Events happen during our lives shaping how we live from that moment on. Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone in 2007 cannot be stated enough times how it changed everything we do. The Nintendo Entertainment System hitting the US in 1985 revived a dying industry and set off a video game revolution. On April 11, 2012 an unknown group of five people would cause a seismic shift in a category without a name (now called ‘wearables’). This is life with the Pebble.

Capturing The Imagination

Movies and television have always pointed to a future where we talk to our watch. Dick Tracy and Michael Knight used their watches as just another tool. Albeit an awesome one that only Hollywood could invent. Nevertheless, as a kid of the 80's I dreamed of owning the watch adorning David Hasselhoff’s wrist. The sheer concept of something you wore to communicate was fascinating. Microsoft tried their hand at this game and failed miserably. The idea was left to the stuff of science fiction. Then Kickstarter changed the game.

On that fateful April day, the internet was abuzz with news of the Pebble watch. One look at their Kickstarter video was enough to capture that imagination once again. The timing was perfect. iPhone and Android devices were quite commonplace. A new and revolutionary way to interact with the phone struck a chord. Pebble needed $100,000 and ended up with $10 million. I became a color backer 52,744 — 54,558 (you cannot know your exact backer number) and waited. I waited more. Then I waited some more. In all, it took 425 days from when I decided I wanted a Pebble to it showing up at my door.

Life: on my wrist

On July 1st I unboxed my Pebble, strapped it on, and connected it to my iPhone. Just like when I held an iPhone for the first time, I knew the Pebble was something I’d have for a very long time. As expected, I’ve never gone a day without wearing it. The Pebble is small, yet large. Powerful, yet simple. During multiple interviews, Eric Migicovsky said their focus was getting the core experience nailed and dismissing all the extra stuff. That laser-focus is why the Pebble has lived up to almost every expectation shown on the Kickstarter video.

In minutes my first notification came in moments after I received a text message on my phone. This astounded me. Scroll through and dismiss. I repeated this with calls and then tried the music controls. Incredible stuff. It just worked. Yes it was missing more functionality on my end than Android users, but I saw the potential. I knew because this watch was 95% software, it would only get better. Boy, was I right.

iOS 7 changes the game once again

Whether Apple was listening to Pebble or not remains to be seen, but a core feature introduced in iOS 7 upended everything we knew about the Pebble. iOS 7 added NCS (Notification Center Service) to every device upgrading and thus unlocked the full power of Pebble. Instead of doing the finger dance, everyone could receive all notifications with zero work. Thanks to the foresight of including a Bluetooth LE component in every Pebble, a simple software update activated it and everyone was in business.

For me, I finally had the watch I wanted from 18-months ago. All notifications, music control, infinite watch faces, and apps where the only limit is the imagination. I developed a watch face of my own and loved learning more of how it worked. Then, interestingly, I gained something even more important.

Deciding what’s important

The most unexpected part of life with my Pebble is how it washes away anxiety. For years I’ve felt phantom vibrations that had me constantly pulling my trusty iPhone out of my pocket to check it. Each time I would put my phone down and then get a notification, I’d run to see what it was. Thankfully my Pebble has broken the chains of feeling obligated to know what my iPhone wants to tell me.

When I am at work, I can get up and be away from my desk (where my phone sits) and I no longer worry my wife is sending me a text. I read it on my Pebble and know if a response can wait. When an email comes in while relaxing with a book at home, I can glance at my watch and decide if I want to get up. The interrupter in my life has been relegated to a place of information, not a place of urgency. A glance at my wrist is less intrusive during a meeting than grabbing my phone. I can hold a conversation without my iPhone as a third player in the discussion. I am once again in the driver’s seat with my stream of information.