Kindle 3G: The End Of The Era

Only a year ago I praised Amazon's offering of free, worldwide, mobile Internet access in the Kindle 3G. While the original Kindle "keyboard" 3G still provides the free browser service, it may not last long. I have just "upgraded" myself to the Kindle Touch 3G and I feel like child who crushed the nose at the window.

The Kindle Touch "Free 3G Worldwide Wireless" does not include the (still called experimental) Web Browser function. The browser now works only on WiFi. There is no free lunch. Uh oh.

While this is perfectly understandable - the worldwide 3G Internet access is too expensive to be financed only by book purchases - I feel really sad it is no longer an option. Being a frequent traveler, I cried a river over the roaming data charges. We have such a progress in mobile connectivity and still cannot find a solution to the roaming problem.

I am now in the USA, writing this post. When I crossed the border, I turned off the data transmission on my Android superphone. I have brought a small prepaid WiFi router with me. It costs me $10 for 200MB for 7 days. The same 200MB, when purchased in advance at my home carrier, would cost me $200. And if I did not purchase the roaming plan in advance, 200MB would cost me... $2000 (yes, you read this right, it is $1 per 100KB). The same 200MB back at home would, again, cost me $10. But on the other hand an American traveler coming to Poland would be paying $2000 for 200MB. This is why I consider the mobile data roaming a scam run by the official cartel of wireless carriers. This should be long gone, but is still standing. I have had hopes either Apple or Amazon (the Whispernet) will open a crack in this practice. Unfortunately it seems they are giving up...

It seems now the personal WiFi hotspots are the way to organize myself. For Europe I keep on using the Huawei E5830 with prepaid SIM datacards in each country I travel to. They usually sell for around 10 EURO with initial 1GB preloaded and can be topped up at around 5 EURO per 1GB. The downside is you have to shuffle the SIM cards when crossing borders. For the US trips I have been using the BestBuyConnect CDMA-based service, but they are closing the operations. I think my best option is now to buy the Verizon Jetpack 4G. The device sells for $130 and then it is 15 for 250MB / a week or $60 for 3GB / a month. And the Kindle... well... I will "upgrade" myself to the cheapest one, just to have the lightest and smallest ebook device.