Content for the Kindle can be purchased online and downloaded wirelessly in some countries, using either standard Wi-Fi or Amazon's 3G "
Whispernet" network.
"The breakthrough was connecting to a wide-area network system." Amazon buys connection minutes from mobile operators worldwide at wholesale and includes the cost of the resulting
WhisperNet in the purchase price of each e-reader, so users don't pay a subscription.
Professor David Kennedy, in "Of War and Law," which is on my Kindle--I should note that Kindle Store via
Whispernet does not work in Helmand Province, Afghanistan--puts it well when he says that law does not "stand[] outside violence, silent or prohibitive.
The Amazon Kindle app appeared to work smoothly on the device, but with a 3G version not due until after the summer, it's unclear how the TouchPad will work with Amazon's 3G-based
Whispernet.