TwitterPeek: A New Standalone Mobile Device for Twitter. Seriously.
From the company called Peek, the makers of handheld devices dedicated to checking email on-the-go, there now comes another single-purpose gadget, this one for checking Twitter. The new TwitterPeek is a mobile device that lets you access the microblogging network from anywhere in the U.S. with no hefty data fees or contracts to sign, just as the company's original Peek devices let you do with email.
The idea of a standalone Twitter handheld seems so far-fetched that we almost thought it was a joke - at least until we stumbled across this Amazon.com page listing the device for pre-order. Now the question is: who will buy this thing?
Peek for Email Makes Sense
To some extent, we understand the appeal of the Peek handheld. Email is an essential part of doing business today but not everyone can afford a smartphone and the expensive monthly data plan required to use it. The Peek gives those sorts of penny-pinchers an alternative. For a one-time purchase price (starting at $19.99 on Amazon) and a reasonable monthly data fee of $15, Peek users are given a cheap way to read and respond to email on-the-go. Designed primarily for non-technical users, the Peek device is like a scaled-down Blackberry with less buttons, no microphone or speaker, no web browser or apps, and no scroll wheel - only a thumb wheel on the side. All it does is email, plain text email. No attachments, no formatting, no embedded graphics.
Despite its overly simplistic nature, the Peek makes sense. It connects people to their personal or, more likely, their business email accounts for an affordable price - and that's something that serves a real need in a down economy such as this.
...but Peek for Twitter?
However, the new TwitterPeek seems...well...sort of crazy, to be honest. Who's so addicted to Twitter that they're going to purchase this device instead of using Twitter's SMS service or just breaking down and buying a device capable of running apps or surfing the web? We know Twitter is a lot of fun, but is it really so essential that we need a standalone device?
At this point, the company would have almost been better off launching a Facebook handheld than a Twitter device. Twitter just hasn't achieved the sort of "must-have" status that would make people want something like this. We would bet that the majority of Americans wouldn't have even heard of the social network if it weren't for its adoption by celebrities like Oprah, Shaq, Ashton, Demi, and others or its heavily promoted use by news networks like CNN. Still, even though Twitter is no longer a foreign word to Americans' ears, that doesn't mean that the masses are actually using it. Oh don't get us wrong - they try. But earlier this year, Nielsen reported that more than 60% of Twitter's first time users abandon the service within a month of signing up. They just don't "get it" or see the need, they don't know how to find people to follow, and they certainly don't know how to get people to follow them back.
Yet it's this very demographic - the somewhat non-technical mainstream audience - that Peek exclusively markets their products to. These people can't even figure out how to properly use Twitter, but they're going to buy a standalone Twitter handheld? We don't think so.
Currently, Amazon lists two types of TwitterPeek devices: one with 6 months of service included for $99.95 or one with lifetime service for $199.95. The devices come in gray or a very Twitter-like aqua.
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This device is dated and always will be. With twitter rolling out lists and later location services, how is this device going to support that?
@Wesley: Short answer: it won't!
I'm actually really excited about this (see my post: http://www.the-deblog.com/2009/10/the-twitterpeek-a-dedicated-twitter-device.html), but not for the price. But I'd very happily spend, say, $100 with no monthly fees ever for an always-on Twitter device.
Sarah - thank you for exposing this product. In an age of information being ubiquitous a successful product will be one that can aggregate that data.
who wants to carry a PDA, Phone, and Notepad?
Consumers want 1 device to do it all. Not another device.
Uh, I had a brick phone that did this.
Even for $19.99 this is an incredibly dumb purchase.
their is a toy trend going on that we tech adults may not know much about. but i have seen kids with 2 things lately. a nintendo DS and simple texting devices (and sometimes cheap phones too). truth is, it's not completely idiotic as some parents will let their kids use such devices but might prefer cheaper alternatives to actual phones. so look for these types of devices to continue to be popular for this market.
however, they should have just merged their products and offered email + twitter + facebook and call it a day.
I don't see why people think this is so crazy. I may be in the minority, but I don't use a cell phone much. (I actually hate using phones, land line or otherwise.) I have a cheap Tracfone for emergency use, and I don't want or need anything more. I get most of the benefits of the iPhone with my iPod Touch, without the enormous monthly fee. The one thing I don't have that I would like is Twitter on the go, which this device would handily supply.
I agree that email + Twitter would be nice, but it's definitely not a deal breaker for me. I don't care all that much about email if I'm out and about.
The anti-Twitter crowd seems to be convinced that Twitter is all about lunch menus, but there's a lot more to it than that. Having a means of communicating over Twitter when I'm not near a hotspot would be very nice.
If I ever see this in use in the real world, I will be completely shocked. I will also be forced to approach the user and crown them King of the Tools/kick then in the junk.
You're not going to use Lists with this TwitterPeek device. You're going to go ot the computer if you want to use the Lists functions and the more fancier Twitter functions. The Peek folks may eventually include the lists function, but seriously how many lists are you going to make?? If you are NOT a nerd and NOT a techhead who reads these type of blogs, then you're not going to play with the Lists functions too much.
Anyways, for the people that this device is targeted for, they may only want to use their main Twitter Timeline and not bother with Lists.
Please everyone keep in mind that this device is for the folks who are NOT like you folks who have a Blackberry or an iPhone. This is for the folks who have a humdrum boring cellphone that they are happy with and NOT for those folks who have a fancy dancy data phone device. This TwitterPeek device and the regular email Peek device are for those people who REFUSE to pay those huge monthly bills that people pay to feed their Blackberry/iPhone data habits.
So, please don't look down on this device because it is not for you. It is for the other people who REFUSE to buy or who have gotten tired of paying the monthly bills for an iPhone or a Blackberry.
honestly, if someone has a peek for email, a cellphone, a peak for twitter, and an ipod.. they're definitely paying as much as people with blackberry's or iphones. and plus they are carrying around 3-4 devices. i know a girl might have a purse, but as a guy, who wants that many cellphone shaped items in their pockets? plus how embarrassing would you look if you were somewhere where emptying your pockets was necessary like the airport. it would be awful. suck it up and pay the extra (if there even IS extra) money for a phone with multiple functions. its worht it.