Just over a week ago, I backed a [Kickstarter](http://www.kickstarter.com) project called the [Pebble E-Paper Watch](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android?ref=email).

I meant to blog about it then, saying that I was calling it early as the next big thing. But, it appears, I’m already too late; in under a week, the Pebble shot past its $100,000 fundraising goal, to a current $5,839,829. I guess I’m not the only person to have noticed.

Nonetheless, if you’re not one of the 40,000 people who hopped on to the project (essentially pre-ordering one), you should. By ingeniously using e-paper (the same stuff found in a Kindle screen) instead of an LCD, the Pebble has long enough battery life (over a week between charges) to make it practical as a watch. But, as it communicates with your iPhone or Android phone by Bluetooth, it can do things your current watch probably can’t. Like show the caller ID of incoming phone calls while the phone is still in your pocket, alert you when it’s about to rain, control your music, work as a golf rangefinder, etc.

Dick Tracy would be jealous. And so will a lot of other people. I’m apparently not quite as early on this one as I thought, but I still stand by my original sentiment: The Pebble, and devices like it, are about to be big.