Peek: one-dimensional domination

Not only does Peek offer the TwitterPeek, which only allows you to access Twitter, but the company is also known for its original device Peek Classic, which is only for e-mails and that’s all. Peek is decided that perhaps limiting Peek to only e-mails is a little narrow and the Peek Pronto also has texting available.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

A device the offers multiple functions for a decent price is where things should be headed. Peek Pronto is $230 for an entire year, including the initial cost of $50. Or if you’re not sure you will love it Peek Pronto can cost $100 for three months.

Now people just need to make the decision about how badly they need e-mail. The texting portion of Peek Pronto is sort of a throwaway. If you like being able to text and you have a cell phone then your cell phone provider probably offers a better deal than Peek. Plus, the texting isn’t easy. Since Peek Pronto isn’t a phone you have no number. Any texts will come from a random number that is unique to each new person you text.

I almost feel like Peek is late to the party. It would be different a year or two ago, but with smartphones proliferating a device like Peek Pronto is almost obsolete. Except for the few people who either need every new piece of technology that comes out or those who aren’t quite ready to make the jump to a smartphone I imagine the market for Peek Pronto or Peek Classic is quite small.

More soon-to-be obsolete devices coming up soon!

TV on the go

There’s a device out there just to watch television shows on. And I don’t mean the television. A device is made every month catering to a specific type of media. Netbooks are laptops that focus primarily on Internet access. The TwitterPeek only lets you access Twitter. Now FloTV let’s you watch television shows on a small 3.5-inch screen.

In case you’re uncertain, that’s small. And you’ll have to be willing to dish out $250 for the first six month and an additional $8.99 a month after. And you have to commit to 3 years of service. Buyer beware. This is technology, which means that in a year something better will have come along. After all, an iPhone was $500 two years ago and the new iPhone cost $200. In another two years the iPhone should drop even further in price.

The best bet for someone looking to watch TV on the go is to spend the same amount of money on a netbook. Then you’ll be watching TV online with the option of also being able to check your e-mail, do some online shopping or finishing up work for your job or your class. Even better, if you take into account how much money you would be spending per month for something like FloTV maybe you might want to save up a few months and spring for an actual laptop, which is another technology that has become much cheaper as the years go by.

A Toshiba laptop actually costs as low as $449. If you do the math on FloTV you have to pay $250 to buy the device and for the first six months and then another $270 for the next three years. Now you’re saving $70 and you have a fully functioning laptop.

A lot of these one-note devices will become obsolete in a few years if not a few months as the technology becomes so commonplace that the price drops.

One-dimensional device

There are constantly new devices that connect people to one another and there are always new platforms – first there was MySpace, then Facebook and now the age of Twitter is upon us – for people to, as my middle school yearbook reminds me, keep in touch. With apps, smartphones and netbooks it’s easier than ever for people to access all of these platforms when they’re on the go. And the best thing is that one device does everything: you can browse the Internet, make calls, send e-mails and log in to Twitter or Facebook.

So I can’t help but wonder why someone would want to buy an additional device that does only one of these things. It’s a downgrade, it’s a step back technologically speaking. The theory is that the new TwitterPeek is for people who don’t want or don’t have a smartphone that can access Twitter. But let’s face it, for $99.95 for six months and an additional $7.95 a month or $199.95 for lifetime service, you’re probably better off getting a new phone that can access Twitter for cheaper than $7.95 a month or for free.

And who does TwitterPeek help exactly? My mom isn’t likely to get a smartphone when all she really needs a cell phone for is making calls to one of five numbers (the house, my dad, my sister, my sister’s house and me). She’s even less likely to use Twitter. Most people who use Twitter regularly are technophiles, people who like new technology. I can’t imagine there’s a very large group who will be willing to shell out the money for a device that only works with Twitter.

Even when it’s free the commenters at TechCrunch seem to dislike the TwitterPeek.