The founder of Pebble, Eric Migicovsky, has announced The return of one of the most influential smart watches in history. A decade after cementing the market, it returns with a similar vision – but not the same – to the original: do the right thing, but do it well … and sustainably as a company.
Why is it important. In a market dominated by the Apple Watch and other increasingly complex and complete watches, focused on health and sports, Pebble proposes to return to its roots: A screen e-paper Always active, a week of autonomy and physical buttons instead of touch screen. Without much more.
Between bambalins. Google, current owner of the brand after the purchase of Fitbit, who in turn was the one who bought what was left of Pebble in 2016, has decided to release the source code of Pebbleos. That allows Migicovsky to create a “spiritual clone” of the original clock under another brand.
Original Pebble. Image: Pebble.
The new device will maintain the essence of Pebble: notifications, music control, alarms, time, calendar and basic monitoring of activity. No electrocardiograms or blood oxygen measurement. Against the complexity of the watches of the present.
- The device still has no name.
- Migicovsky has only announced one domain: Repebble.com.
Yes, but. The big difference is in the business model. Migicovsky will finance the project personally, without external investors or Kickstarter campaigns, thanks to the businesses he has done since he left Pebble.
“The keyword is’ sustainable,” he said about it. One of Pebble’s mistakes ten years ago was growing in excess. When the skinny cows arrived, the cost structure was unassumable.
Deepen. The market of Wearable It has changed a lot since 2012, but there is an active community of Pebble users that keep the original devices alive: Rebble. The question is whether this minimalist approach can find its hole in 2025, when the industry is committed to complexity and advanced functions.
The new Pebble points to a specific user niche, not to a massive presence. In fact there are the shots of the sustainability that Migicovsky poses.
Outstanding image | REPEBBLE