Ksetyadi's [B]Log

It all began with a post from Kickstarter.

I’m really obsessed with technologies that can be customized and potentially useful in the future such as Google Glass, Android and so on. If some technologies come up and it says that I can create apps on top of it or it can be customized with coding, I definitely want to try it. So I decided to bought Pebble.

It doesn’t take too long for the shipping to be arrived (between 2 to 3 weeks). By the time I received the package, I opened it up and wore it on my wrist. It fits my wrist and really comfortable. I wore it for a whole day, reading the developer’s documentation, trying to make a simple ‘Hello World’ and reading specification on how to communicate with other devices using Bluetooth.

My simple conclusion is: I like it, and this is why I like Pebble.

1. It’s comfortable

I’m a big fan of watch and I frequently changed my watch because my skin can easily get irritated with the material used even at day 1. I changed every so often to get the best type of watch but couldn’t find one (I never want to try a watch that cost more than, let’s say, USD 1000 if it’s only a “usual” watch, not a “technological” watch). Pebble’s material is good enough it didn’t cause irritation. Let’s see in a month.

2. It’s simple

The simplicity is not a thing everybody wants since it costs USD 150 and people expect more. In the mean time, I just need to know the time in an elegant way and do everything else on my Android. But since Pebble can connect to the Android using Bluetooth, here is my 3rd reason…

3. Connected

I was in the middle of meeting and my Android was left on my table, 3 meters away. Someone called me and in a second, my Pebble vibrated to notify me about the incoming call, with the name of the caller showed on the screen and not only just the number! It turned out that my friend called me and I decided to silence it out since I could call him back later. 3 minutes or so after the call, my Pebble vibrated again and it showed that I have an incoming email. I read it on my Pebble and dismiss the message as soon as I read it. It’s fun without being irritating someone (or everyone?) in a meeting by checking my smartphone frequently.

4. Lengthen my Android’s charging cycle

I used to charged my Android every 14 – 18 hours but since I have my Pebble around, I charged my Android almost every night and never got run out of battery in the noon (which is last more than 24 hours, sometimes 48 hours). I’m not a smartphone fan-boy and more to laptop or desktop fan-boy (because I’m a programmer and I need laptop/desktop more than smartphone) but still, the decreasing charging cycle makes me quite happy.

5. Customized with Coding

Last but not least, this is the main reason why I bought Pebble. I know it’s not yet reach its full potentiality but at least I can play with it and see what can I do with it. I need to know its power as well as its limitation so I can imagine and create what kind of functionality this device is capable of. The bonus point is that it’s using C language (I’m not a Jedi on C but I’m a big fan of it. Strange, isn’t it?).

This is my tweet on using Pebble: https://twitter.com/ksetyadi/status/379495730173313024.