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One week is plenty for me. If I will be more than a week away from electricity then maybe I'll consider a Cybook for the trip (or a solar charger). Three weeks with no recharging is certainly better than one but the difference doesn't really increase value for me or make it more book-like. Of course I actually view the ways in which it goes beyond the book to be added value. I think that's just a point on which we will probably always differ.
Harry,
Many consumer products are released in stages to different markets, especially things like mobile devices. Just because it's been released first with EVDO in the US doesn't mean it can never, ever have any other sort of connection. The iPhone almost ended up EVDO, too, but talks with Verizon fell apart and AT&T picked it up. If they hadn't, Apple could've just replaced the chipset and radio for a European version. It would've been simpler as far as hardware goes if Amazon had partnered with AT&T or T-Mobile to begin with, but their data coverage isn't as good in many places here. I don't know if it boiled down to that or just to who gave them the best deal for the Whispernet, but either way it doesn't close down future hardware releases. It appears Amazon's model for this device is access over the mobile wireless network rather than using wifi. I'm guessing this is partially for control and partially to appeal to the road warriors and commuters out there. The downside is this entails partnerships with service providers. Just because Amazon doesn't have one with any non-US carriers yet doesn't mean they won't in the future. Having GSM hardware wouldn't automatically extend Whispernet globally. That would still take some business deals.
While it is unavailable to 95% of the planet at the moment, they weren't launching to 95% of the planet and EVDO, being an old, well-established technology, is available most of the time to most folks in the US. Besides, I'm not sure what the electronic rights situation is with Amazon's American ebooks. I would imagine there are restrictions. Notice Sony won't sell content to you, either, if you live outside the US. I hope that Amazon eventually expands to offer electronic content all over the world but I'm glad they didn't wait until they could to release the Kindle here. As often as I leave the country, maybe once or twice a year, I'll be ok downloading via computer and loading via USB. Being out of the country reduces the functionality in that regard to that of every other reader on the market. Would it be great if it also had wifi or was compatible with networks all over the world? Heck yeah! But for what's available to me right now, this provides some great extra convenience while I'm in the country which is the vast majority of the time.
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