MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - The EV-DO Thread

Adam B. · 09-12-2007, 09:20 AM

I have yet to understand the point of EVDO in the Kindle. Yes, it will allow you to surf the internet on an e-ink screen (not really all that fun, honestly), yes you can download new books from anywhere. But how will it work?

Typically, to have EVDO access, you have to sign a contract with a cellular carrier. I have a mobile broadband card with Sprint, and my cell phone has an EVDO data plan. The sprint card is about $60 a month, and the data plan on my cell phone is about $45 in addition to my typical contract. I can't imagine anyone paying $45-$60 for internet access on an ebook reader.

An unlikely scenario is that Amazon is working on a deal with an existing carrier to provide free (or very cheap) access. I think this is highly unlikely, but it's the only thing that makes sense. If that's the case, surely they would have to be concerned about hacks. If I could buy a Kindle and get free/cheap EVDO access, of course I'd want to tether it to my laptop in order to have high speed access on there. If the Kindle is running linux (highly likely), it shouldn't be too difficult to make the necessary modifications to allow this.

09-12-2007, 09:20 AM	#1
Adam B. Addicted to Porting Posts: 1,697 Karma: 7194 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Device: iRex iLiad, Nokia 770, Samsung i760	The EV-DO Thread I have yet to understand the point of EVDO in the Kindle. Yes, it will allow you to surf the internet on an e-ink screen (not really all that fun, honestly), yes you can download new books from anywhere. But how will it work? Typically, to have EVDO access, you have to sign a contract with a cellular carrier. I have a mobile broadband card with Sprint, and my cell phone has an EVDO data plan. The sprint card is about $60 a month, and the data plan on my cell phone is about $45 in addition to my typical contract. I can't imagine anyone paying $45-$60 for internet access on an ebook reader. An unlikely scenario is that Amazon is working on a deal with an existing carrier to provide free (or very cheap) access. I think this is highly unlikely, but it's the only thing that makes sense. If that's the case, surely they would have to be concerned about hacks. If I could buy a Kindle and get free/cheap EVDO access, of course I'd want to tether it to my laptop in order to have high speed access on there. If the Kindle is running linux (highly likely), it shouldn't be too difficult to make the necessary modifications to allow this.