I will be looking around to see if there are any language translation programs for it which will be useful for the traveller, I wonder if it will be able to download and display maps?
I have the Kindle 3G with the keyboard but on 3G, which you need for the maps, it's a current-hog. Also, the free 3G is tied to only one IP provider per country. In Europe it would be no problem, nor in most of the States, but in Africa? Forget it.
I tried the Kindle as a map generator around here (West Cork, familiar lanes) and the problem was the poor controls for moving around the map so you can orient yourself, and some of the Google Maps not being designed for bright sunshine conditions, and washing out in the sunlight. I think in any demanding situation (Africa) it would end up on a scale from frustrating to dangerous to lethally useless. I wouldn't even like to trust it as a backup to something sturdier and more competent. To see what I mean, take a Kindle out into your back yard and try to find out where you are.
I have an Android smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy Europa that I bought specifically as an emergency phone to keep on the bike. (Until I recently had heart surgery I didn't carry a mobile; I don't encourage people to call me and break my train of thought.) It's like the Asus tablet Dan is going on about but much, much smaller. But it is in fact a full service computer with the Android operating system. Because of its small size the thing is a bit frustrating until you get the hang of typing with your thumbs, but I managed to send a few messages from the hospital. But it has good maps and you can sling them around with wild abandon, and because of the colour they're more readable in bright sunlight than the greyscale maps on the Kindle, which theoretically should read much better in sunlight. However, the Europa has bluetooth which works well (I use it with my desktop Mac to transfer files), wi-fi ditto, and can set itself up as a wi-fi hotspot for other devices (tried it, works). As with all these devices, you'll need whatever chargers you have on the bike. My Europa goes on the charger every second day when the wifi/net is on, and the manufacturer's claims of hundreds of hours of standby is ponycar BS. But with a charger and adequate waterproofing, the Europa could be a back-up/emergency GPS/phone/email unit. The reason I mention it is that I paid only fifty Euro for mine, and they were available down to forty Euro, cheap enough to make it throwaway item. It's not an Apple iPhone but where you're going you can be murdered for an iPhone.
For those who insist on a good keyboard for whatever reason, the cheap Europa offers Bluetooth, as does the excellent, small, light latest model of Apple keyboard, the one set into a scroll of aluminium. I haven't tried the two together, but I imagine they could work and if I have to go back to hospital I'll take that setup. I in fact like the Europa for reading books on, so I see no reason its little screen shouldn't be good for working on if you have a good keyboard. This twists matters around, in that the keyboard will be the heavier and larger item, but so what, if your hands demand it. The keyboard is a bit pricey, but again so what. Or you can get a cheaper bluetooth keyboard. See the good one from Apple here:
http://store.apple.com/ie/product/MC184LB/B?fnode=MTc0MjU4OTYYou can get the Samsung Galaxy Europa Manual here if you want to see what it will do:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/GT-I5500YKAXEU***
By the way, I had an iPad 2 on order for the bike but just cancelled the order. Apple is bringing out an iPad 3 in a week or so, and if these things follow the usual pattern, it will soon be cheaper as well as more capable than the iPad 2, and there is some talk of Apple keeping the iPad 2 as well at a much reduced price.
Might be smart to wait it out, Dan. In a couple of weeks the Asus (which I've heard is the best of the non-Apple lot, especially for cyclists) might not look such a bargain.