Up next: Free iPods, Android phones, netbooks, desktop computers, flat screen TV's....
No free cars, though. Those inch up in price every year. Dang.
The Kindle does have a vendor lock-in, but without some type of multi-year service plan, with a penalty for early termination, giving away Kindles will turn into a money pit. I might add that a few years ago, Bezos did explicitly shoot down the idea that they were pursuing either the cell phone model (discount the device, profit on the service) or the iTunes model (discount on the service, profit on the device). Ideally they want to earn profits from both the hardware and ebook sales.
Plus, you need more than Bezos smiling at you to prove you've divined his business plans. He's a very savvy business man, but let's face it, the guy looks like a Muppet on crank.