Review: Vodafone Webbook — cheap, plastic, nasty

The Vodafone Webbook is cheap, incredibly cheap (around R1 500 [US$ 184]). As such, criticising it feels a little odd. It’s a bit like taking apart a soup kitchen for not having an internationally renowned wine list or the local corner café for lacking the nuances of haute cuisine in its cooking.

Here’s the thing though, the Webbook feels cheap, something designed to throw to an unwashed proletariat desperate for the democratisation of technology. I get that there’s a reason it costs so little, but surely Vodafone could have given us just a little bit more?

Allow me to return to my soup kitchen simile for a moment. There’s every chance that the volunteers at the soup kitchen make the food they do with dedication and a genuine belief in what they’re doing. What might otherwise be a bland meal is enhanced by their goodwill and a common spirit of humanity. Salt, pepper and ubuntu as condiments. Similarly, the food at the corner café might come from ancient Tamil, Greek, or Persian recipes and will leave you feeling full and satisfied, or at least intrigued by exotic flavours.

Read more on Gearburn.com