Pebble: imore.com
And I am not doing any geeky stuff…yet
I recently wrote how I sold my soul in order to obtain Pebble here in India. It’s been a month since I started using this neat little piece of gadget and I am drenched in love.
No, it does not make me fart rainbow or make me feel like I am wearing Pip-Boy 3000. For me, it’s simply an extension of my mobile phone screen.
Hundreds of reviews have pointed out the stupidity of having a watch which mimics few features of your smart phone and requires your smart phone to be in your vicinity. And then there are those who say that the “smart” watch has arrived. Therefore, I will refrain from “reviewing” Pebble. Let me just expand on how its affecting me personally.
I drive a 2 wheeler to work and therefore spend more than 1.5 hours on roads of Bangalore daily. If you ever been to Bangalore, you would have shed a tear or two for me already. The dust, pollution and continuous honking of ear-killing horns can have real health hazards. This is one of the reasons I am so passionate about my ride sharing start-up, ridingO.
I also suffer from Signal Detection Syndrome, if it can be termed like that. I regularly feel like my phone is vibrating which I later found (thankfully!) to be a fairly common phenomenon (80% of mobile phone users). It has become an unavoidable habit to take out the phone from pocket even without notifications and read tweets, posts or even just refresh all of these. I believe this leads to lack of concentration bordering on ADHD.
And therefore I found Pebble to be very useful. Here’s how
I nowadays listen to music while driving, at volume which allow me some peace but also let me hear vehicle horns at a pleasant volume, similar to what you hear if you are inside a closed car. And Pebble helps me remain in control of the music.
I now put my phone on silent starting from the moment I walk out of my home and switch on the ring only when I take off Pebble when back.Its a sort of a tiny miracle that I have stopped looking at my phone screen without having a real reason (the word “real” is debatable!).
The sudden vibrations on wrist are annoying at first. But with a little practice, I have now learned how to look at my Pebble secretly when it vibrates. This helps me in avoiding distracting the person who is speaking to me.
Lastly, its a great conversation starter. You can paint yourself as a geek, a crowd funding fan, a smart tech user etc.
This is a real picture of my left hand :-)
Let me know if any of you are using it in India, and what has been your experience.