I posted this on Twitter, but re-posting on HN for further discussion...
A lot of people are going to be talking about how Core is a wearable for runners, but if that's all, we (and _especially_ we at HN) are missing the bigger point.
The Pebble Core is what the Raspberry Pi should be - a fully functional computer so small it fits on a keychain.
One way of thinking about the Pebble Core is as the new CPU at the heart of a new motherboard. If you're building an internet connected piece of hardware, the Core is at the heart of it.
That's what I thought, an upgraded and packaged version of Photon & Electron[1].
But Pebble needs to get serious about openness if they want this thing to catch on. There are already dozens of companies trying this on Ali-Express, Indie-Gogo, Kickstarter, etc.
It is not enough to be "developer friendly", they need an API that gives open access to all the hardware, including Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS controllers. They promised an Bluetooth LE API on Pebble for the end of 2015 and we have nothing so far.
> The Pebble Core is what the Raspberry Pi should be - a fully functional computer so small it fits on a keychain.
Oh... wow... that's very exciting if this is what it is... but then why not market it as such (a competitor to the Pi) instead of a very limited/specialized accessory to a not super exciting watch?
I have plenty of Pis (well, 4) and always wish they were smaller, and had wifi / bluetooth / 3g out of the box; I would buy what you just described in an instant.
(As it's currently described by Pebble, though, it's not that enticing. Maybe we just need to wait.)
Edit: it is actually described as a micro computer on the KS campaign, but buried way down into the page; it's not even immediately clear one can buy the Core without the watch; doesn't it deserve to be marketed independently?
Core is not extensible at all in terms of adding hardware to it. I don't see many people using Pi with only GPS and cell data and accelerometer and not connected to anything else.
I read your post on twitter and absolutely loved it. But Pebble needs to make it accessible. Maybe a special dev version (not everybody will need/want to hack their Core).
I love it when a product gets a new use through mostly a marketing change rather than anything technical.
A lot of people are going to be talking about how Core is a wearable for runners, but if that's all, we (and _especially_ we at HN) are missing the bigger point.
The Pebble Core is what the Raspberry Pi should be - a fully functional computer so small it fits on a keychain.
One way of thinking about the Pebble Core is as the new CPU at the heart of a new motherboard. If you're building an internet connected piece of hardware, the Core is at the heart of it.