The End of Convergence – A Kindle 3.0 Review

All I can say is that I tried.  I scanned the globe and the future to try to find one device to be in full control of my life.  One device to have one power supply, occupy one spot in my travel bag, and have all my information in one spot.

Through that quest, I began to realize that the destination I so passionately sought after does not exist.  True, there are possible compromise that allow you to functionally converge your devices, but it is impossible to converge the optimal experiences of those devices.   As we want more and more ways to make our life portable, the key requirements for each experience starts to become incompatible with each other.  For example, I want a big screen for video, but a moderate screen for an ebook.  I want a keyboard for websurfing and email, but not the bulk it adds for a portable ebook.  I also want a bright screen for videos, but an optimized high contrast screen for reading.

The closest I have come was the Lenov0 S10-3T tablet which I will eventually review here.  I am able to:

1)  Watch High Def Movies that I store on a 120G Hard Drive in Tablet Form

2)  Watch Regular TV with an additional TV Tuner Card

3)  Play dumb games to waste time

4)  Surf the Web, do email, chat, etc.

5)  Read Kindle Books (or any other ones) using the table form

The tablet is full touch and rotates around to be a normal netbook with keyboard.  Also has an accelerometer for screen orientation detection.  It is a great devices (once I upgraded it with memory and Windows Pro), but still was a little cumbersome for an e-reader.  I used to have the 2G Kindle, and sold it to make the statement that “I am now converged” …. but, with the new Kindle 3.0 I realize that was just a desperate attempt to claim that title.  There is no title, and here is why the Kindle 3.0 made me realize it.

Paperback Experience – The process of reading should not require any start up.  You read to relax, and want to be gratified shortly after you make the decision to read.  On a Netbook, there is a substantial  boot time, orientation to a tablet form, need to open the book app, etc.  Quite a few hurdles to simply “open” a book.  The Kindle has ultra-fast power on, and remembers where you were when you last shut off (and uploads it in case you want to open the book on a new device).  The Kindle is as close to a paperback experience as you can get.

Visual Experience – The Kindle screen is meant for one thing …. reading.  A Netbook or iPAD has to support multiple use cases that will leave the eReader experience short.  The Kindle is perfect, and the 3.0 version is even better.

Portability Experience – Without giving away too much of my private life, I like to read everywhere.  It could be at the pool, in my bed, on a plane, or in a bathtub (with appropriate soaking salts ).  Taking a netbook in some of those locations is a tricky situation.  I want something that is thin and light, and can hold EASILY with one hand.    The netbook “converged” device does not allow for this use anywhere scenario.

Price – Ok … come on.  This is the real kicker here.  For the Kindle 3.0, I can get an eReader that is 100% optimized for my reading experience, has WiFi for browsing the web and downloading new books, and has FREE 3G when I am overseas all for $189 ?  There is a $139 version with just WiFi, but no contract, no fees for worldwide access for $50 ?  I am sold.

Sorry, but convergence is not for me.  I want a device that is hitting my main needs optimally, and this gets me to my S10-3T and the new Kindle 3.0.

The Kindle is super thin, so I do not expect add much bulk to my travel bag at all.  My S10-3t is still coming with me for movies, games and websurfing !

Go Buy One !!!!

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