Thoughts on Pebble Index 01

This week, Eric Migicovsky, formerly of Pebble and now of Pebble again, launched Pebble Index 01, an AI pendant device in the shape of a ring that lets wearers capture short dictation on the go. From their announcement:

Do you ever have flashes of insight or an idea worth remembering? This happens to me 5-10 times every day. If I don’t write down the thought immediately, it slips out of my mind. Worst of all, I remember that I’ve forgotten something and spend the next 10 minutes trying to remember what it is. So I invented external memory for my brain.

Introducing Pebble Index 01 - a small ring with a button and microphone. Hold the button, whisper your thought, and it’s sent to your phone. It’s added to your notes, set as a reminder, or saved for later review.

I’ve long believed there’s a market for a device like this. I’m not sure I want to wear another ring (I already wear a wedding ring and Oura ring), but I’m all for hardware makers entering this category and pushing it forward.

I think of these as devices I’d use when walking my dog because that’s when I feel the pull to capture my thoughts and reminders without getting distracted by my phone.

I do continue to wonder why the Apple Watch isn’t this device yet. From me back in October:

At the recommendation of David Sparks, I plan to take a closer look at Whisper Memos for Apple Watch, although I’m hoping that Granola or WisprFlow, two apps I already pay for, will consider Watch apps in the near future.

One caveat with the ring form factor is cold weather. Here in the Northeast of the United States, there are a number of glove-heavy months that will make voice capture challenging to a ring.

Also, it seems like Pebble wasn’t the only AI company to announce a smart ring this week. From TechCrunch: Former Meta employees launch Stream, a smart ring that takes voice notes and controls music.

In any event, there’s something to the Index 01, and I’ll be watching this space closely.