

Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers - edw519
http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/12/amazon-wants-to-give-a-free-kindle-to-all-amazon-prime-subscribers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

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modoc
I'm a Prime customer, and I love it. I buy way more on Amazon than I used to,
and I find it very convenient. It pays for itself on Christmas shopping alone.

This could be a smart move. I've often thought about a Kindle, but never
really wanted one bad enough to shell out for it (although I'm pretty sure
I'll get the iPad). Dropping one in my lap, knowing that I spend a lot of
money on Amazon, could be a very smart move for Amazon to make. Maybe I'll
love the Kindle, use it a ton, buy a ton of books, and show all my friends.

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quantumhobbit
Prime really does pay for itself. I ordered enough on Amazon before getting
prime that it was a no brainer. Amazon is also very generous about letting you
share your prime subscription with family members.

I already read quite a few books on my iPhone(Kindle app, and Stanza) so I
would probably end up paying for a Kindle in book purchases over the life of
the device. Seems like a win-win.

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ShabbyDoo
"Amazon is also very generous about letting you share your prime subscription
with family members."

Yes. I invented three step-brothers with whom I share my membership. Effective
cost is $20/household/year.

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icey
Do the family members have to live in the same household as you for this to
work (disregarding the ToS)?

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potatolicious
No, I have my account with 4 other people at 3 different addresses, it works
just fine. Keep in mind all of these people are in the same city, though...

[edit] Note for other post: you don't have to share actual accounts - you can
invite people to share prime membership; they will use their own account to do
their own shopping but still get the same perks.

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smokey_the_bear
Mine are spread out all over the country. Different last names too. They don't
seem to care.

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jpdugan
Amazon Prime is a great service on its face. If you buy from Amazon regularly,
it pays for itself, if not in dollars than in convenience.

I've been on the fence about readers for a while now. I'm a programmer, but I
have a degree in American literature. Most of the books I own were written
over a century ago. Unfortunately, these books simply don't come in a Kindle
edition often enough to justify the purchase of the reader. But if Amazon gave
me the reader, it probably would lead me to buy more new titles and magazine
subscriptions. And, of course, eventually the titles I want will be available
in Kindle editions.

I guess the real question is how many additional sales would Amazon gain from
someone like me + my likelihood of upgrading to the next version of the Kindle
vs. the production cost of the Kindle. I bet the math makes sense over the
long haul. It's not that different a calculus than I use when I buy Amazon
Prime every year.

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yan
A lot of books that are out of copyright are available online for free in open
formats that are readable on the Kindle. Project Gutenberg is full of classics
that you can (and I do) read on the Kindle.

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cjoh
It was fairly clear to me that after it's "breaking news: Jason Calacanis has
an iPad" stories and this nonsense that TechCrunch just makes stuff up to get
views. Arrington is to Early Adopters what Ann Coulter is to conservatives. He
figures out just what it is that you want it to hear-- truth or not-- and
tells it to you.

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patrickgzill
So Arrington is the neo-con of tech reporters?

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cjoh
Saying that Ann Coulter is a neo-con is like saying Bozo the Clown is an
acclaimed stage performer. While her message is conservative themed, her
tactic isn't to espouse conservatism, but rather to get people to read her
column.

The same's to be said for Arrington. It's a problem that all journalism has:
the facts and what's popular usually don't mix.

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stcredzero
Actually, I believe that Bozo the Clown is a fellow alum of my alma mater.

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sp332
Singular _alumnus_ (masculine) or _alumna_ (feminine), often abbreviated
"alum" to avoid having to remember any of that :)

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sant0sk1
As an Amazon Prime user, I really hope this happens.

    
    
        Free Kindle -> eBay/Craigslist -> cheaper iPad

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prosa
Not to mention that just by giving it away, they are increasing the likelihood
of price drops for the iPad.

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ludwig
Oh nice! If so, then I'm glad I signed up for Amazon Prime. I'm still getting
an iPad, though :D

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dkimball
I see from other comments that this may not be true, but if it isn't, I'd
advise that Amazon should start doing it as soon as they can. It would be an
application of the "Gilette model" of sales -- sell the razor, or the printer,
or the video-game console cheap, and make your money back on selling blades,
cartridges, or cartridges respectively.

For a book-delivery platform like the Kindle, this strikes me as a natural
model -- a user is likely to buy a large number of books over his lifetime,
and the margin of profit on a $10 e-book makes the margin of profit on a music
CD look humble.

There's also the point that the Kindle is not an obviously useful sort of
device. Making it widely available will overcome customer reluctance to try it
out it, ensuring that it either proves its worth and spreads quickly, or
proves its worthlessness and fails quickly, and minimizes the amount of time
that Amazon spends in new-product limbo either way.

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abecedarius
The problem with the Gilette model is, Amazon is also losing money on the
razor blades, it seems:
[http://www.publishersweekly.com/index.asp?layout=talkBackCom...](http://www.publishersweekly.com/index.asp?layout=talkBackCommentsFull&articleid=CA6657272&talk_back_header_id=6599602)

I guess their strategy must be more like Microsoft's: establish market power
early and milk it for the big bux0rz later.

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rriepe
Kindle and Prime are both things I already kinda want, but haven't pulled the
trigger on. I'd go for this in an instant.

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JeffJenkins
I was sort of on the edge about renewing my Prime subscription AND about
getting a Kindle, but if they gave me a free Kindle I'd be back on Prime (and
ordering from Amazon again) in a second.

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moskie
So, uh, I'm an Amazon Prime customer that has already bought a Kindle. What do
I get?

Edit: also, why the pic of the old Kindle? Are they giving away leftovers of
the first edition?

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jeff18
I will give you 50% of market value for your Kindle.

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markkoberlein
I just bought one but I wouldn't mind getting another one for free since I'm a
prime subscriber. Then my wife and I wouldn't have to fight over the one we
have.

This would be a good move by Amazon. The only way they are going to keep the
iPad as the 2nd place e-reader is to either give away the kindle or at least
drop the price to $99. Then when they release their color touch screen kindle
they could charge $199 while still giving away the older model.

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smokey_the_bear
Interesting idea. I've had prime for a few years, and I'd probably buy a
kindle if they gave me $100 off of one.

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ja27
Great. I just need them to send me 2 or 3 so we don't all fight over it.

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tybris
That's a brilliant rumour.

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scorciapino
Considering that kindle customers do not own the books they buy, Amazon's
kindle will be Free as free first dose of cocaine.

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jrockway
Just like with libraries?

I buy books for a few hours of enjoyment. After I've read them, they just sit
on a shelf and collect dust. Because most people are like this, the Kindle is
not a poor value proposition. Even if you were only allowed to read the book
exactly once, it would still be a better value (in terms of hours of time
spent per dollar spent) than many things, like seeing a movie.

Everyone hates DRM, but everyone knows that DRM only lasts a few years for a
given industry. Eventually the publishers realize that DRM is being used to
lock _them_ into a distributor, and they hate that more than "piracy". It
happened with music, and it's starting to happen to books.

When people start getting arrested for sharing books with their lovers, then
you can link to "The Right To Read" and say "I told you so". In the mean time,
consider DRM as a bootstrap that will eventually go away.

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thaumaturgy
I mostly agree with you, but with one exception: I'm a bit of a history buff,
and I'm not altogether looking forward to a future where all of the history
texts are alterable, and nobody owns previous copies.

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weaksauce
I wonder if this will increase the number of people that sha1 the books to see
if it has been tampered. maybe have a distributed system that votes for the
correct hash. Or you could have a canonical repository like the library of
congress.

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msg
Or you could have a canonical repository like _the Ministry of Truth._

Fixed that for you.

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kerringtonx
That's nice of them but will anyone still be using this when the iPad drops??

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callahad
I'd certainly use a free Kindle over a $500 iPad.

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jrockway
I'd use a $200 Kindle over a free iPad.

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prakash
All Amazon is doing is making people buy the iPad 2.0 or 3.0.

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angstrom
More like hoping they lock in to their platform and feel a need to stick with
it after having invested in several eBooks.

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hboon
People can still read on the iPad with the Kindle app.

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samd
How many MacBook Airs did this "story" cost?

Sorry, it was too easy.

