Peek's email device tops voting for Time's gadget of the year, not that it matters

We're not going to jump up on our "new media" pedestal and claim that Time Magazine is irrelevant or anything, but man, stick to what you know. Time's gadget of the year list includes some commendable choices to be certain -- but seriously, not a single industry re-defining netbook, multi-million selling iPhone 3G, or 1080p-capable EOS 5D Mark II DSLR in a top 10 list of 2008 gadgets? Puhlease. Seems that voting is still open -- while you can't change the list you can certainly have your say as to whether Peek's eMail-only handheld should be voted above T-Mobile's Android-powered G1 (by a margin of more than 5 to 1) as the best gadget of 2008.

[Thanks, Horatio]

[LondonConsultant @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:38AM]

I blame the hanging chads...

[Erb @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:39AM]

Chad*

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:42AM]

I blame Chad Everett.
http://www.thetelethonyears.com/chad.jpg

Surfside 6? -FEH!!!

[Chad @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:50AM]

Dude...why the hate?

[E71 @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:34PM]

That's ridiculous... a gadget that does nothing but check e-mails...?

What's next? An electronic deely that does nothing but read eBooks/text files?...

..oh, wait...

[crow610 @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:57PM]

HEY CHAD, YOU'RE STILL A DINGDONG!!!

[Frankenstein Black @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:00PM]

Peek what? Plz, Ogo 2.0. Just sayin...

[Frankenstein Black @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:04PM]

Sorry, 3.0 ;^/...
http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/16/ogo-is-back-swiss-style/

[Erb @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:38AM]

Looks like someone just made a list of random devices and gave them numbers...

There are plenty more that deserve to be there and aren't.

[SKI @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:59AM]

And some are on there that shouldn't be.

[Wwhat @ Nov 4th 2008 4:37AM]

I think the concept of email is still new and exciting to time readers probably :)
I base my thinking on that they still read magazines.

[Josh @ Nov 4th 2008 11:14AM]

more like someone made a *non-random* list of products that paid them to be on it

[Rohit Kapur @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:50AM]

Thomas, the hyperlink for the iPhone 3G also leads to the netbook page. Might wanna correct it. :)


And yeah, sheesh. I mean, it was fine when they made the Person Of The Year as YOU, but this is ridiculous.

"Looks like someone just made a list of random devices and gave them numbers."

^^ My sentiment exactly.

[zfurie @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:54AM]

I will vote for the Sony Ericsson C905 cameraphone!

It takes off the clothes of every woman it takes a picture of.

If that's not revolutionary I don't know what.

[Liam Wolf @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:48AM]

Take that apple!

[tim @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:08AM]

It's the usual arbritary list of nonsense, but I've got to ask why anyone thinks the G1 should be there at all, let alone in 6th place. It hasn't exactly changed the world just yet, has it?

[Soop @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:14AM]

WTF is a peek email device?

[wodheila @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:39AM]

I had to look that up. Apparently you pay $99 for it and $20 a month to be able to get email anywhere.

[Faisal @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:01AM]

it is to peek emails..isn't? hee

[Horatio @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:10AM]

Wiki and Google are our best friends...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_(mobile_email_device)

[FoO @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:43AM]

I said the same thing - wtf?

[Big Al @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:19AM]

I'm not an Apple fanboy, but can someone explain how the iPod Touch is on the list, but not the iPhone???

And there's a Macbook... not the Macbook Air or Macbook Pro, but the Macbook...

Time's readership is once again showing their stupidity. These are probably the same people that voted Rain as the most influential person of 2007....

[Dave Chappelle @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:35AM]

iphone could be the second coming of jesus but @ that price, its still not worth considering.

[grillface @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:36AM]

Rain is awesome. Never doubt that.

[Oliver Slay @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:31AM]

most likely stirred up voters from the Facebook VoteForPeek group... or the Flickr VoteForPeek entry ... this is probably the first anyone with a decent gadget (too busy having fun using them) has heard about there being a Time Best Gadget ...

same size as any other handheld but only does email? so must be 80% air?

[Horatio @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:15AM]

The dimensions (4.0 x 2.7 x 0.4 in (102 x 68 x 10mm)) appears to be way smaller and thinner than my BlackBerry Bold, beat up Curve. For all the Apple fans, it's even thinner than my old iPhone too.

[thazlett @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:33AM]

surely some kind of netbook should be on this list like an eeepc or similar.

[balls @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:53PM]

And don't call me Shirley.

[avis @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:43AM]

om my, the title seems to be wrong..

[Stan Winsome @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:25AM]

Seriously stick to what you know. There's a lot of junk on that list and the peek as no 1- wtf?! 'TIME' to hire a new tech editor or stick to the pointless political and socio-economic blabber you're best at. Or maybe keep thinking about that Person of the Year Cover...

[Dave Chappelle @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:37AM]

dude there not even good at that. im pretty sure they had a year which the 'man of the year' was a toss up between Bush and Bin Laden...


thankfully Bin Laden one.

(the lesser of the 2 evils) ... sorry.

[Joe @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:40AM]

Although I do not agree to this list, I still stand by Time's decision to make me last year's person of the year.

[Sam @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:59AM]

This looks like a list that polled the average mom with teenage children

[Scott K. @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:00AM]

Looks like a media bias snuck into the list, perhaps a 'you have to have used it' rule? Or maybe someone bought their way on. That would never happen would it? I love the small of Payola in the morning. It smells like... money!

Meanwhile, if Time could just apply an IP filter, those Peek votes would thin down nicely (nice try, marketing department)

[Horatio @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:07AM]

I'm pretty sure Time had set up IP filters and logarithms beforehand to prevent duplicate votes from the same IP... etc. After all, it's not the first time they've setup an online poll.

Either way, Peek's a pretty well designed device. It's slim, easy to use and at only 80 bucks, it's pretty affordable. It's not for experienced tech users or a corporation workhorse, but I think it's pretty good for the general public.

No, in case if you're wondering, I do not have a Peek myself.

[Greg @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:00AM]

Who cares, who reads Time anymore?

[noyp @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:28PM]

I do.

[Aaron @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:06AM]

Those that live in glass houses, etc.

The Engadget awards were a farce too. Remember how a non-smartphone won smartphone of the year? Remember how a piece of software was declared to be a gadget?

"but seriously, not a single industry re-defining netbook, multi-million selling iPhone 3G,"

Agreed on the netbook front but do you really think the iPhone 3G deserves to be on that list? The original iPhone was obviously a big leap forward for the industry and Apple. However, the iPhone 3G is an evolutionary device with only a few upgrades on the original design. And if biggest sales equals best gadget then surely the Nokia 1100 deserves to win?

[tim @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:29AM]

The 3G is Apple's real breakthrough device though - the added Exchange support and connectivity have sold many times more handsets, and the Appstore has revolutionised mobile software development and marketing (witness the Android Marketplace and a similar project that Microsoft are working on for WM). The first iPhone was massively overhyped for what it was, but it's the second that's really justified all the attention.

[Mike @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:41AM]

"The 3G is Apple's real breakthrough device though - the added Exchange support"
How is this worth mentioning? Apple added a standard smartphone feature

"...and connectivity have sold many times more handsets,"
They added 3G (feature that should have been on the first one) and sold the phone in more markets.

"the Appstore has revolutionised mobile software development and marketing (witness the Android Marketplace and a similar project that Microsoft are working on for WM)."
The real innovation is that they can profit from every piece of software due to the closed environment. It's great for Apple, carriers and software developers, but a step down for the customer. I certainly prefer the WinMo system. I can transfer cab files to my phone, or download them directly from the website, without paying extra to Apple or the carrier. Were I to use an app store, I would have a great one-stop place to get software, but I would be paying more for it and I don't see that as a revolution more than a poke in the eye.

[tim @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:16AM]

@ Mike - your comments about the Appstore just confirm you've never used it, and don't fully understand it. The Appstore is a stroke of genius, and one of those rare win-win situations for everybody. Developers benefit from a direct channel into every device, and absolutely no piracy, meaning their prices are far better value than the equivalent stuff on WinMo or Symbian - the end customer pays *less*, not more, because they're not paying for every hooky copy on Rapidshare. There's still plenty of freeware (since Apple charge nothing for hosting, advertising, and distributing this through the store) and for the end user, finding, installing, or updating any of these apps is many times easier than the usual WM process.

As for Exchange being a standard feature on every smartphone, try telling that to Google, who have completely omitted it from the G1 (and no, it's not in the marketplace either). It's only quite recently become standard on most of Nokia's Symbian line too. So unless by standard on every smartphone you mean "standard on every Windows Mobile phone", then you're quite wrong.

[Galley @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:19AM]

The Peek is a slick little device, although with a limited market. They're on sale for $79.99 at Target this week.

[Chris @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:19AM]

The G1 and Canon moved up a slot each.

[Robert @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:54AM]

That's the same font that they used in Call of Duty one and two. Oh, yeah and the list is cool too. =)

[Eric @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:48AM]

So when it's time for "Invention of the year" will it be the iPhone 3G? Because we all know, El Jobso invented 3G.

[Argot @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:17PM]

No, he invented the Internet, the cellphone AND 3G.

[Hackettman @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:54AM]

I can imagine whose voting and I guess it makes sense...... How many people here read Time? I stopped after leaving middle school and I only read it because I had to....... Im sure the iphone would have hit the top of the list if it had been the plain middle section of todays citizens.....

[Rand @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:03AM]

Lots of people still read Time and will read the mentioned article. It just won't be for another two years, when this magazine issue finally shows up in doctor's/dentist offices around the country.

[Hackettman @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:09AM]

Thats a good point too..... I just havent met people that actually read time and rarely see anyone reference the publication before now.... when I was a kid it was a staple in alot of modern media.

[David Russell @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:36AM]

They put the iPod touch on there didn't they? As much as Apple fanboys like to sweat over it, the iPhone isn't really that significant to the wider market. A phone with less than 8 hours' battery life, and with a non-user-replaceable battery? That's not a phone, it's a £30/month kids' toy.