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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Tech Stupid, Stupid Twitter Peek

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 3:38 PM

Peek has announced the debut of "the world's first dedicated Twitter device." For $199.99, you can get a device that exists for the sole purpose of posting to Twitter. While the device does allow you to look at photos via TwitPic, you can't actually surf the web on it or provide links to other web pages. Which means you can't do half of the things that Twitter allows you to do.

As far as I can tell, the only important thing about this announcement (and the Kindle and the nook and and Peek's other, e-mail only devices, too) is the fact that you can get lifetime cell service to a device and the device itself for two or three hundred bucks. We need more of that kind of cheap connectivity, not more of these weird, single-use-only devices.

Comments (8) RSS

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So...a device that costs over $200 (including WA sales tax) and exists purely for the purposes of twittering--and yes, I know that's not the preferred verb, but "tweet" doesn't preserve the "twit" part--and yet it can't even provide all the functionality of that limited service? Wow.

So, if the lottery is the "supid tax", what would this be? Can we use them as tracking devices to find, tag, and sterilize the owners, so that hopefully we bar these idiots from breeding?

Posted by Knat on November 3, 2009 at 3:50 PM

So, the sole purpose of this device is to receive spam from ugly porn operators in Texas? Too bad they didn't make it weigh forty pounds and give you an electric shock every time you touch it.

Posted by Fnarf

on November 3, 2009 at 4:01 PM

doesn't anyone remember that twitter was made for these rare crazy devices called cell phones? going home to weep in my old person house.

Posted by josh

on November 3, 2009 at 4:01 PM

When they come to take away your handhelds, only twits will have tweets. Just what you need - another device to encourage more self-absorbed obliviousness. Yet another reason to fall into a manhole, to be struck dead in an intersection, to cause highway carnage. No matter that you'll never be as clever as Robert Benchley to Dorothy Parker on a one-lira postcard from Venice: "Advise fast - streets full of water."

Posted by Rhett Oracle on November 3, 2009 at 4:32 PM

On top of all its other obvious fail points, it's swimming upstream against overwhelming consumer demand to consolidate devices.

I really want to understand, how does something so screamingly non-viable get greenlit all the way to production?

Posted by lostboy

on November 3, 2009 at 6:28 PM

I am sure there are people who will use this. Yes it is pretty limited, but could be a decent gift idea around Christmas, especially when you can bundle it with lifetime service. I made a poll at http://www.dipoll.com/?p=614 where you can vote on whether you would actually use the twitterpeek, or just stick to your computer.

Posted by Kale on November 3, 2009 at 7:22 PM

Posted by Kale on November 3, 2009 at 7:24 PM

My cell phone does all that and more and it doesn't cost me any extra from my basic cell service. Why would I want this device? I though the rage was consolidating services into one tool.

Posted by Patr0ck