Pebble was bought out by Fitbit, who got bought out by Google. I had the kickstarter Pebble and felt Eric did an awesome job. But really it was the Apple watch that killed Pebble in the marketplace tbh.
I still miss my OG Pebble sometimes. My wife says her Pebble Round was superior for what she actually uses a smartwatch for vs the Apple Watch she now has. When her Round failed, support quickly - but erroneously - sent her a brand new Time Steel as a replacement. In the midst of us trying to get it swapped for a Round the company shut down. It’s always stuck with me that the customer service was so “good” that they burned through all their cash.
I’ve been on free Beeper since the summer and it’s my primary messaging app now. Support has been personal, quick, and far and above the support I get from a lot of paid services. I just hope they don’t run out of runway, because Beeper is the happiest I’ve been with my messaging setup since Hangouts. I gladly signed up for Mini yesterday and will be happy to retire the used iPhone 8 I was using to keep my Android # active on iMessage.