Peek e-mail device for sale now at $99
It was supposed to start selling at Target stores on Monday, but Peek decided to get things started a little early. The e-mail-only device, called the Peek, appeared Thursday on the start-up's Web site.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
And it looks like it was a smart idea. Silicon Alley Insider notes that two of the three colors already appear to be sold out. (That would be black cherry, and aqua blue, though boring old gray, er, "charcoal gray," looks like it's still in stock.)
We've already gone over what we think the limitations of the Peek are (see CNET Reviews' Nicole Lee's take here). But David Pogue of The New York Times says today that the Peek's "simplicity and elegance" will win over non-techies easily.
He writes, "It will follow the usual cycle of simple, elegant tech products: 1) universal scorn by feature-listers online; 2) quiet, gradual popular acceptance by normal people; 3) bafflement on the part of the feature-listers."
You know how we feel. What do you think, will this be a smashing success among the less technologically savvy among us?
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
- by Gabey8 September 11, 2008 4:58 PM PDT
- If they offer a version of these that allows for web surfing, people whose workplaces ban personal email and surfing will go after these devices in droves.
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(3 Comments)Depending on how crucial the people with workplace restrictions feel it is for them to access personal email at will, they might well be drawn to an email-only device like this.
Not everyone wants a smartphone, PDA phone, iPhone, or even a CELL phone of any kind.
P.S. I wonder if this kind of device will be popular in the Deaf community? There's already a wide variety of text-capable devices to choose from. But if this is straightforward enough to use, it might attract interest from members of the Deaf community that don't feel the need for a feature-rich device.