[gmw]

I can't see it myself. Not for most novels, and not for avid readers.

The approach is not all that surprising. An "only off the cloud" approach was always going to be something that was tried to try and work around piracy.

I can imagine that this might work for those that only ever read for short periods (riding to and from work etc.). I know quite a few people that (mostly) don't sit down for more than a chapter or two at a time. So ads only at the start of a chapter, when you're first sitting back down to the book after a break, may not be a big problem. Such a system, if enough writers/publishers support it, may well give them reasonable material for a train ride for free (or almost so). So not for me, but who knows, maybe it's something that could catch on.

ETA: Speaking as a writer, the only thing that matters is whether the reader is happy with how the book is presented. If enough readers like the idea then I don't see a big problem in supporting it - as long as it's not exclusive. (You still need to be able to provide the book to readers that want it without ads etc..)