Amazon Kindle wireless: The (non)global angle—plus, how to see if your neighborhood is in the coverage area, BEFORE you buy
So will the Kindle go international soon or a least reach Europe? Best of luck to MobileReaders who are trying to make that happen in Germany and elsewhere, perhaps through Vodafone.
Meanwhile, here in the States, Amazon is downplaying the fact that if you live in certain locations, Whispernet might not be able to whisk your e-books to you via wireless. The fine print is too far down on the Kindle products page. To Amazon’s credit, the company does say that Montana and Alaska lack Kindle coverage, and as Isabelle Fetherston, a TeleBlog contributor, discovered, Amazon has a Check Wireless Coverage warning, but you need to call or fill out a “contact us” form. Besides, most shoppers would never notice the caveats. Luckily, Isabelle has tracked down a page that can immediately show whether you’re covered—right down to the street level. Why isn’t Amazon itself so helpful? This is a company with all too many gotchas, such as the current refusal of Jeff Bezos and friends to let the Kindle read DRMed Mobipocket books even though Amazon owns Mobi.
The alternative to wireless: As I recall, you can get books into your Kindle via your computer and regular Net connection. Still, isn’t one of the main points of the Kindle to simplify downloading via the wireless feature?
(Updated at 12:48 p.m. Dec. 10 to reflect Isabelle’s discovery of the “Check Wireless Coverage” form. Perhaps even added since she first looked? I’m just wondering. Meanwhile thanks to Mike Cane for raising the geographical issue for the TeleBlog.)
July 17th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Will Kindle or Kindle 2.0 be a suitable substitute for a Blackberry or laptop when backpacking in Europe anytime soon?