On Tuesday, gadget maker Peek launched TwitterPeek, the world's first dedicated Twitter gadget. The Blackberry-like device retails for $100 (including six months' service) and, according to Peek, will appeal to Twitter lovers without smartphones. But in a world where Twitter-capable electronic gadgets are cheap and ubiquitous, is there still a market for such a narrowly targeted device?
The device is cute but unnecessary: Twitter users are early adapters who already have the tools to Tweet on the go, says Matthew Shaer at Christian Science Monitor. The average Twitter aficianado “tweets from his laptop, and when he’s not in front of his computer, he tweets from his smartphone.” Between these technologies, he “doesn’t have much need for a third device.”
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TwitterPeek is beyond unnecessary--it's stupid: “If you can materialize every negative stereotype about Twitter into a gadget, you’d have the Twitterpeek,” says Mark Flores at True/Slant. But Twitterpeek takes away some of Twitter’s functionality: “Without a camera, how can you upload photos to Twitter? Without a browser, how can you share links with all your friends? Without a GPS, it’s virtually impossible to geo-tag any of your tweets.” Twitterpeek isn’t taking a step forward; it’s “taking three steps backward.”
“TwitterPeek embodies all the negative stereotypes about Twitter”
It will be a smash hit this Christmas: “Aided by credulous blog posts and fawning fashion magazines,” the trendy Twitterpeek will probably sell well this holiday season, predicts Sascha Segan at PC Magazine. Certainly, it's design won't hurt: “Twitterpeek is frickin’ adorable. It looks like a high-end, shrunken-down Scandanavian Speak n’ Spell.”
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