Pebble

[Lazybones]

I like brining my phone camping to track my random trail walks or bike rides. It is also my camera in many case to capture the moment to share with others.

I know just as many adults that would go camping which amounted to sitting chairs 90% of the trip, drinking beers and read paperbacks on the beach.

I do totally agree however that at dinner and when over for a visit you should actively disconnect and engage with people.  I know I am guilty of it and it is actually hard at times.

[Thorin]

Also, who the hell brings their phone CAMPING sheesh

Pretty much anyone with a smartphone.

Given the extensive cell coverage these days, they're good for using as alarm clocks, they're good for playing music at night to get the kids to sleep, they're good for checking the weather forecast, they're good to stay in contact with family members walking around the campground on their own when a bear has been sighted (this has happened to me twice on two different trips now - one was about 40 feet away, the other was up a tree).

The trick is to limit their use so that the kids remember to go out and walk around and take in the scenery.  It's not every day that you are walking in a national park in the shadow of a mountain.

I do totally agree however that at dinner and when over for a visit you should actively disconnect and engage with people.  I know I am guilty of it and it is actually hard at times.

I think you're saying disconnecting from the screens and engaging with people is hard - if so, I totally agree.  I've also found, through close study of my brood and their friends, that the longer one sits and uses a screen (video game, smartphone, tv), the harder it becomes to re-engage reality.  This is why I used to limit my kids' continuous screen time.  We've had enough talks about it now that I think they kind of understand, but there are still times where someone's been sitting on their phone for 2+ hours and then you ask them to do something and they don't answer so you ask a few more times and then they snap and scream at you because (subconsciously) how dare you interrupt the activity that is actively feeding their brain dopamine?

[Lazybones]

Back on topic:

Pro:
Pebble has a nice easy to read watch face, customization via apps shows huge potential. Receiving meeting reminders on the watch with title and room name is really handy along with all other notifications, when they work.

Con:
- this is beta land at the moment, the SDK is incomplete, the few faces and apps may crash or do odd things like screw up fonts. iOS notification forwarding is not reliable


I am totally looking forward to new apps, web service integration with ITTT and everything else as it matures.

At this moment it is NOT ready for the average joe user, it is pure techie land full of workarounds.

However I kind of expected that when I funded it as a kick starter so that is ok.

[Lazybones]

Some pics

[Darren Dirt]

What you're describing there is people zoning out when they're on their own or surrounded by strangers. What I'm talking about is willful withdrawal from social interactions with friends and lived ones.

Yeah, I agree with Thorin.

My example is three kids and a wife sitting in the living room with their phones out, the TV on, and no one responding when someone asks a question.

Imagine if I came to your house to hang out with you, then spent the whole time on my phone while ignoring you. Would that not bother you? I've seen this with increasing frequency in the young 'uns in my house.

...

there are still times where someone's been sitting on their phone for 2+ hours and then you ask them to do something and they don't answer so you ask a few more times and then they snap and scream at you because (subconsciously) how dare you interrupt the activity that is actively feeding their brain dopamine?

...yeah, I gave it some further thought and I very much do still agree with Thorin. Wow eh (there's hope for me yet? )

[Mr. Analog]

Lazy, how heavy is the Pebble? Any different than a regular watch?

[Lazybones]

It is like a very light plastic sport watch. I have been using a stainless steal Casio ecodrive watch which is VERY heavy in comparison.

FYI preordering one now there is no telling how long the wait would be, they still have not shipped all of the kick starter orders or fixed issues making the colour ones.

[Lazybones]

FYI it weighs 37g for the watch with included strap.

[Lazybones]

A really fancy RPG dice roller.

http://forums.getpebble.com/discussion/4830/app-rolling-pebble-an-rpg-dice-roller

Reminds me I have no idea where my dice are.

[Mr. Analog]

Nice! haha

[Thorin]

I really like dice macros as used in online D&D games these days - set up all your rolls with all standard modifiers, then one click and boom, the DM tells you if you succeed or not.  For in-person games, though, I really want to roll real dice.

Still, it's really cool that they can work out a dice roller showing the appropriate number of sides on that small of a screen.  What's the resolution of it?

[Lazybones]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_%28watch%29#Specifications
The watch has a 1.26-inch 144 ? 168 pixel black and white ultra low power "memory LCD" made by Sharp

[Darren Dirt]

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/27/new-workout-app-for-pebble-shows-why-your-wrist-might-the-new-hot-spot-for-mobile-devs/



Can the Pebble use its current tech to do stuff like the W/Me?

[Lazybones]

The Pebble has an accelerometer , so hardware wise it can do what some o the fitbit type devices due.

However the hardware has not been fully exposed in the APIs yet

[Melbosa]

Can get yours now at Best Buy this month: http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/07/02/best-buy-to-sell-the-pebble-smartwatch-starting-july-7th