Rex Hammock has posted a great review of the Amazon Kindle ebook reader. The whole thing is worth a read. There is one point in particular that is interesting to me and I think Rex is spot on in his observation:
“The EVDO wireless connection is incredibly fast when it comes to downloading books. (However, there are some spots where it doesn’t work, I’ve read.) This aspect of the Kindle is truly phenomenal. Indeed, if anything about the device is radically disruptive, it’s the way in which cellular technology is being used in a device that is not a mobile phone.”
This is what the Sprint WiMax service and Verizon’s “opening” of their network is really about.
I have had a Verizon EVDO card for just over a year and I am able to tether my laptop to Sprint’s EVDO network via my phone. Mobile connectivity that is consistently available everywhere I go is a game changer.
Also, Rex’s point about buying more books as a result of the Kindle is a good one. I wonder how much of the iPhone’s existence is due to that logic (buy a song anywhere, spontaneously).
Note: I will not be buying a Kindle. An the title of this post is a bit of a stretch.
3 Comments
I played with one the other day. The user experience sucks like nothing has ever sucked before. From a technical standpoint and from a sales/marketing standpoint, I can see the genius: as you say, the cellular technology angle is pretty clever, and this “whispernet” stuff is clearly all about upsell. So they’re clever people, no doubt. But couldn’t they have gotten a decent user interaction designer to make it usable? Sheesh.
Man. Your dad is glad that he did not buy you one for Christmas.
Whew. That could have been awkward.