My Original Pebble Watch is awesome again

It was always great, but now it’s awesome

I didn’t kickstart the original Pebble, but I got one early enough that my watch says “Kickstarter Edition” on the back. Let’s just say that I’m an early adopter. I had one of the old, black-and-white blackberries. I had the Motorola Droid (yes, the original one with the slide-out keyboard). So naturally I got a Pebble, and it was awesome. Over time, it became great, but less awesome. The software just got stale, and using it became less novel. I eventually got to the point where I stopped wearing it, citing reasons like “I want to be less connected.” Turns out how connected you are is a function of you as a person, not what watch you wear. You live and learn.

So when I put my Pebble back on recently, I was greeted by a familiar interface. But shortly thereafter, I learned that the Pebble team did something incredible. They backported the software that runs their new watch, the Pebble Time, to the original Pebble. This strikes me as an incredible effort on their part. Most companies would be content to say, “if you want the new software, buy the new device.” But not Pebble. They went the extra mile, and it makes me love them more.

So how is this new software? It’s awesome. It’s like having a new watch. It’s hard to overstate how easily a software update can breathe new life into an older device. The screens are every bit as quick as they were before, but with neat little animations to go with. Gone is the eight-app limit. The new apps that come by default with the software update are snappy and good looking. By far the biggest improvement is the addition of the Timeline. Where pressing up or down on the old software changed to the previous or next watch face, now either button brings up the new Timeline, showing either what’s next on your schedule or what happened earlier today. And of course, you can still long press either button to launch a predetermined app. It’s just a huge improvement.

I’ve written here, and then retracted it here, about devices that should or should not get software updates. I think Pebble has pretty conclusively proven that if done right, software updates can bring new life to old devices. And I’m sure glad they did.