Will you buy the Kindle 3G or Kindle WiFi?

[bluemoonjules]

Of course there is 3G in the UK!

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by bluemoonjules

Of course there is 3G in the UK!

I believe it is known as BT or Vodaphone or Orange or...

[shanghaichica]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I believe it is known as BT or Vodaphone or Orange or...

or O2, Or T-mobile or 3G

Those are the major cellular network operators in the UK and they all have 3G networks.

[ProfCrash]

It might be a while but I can see myself buying a K3 WiFi. I am fine with my DXG but if I end up commuting for work I might decide to get the smaller version.

[Pandora]

This is my first Kindle and I have pre-ordered the 3G + WiFi. I was going to purchase the WiFi only model but OH persuaded me that it was better to go for the 3G for greater versatility.

[ZenRunner]

I ordered the WiFi only model because 3G reception is poor where I live and I don't have a need for 3G when I travel. I decided to put the savings towards a cover.

[Atilla]

I ordered the wi-fi only version. With the 3G model I will be tempted to use it to go online for other stuff.
I want to concentrate on book reading. Just downloaded the Project Gutenberg DVD.
With its 29500+ books I need all the reading time I can get.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Interesting, my argumentation was the opposite. Initially I intended to order the 3G for the convenience of being able to order books anywhere I want to. Then I began to argue that I will be able to do that with the WiFi only model. WiFi hotspots are so prevalent here in Sweden, and cell phones now comes with with the capability to function as a WiFi hotspot for your laptop that I figure that will more than cover any future needs of connectivity. So I decided to make a one-time saving of $50 and immediately bought myself an Amazon Gift Certificate for $75.

The US is a lot bigger than Sweden so hot spots are further apart even in large cities. There are still places where there isnt even 3G coverage. It's fairly easy to find a free hot spot in parts of Chicago, where I live, but a bit harder in some other cities. I was recently in a hotel near downtown Miami & the closest free wifi was a McDonalds half a mile away. So the convenience factor looms a bit larger here.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Atilla

I ordered the wi-fi only version. With the 3G model I will be tempted to use it to go online for other stuff.
I want to concentrate on book reading.

This is a good point in my case as well. Since I was given a BlackBerry by my employer, I find myself, at least some days, obsessively checking mobile.nytimes.com, and have been finishing fewer books. But even if it cuts down on the number of nineteenth century English novels I read, being somewhat better able to browse the internet while riding the Philadelphia subways to work (AT&T being the only cell phone provider in their tubes) is a significant eReader plus for me.

If you compare the total cost of ownership, over two or three years, of a Kindle 3 with AT&T 3G internet, with an iPad and AT&T 3G, you are talking about a ten to one price advantage for the Kindle. Yes, I know that the Kindle 3 screen is smaller, and has a fraction of the memory, and no color, and can't play videos or animations, and has, at the moment, no library of downloadable applications. But bottom line -- the iPad is a luxury I can't afford. A somewhat better-than-BlackBerry browser in a far better eReader is a luxury I can and will afford.

I'm not really sure if I will buy much Kindle content from Amazon or not. I do realize, however, that if I, and lot of others, only use the Kindle 3 to browse free web sites and read public domain books, something will have to give. The fine print says that Amazon can withdraw the free AT&T web browsing at any time, so I'm spending an extra $50 for what may be either a frustrating short-lived internet fling or the bargain of the century.

I wonder what will happen next year (or the year after) when they switch to Mirasol or similar displays that support color and video. I don't see how Amazon can keep on giving no-monthly-fee cell phone network internet then, unless I am missing something. (Probably I am, and I post to learn what it is.)

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I wonder what will happen next year (or the year after) when they switch to Mirasol or similar displays that support color and video. I don't see how Amazon can keep on giving no-monthly-fee cell phone network internet then, unless I am missing something. (Probably I am, and I post to learn what it is.)

I think you are right to be concerned. My guess is that there will come a time when the user has to pay for any access that does not involve a direct connection to Amazon.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I think you are right to be concerned. My guess is that there will come a time when the user has to pay for any access that does not involve a direct connection to Amazon.

The original Kindle pitch specifically stated that general Web browsing was "experimental" and may not always be free, but they maintained that store access, downloading purchased content and Wikipedia would remain free. That seems quite reasonable.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Harmon

The US is a lot bigger than Sweden so hot spots are further apart even in large cities. There are still places where there isn't even 3G coverage. It's fairly easy to find a free hot spot in parts of Chicago, where I live, but a bit harder in some other cities. I was recently in a hotel near downtown Miami & the closest free wifi wawmin a McDonalds half a mile away. So the convenience factor looms a bit larger here.

Yep. It's an issue of density. There are very few of our major cities that are as dense as even what ranks as a smaller city in most of Europe and Asia. I live in what's considered a fairly large city here in the US (one million people) and even in downtown, WiFi coverage would be spotty. Our population is slightly larger than Stockholm but our population density is 2,223.21/km2 where Stockholm's is 4,411.8/km2. The density of Chicago is more in line at 4,848.3/km2.

[TomF]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I think you are right to be concerned. My guess is that there will come a time when the user has to pay for any access that does not involve a direct connection to Amazon.

The Kindle 3's Wi-Fi completely eliminates this argument. Most people will find that they will use Wi-Fi most of the time and only use the 3G for buying a book if they're out of Wi-Fi range, like on the beach, etc. Once people see the Webkit browser on a Wi-Fi network they won't use 3G for browsing the Web unless they absolutely need to.

[901hw]

I have preordered the 3G one as in germany, even though there are a lot of wifi hotspots, most of them are quite expensive to use, which would quite quickly make up the difference in price between the 2 models. Also with 3g i could look at wikipedia and amazon even when I am not within wifi range. Even if general browsing becomes paying, just the free access to wikipedia is enough for me as I use that the whole time (offline on my smartphone but only in german, but would like to have up-to-date english wiki).

[Kevin2960]

2 x (3G & Wifi) 1 Each,

Still can't believe my Wife has been so generous, I had only Dreamed !