
Amazon.com to Sell Kindle Digital Reader With Ads for $114 - ssclafani
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-11/amazon-com-to-sell-kindle-digital-reader-with-ads-for-114.html
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rmason
I want to preface these comments by saying that I don't yet own a Kindle. It
seems to me that the savings offered don't equal the annoyance factor of
seeing ads. If the price was $49 I would probably run out and buy one just to
experiment with digital books.

Most of the people I know who have Kindles use them to read fiction or
business best sellers. If that's what I primarily consumed I'd have had one by
now. Anyone on here buying all their tech books on a Kindle?

~~~
dr_
I'm surprised by the price as well - I'd have thought that with ads it would
be much lower. Guess not.

Reading tech or any material that could be considered educational might be
difficult, as it's oftentimes necessary to switch back and forth between pages
to look things up again.

~~~
tomkarlo
There's some issues with the ads. It may be a difficult sell in that there's
only limited chance for a user to click through an ad - I notice a lot of the
launch advertisers are the kind who do "branding campaigns" where they don't
worry amount click-through. So that may push down CPM.

Also, the number of ads users see may be fairly limited since it's only on the
powerdown screen and index - a typical Kindle user might only average 1-2 ads
per day. If they're viewing 1,000 ads per year, that's only worth a few bucks
at typical CPMs, and you have to figure they only expect a device being used
that much to last 2-3 years.

So a $25 discount seems pretty generous in that light.

(Me, I'd happily accept some small ads at the bottom of the reading page if it
pushed the price under $100. We put up with it in magazines and newspapers all
the time.)

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dereg
This is an easy way for Amazon to start measuring the elasticity of demand for
advertising. This will allow them to properly price advertising in the future.
I wouldn't buy one, but this is a great idea.

Now if only Amazon allowed the public to see Kindle sales figures...

------
Groxx
> _The company worked with advertisers to ensure the ads don’t get in the way
> of reading, he said. Ads will appear as a screen saver when the Kindle is
> idle. They will also be seen as a banner on the bottom of the screen on a
> user’s home page, Marine said._

That's not too bad, I'll admit. Though I do find the idea of pulling out my
Kindle and seeing an ad on the screen somewhat distasteful.

Certainly $25-distasteful. I'm with others here, if it were _dramatically_
lower, I'd probably run out and buy one. Especially if there were an upgrade
path (pay difference, lose ads). For $25 off a >$100 item though, no way.

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runjake
It will be interesting to see how this turns out. It seems to shoot down (or
at least delay) the idea of free Kindles at the end of 2011.

I just bought a Kindle 3 Wi-Fi. I'd just rather plunk down the $20 extra for
an ad-less version. I want less things distracting and potentially watching
me, not more. And I'm willing to pay for that privilege.

------
AdamGibbins
Wonder if they have anything in place to stop people flashing the existing K3
firmware which is ad-free.

There's also existing hacks out their to customise the screensavers, wonder if
they've patched this else people would be able to avoid the ads.

~~~
russell_h
I doubt they care all that much. Most people with $110 to spend and the know-
how to hack a Kindle probably wouldn't consider it worth the time just to save
$25. For those who do consider it worth the time, Amazon would probably rather
they have a hacked Kindle than no Kindle at all.

That being said, I think each Kindle has some soft of hardware ID. If a Kindle
sold as ad-supported suddenly stops requesting ads that would probably
indicate its hacked. Of course there are a few obvious ways around that, but
that tends to be true of any solution short of completely locked down
hardware.

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acabal
Sounds kind of pointless... the kind of people who can spent at least $120 on
an e-reader (and by extension the $8-$15 it costs per book that isn't even a
touchable/sharable thing) are probably the kinds of people who can afford
another $25 to get the full version. Now if this was being sold for free, or
for $50, that would be a different story.

~~~
rexf
There is speculation that the Kindle will be eventually free.

Prior HN discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2266193> Updated
projection I made today: <http://www.rexfeng.com/blog/?p=945>

Based on the HN discussion link, the Kindle may be free after Nov 2011. Taking
into account today's price drop, my updated projection shows it taking longer
- after Feb 2012.

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ben1040
I probably would buy one of these, if I hadn't already bought a Kindle a month
ago.

I spend hours with my Kindle, but only a few minutes on the home screen. I
keep the device in a case and I couldn't tell you what "screensaver" images it
displays on standby. In other words, I probably wouldn't even notice the ads,
and I'd save $25 on the device.

------
teyc
I see this as a purely defensive stance should they want to enable in-app
purchases in the future.

As Apple has discovered, they get accused of being greedy when they force
developers to go through the app store for In-App purchases.

Perhaps Amazon, by clearly indicating that this device is subsidized by future
sales (ads, in this case), makes it easier for them to explain to the customer
why they'd like more control over the device. (i.e. the customer doesn't
completely own the device).

~~~
drdaeman
> the customer doesn't completely own the device

Is this legally possible? (Except for the obvious software part)

~~~
teyc
You made me think again. Thanks.

There are a few ways Amazon can go with this:

1\. They have a non-legal but persuasive claim that the unit was subsidized
and the sale of the unit might include shrink wrap rules against tampering
against the advertising module (and a wide claim on all other modules/business
models).

2\. Even when the open source community will eventually work out how to
circumvent it, Amazon might hope that people would rather not void their
warranty etc.

3\. #1 is not entirely settled and is still in litigation (see
<http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005513?refCatId=14>)

------
bonyt
I wonder if you'll be able to remove the ads later - like if you get the
version with ads you can remove them by buying amazon prime later on or
something.

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cagenut
A $20 discount isn't enough for us, but as the woman quoted in the article
said anytime they lower the price they get a surge. So they do $20 now, get
some brands on board, get some user feedback, iron a few kinks out, then do a
firmware update and drop the price another $15. The $99 ad-supported kindle
will sell like hotcakes.

------
joshfinnie
I wonder if ads will be specific to what you have on your Kindle or (even
scarier) what you have purchased at Amazon.com.

This also brings up an interesting question; what you read on your kindle, is
it as ad-worthy as what you read online?

~~~
jrockway
_I wonder if ads will be specific to what you have on your Kindle or (even
scarier) what you have purchased at Amazon.com._

Why is this scary? Amazon has been offering recommendations based on your
purchases for what seems like decades.

~~~
joshfinnie
Right, I wouldn't mind the first option. I'd almost expect it, but there is
something about giving me ads from things completely unrelated to books that
gets me.

Not that it's a big deal; I will not be using this option. Just wanted to make
a point of concern for when a website over-reaches its verticals.

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gcb
$20 discount only?!... hope they keep the ads to the screen saver.

~~~
georgemcbay
They do apply to the screensaver/home screen only. I think the discount is
still way too low, though.

Are they really sure the people they want to advertise to are those who would
accept having ads pushed to them in exchange for saving only 20 bucks?

To be clear, I'm not making a judgement call on such people, I'm just
wondering how great of an advertising demographic they are.

~~~
brandall10
They're the perfect demographic. Keep in mind the ads being pushed are in the
form of promotions based on the examples Amazon is giving, for um, this
promotion.

