benw:
From the front page of Amazon.com:
Wireless Reading Just Got Bigger
Hmm.
…
Really? What were they think… oh!
- The wireless Amazon Kindle for ‘wireless reading’! Now carry books wherever you go!
“Wireless” was a poor word choice on Amazon’s part. The awesome thing about the Kindle is not so much the wires or lack of them (you still have to plug it in to charge it, anyway), but that you can download the book you want, anytime. There’s no wait, and you don’t have to go to a bookstore or pay for shipping, either! Finish one book and you can download the next at three in the morning! On a bus! In China! Without internet!
That’s the concept Amazon is trying to push with the repeated use of the word “wireless,” because “wireless” can mean either “something without wires” or “something transmitted through the air with energy”. The latter is the less obvious meaning, but the only one that makes sense in Amazon’s marketing here. Unfortunately for them, it’s easy to misinterpret—and, clearly, easy to mock.
