I hate to be one of those obnoxious tech commentators that says I told you so, but this time it has to be done. Being a member of what Amazon would consider their target international market, rather than a U.S.-based customer I always had a different perspective on the thing.

By opting for cellular based connection, Amazon effectively restricted connectivity to customers in the United States. It was the easiest solution and suited the biggest market, so it made sense. Kindle owners in the States can get free Internet access all over the country just for owning the device; paid for by Amazon through book sales, everyone’s a winner.

The trouble is, Amazon didn’t do their homework when it came to their international market. International customers can still get books from Amazon, but they pay more for them, because Amazon has to cover the data transmission at international roaming rates. And while it is entirely possible that they will sew up agreements with local carriers in all of the countries that they rolled their device out to, the simple fact is that there would have been a happy compromise if they had just provided wifi access from the beginning.

Sure, people wouldn’t have had free access, but international users could at least enjoy it to its full potential. Lack of Internet is a major deal breaker as far as I am concerned.

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