Saturday, May 30, 2015

Pebble stumbles

I have had a Pebble Steel watch now for nearly 2 years. I was an original Kickstarter backer of the first model. I am a Kickstarter backer of the Pebble Steel Time model (ships in July, plastic one already shipping). 

However, since their late March update (2.9.1) for iOS 8.2, the watch has been "combat ineffective". Essentially, they 'improved' its ability when missing updates to figure that out and ensure you have them. However, in practical reality if confuses itself, reloads all of the updates that I have already seen, which both frustrates and bores me. Then when I stop looking, it overloads the buffer and reboots. After 3 re-boots it goes into re-pairing mode (which also kills the battery quickly). 



I have reached out to Pebble multiple times but they keep telling me I need to remove a "buggy app" loaded into the watch. Having removed all apps, I know it is the 2.9.1 update. In fact, the "hot fix" or "work around" is to turn-off BluTooth - which keeps it from overloading...and makes it just an ordinary (dumb) watch. 

My Apple Watch arrives next week, so my guess is that this is an untimely error from Pebble (and poor customer support) which will remove the dilemma I worried about (which watch to wear). 


Friday, May 29, 2015

Tesla 6.2 Update arrives

I was all excited this morning when I saw the update notification. I was hoping for autopilot as a delivered feature. 

Not nearly so exciting. Primarily an update around charging planning (ie to reduce range anxiety) and minor updates to improve blind spot warnings and automatic cruise control (and collision avoidance). 


Saturday, May 9, 2015

No Ubers in Vancouver

I had the awkward experience of taking a taxi to the airport last night. First I had to ask if the taxi took credit cards. Then I had a horrible drive experience while the taxi driver yelled at some of the other drivers in traffic. Then when I went to pay for my taxi he told me he didn't take American Express (had he told me that upfront, I would not have gotten it in the taxi). And then when I went to pay him he told me that most people tip more than 10%. 

Is there any one in the Taxi industry who really thinks this is a better experience than an Uber?