Just this last weekend I finally took the plunge and bought a tablet, one that includes what looks to have OK e-reader functionality.  True to my requirements, the tablet does NOT have 3G. 

Specifically, I bought an Acer Iconia from CostCo online, the 32GB WiFi model.  Being a gadget, electronics and computer geek, why did I wait for over a year since the iPad went on sale to get a tablet?  Because I refused to pay a wireless carrier $2000 for what I consider a multi-media viewing device (or severely scaled-down computer if you are a “glass is half empty” kind of person).

$2,000 you ask.  Well that’s about what the total cost is for a tablet after paying $600 for the unit (subsidized cost) and two years for the 3G data connection.  No thanks, I already pay a small fortune for my home broadband, cable TV package and for my T-Mobile unlimited everything service (and I pay about $500 every six months for the latest superphones offered, offset by the money I get when selling my used phones on eBay.  I really have digressed, pardon).

Anyway, the Acer Iconia on top of having Honeycomb 3.01 also has a cool e-book application.  When reading the pages mimic real page turning.  It’s fast, crisp, there’s no lag and it feels like one is reading a book, at least for the one minute I tried out the feature in the store. LOL.

Will I get what I call a “dedicated e-reader?”  I dunno.  I plan to see if I use the tablet for reading documents (MS Word, PDF, etc.) and books.  If I do, I’ll see what I think of the “e-reading experience.”

No matter the outcome of my little test (to e-read or not to e-read) I won’t be looking for 3G on any of such devices, tablets or e-reader “appliances.”  On top of it simply being too expensive, accessing the Net via 3G on a tablet or e-reader, for me at least since I have so many other devices with Net access, is simply redundant. 

I don’t see myself unable to connect via WiFi somewhere, somehow.  I mean, in my town (San Francisco) there’s like a bazillion Starbucks peddling free WiFi just so I will buy a coffee and donut (yes, Starbucks here sell delicious mini donuts, about 75 cents each).

Sidenote: I suspect that in this economy (depressed, tanked, dismal, or whatever term you prefer) people are NOT flocking to carriers or retailers to buy 3G tablets and e-readers if 3G costs more than $00.00, aka ”unless it’s free.” In other words, I bet carriers and retailers are selling far more WiFi-based tablets than the 3G models.

Most telling and what validates my opinion – Amazon has just reported that it’s “Kindle with Special Offers” is the best selling Kindle AND e-reader in the world.  I submit that what did that was the “Special Offers” feature of that Kindle (that feature downloads on to Kindle all kinds of discounts, coupons, and deals).

Because of the Kindle with Special Offers huge success, in mid-May 2011 Amazon started to sell a Kindle’s with Special Offers AND free 3G.  I would bet and risk all the Starbucks mini donuts I could eat in a year that the “KSO 3G” will outsell all carriers’ 3G tablets combined.

Sidenote: Any manufacturer, carrier or retailer referring to a post-iPad-debut tablet as a computer or PC is “guilty” of false advertising. A tablet is a multi-media device, not a computer or PC, even though tablets do perform some computing functions. No one should be buying a tablet instead of or to replace even something as limited as a netbook.