that it failed the way it did.

[lclc]

On the GitHub it says: > Proprietary source code has been removed from this repository and it will not compile as-is. This is for information only.

Not sure how much use it is?

[agloe_dreams]

They list out what the proprietary bits are. All of it is third party gernical hardware interface libraries that they do not own. Bluetooth stack, etc. All stuff you can rewrite easier today.

The Magic of pebble was the UX of the OS and it's extensive hackability. All that magic is OSS now.