Ad-Supported Kindle?

[kjk]

Originally Posted by grumpy3b

by the way to those iPad and Touch owners out there do you really think the push technology built into your devices is for email? Nope it is to push ads and try to drive sales. Only Apple is pretty nimble at putting a pretty bow on the situation.

You mean the push technology built into every iOS, RIM, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Palm device? How about keeping the Apple baiting to a minimum in at least one thread: is that possible with you?

[NVash]

Originally Posted by crich70

And you really wouldn't save that much if you think about it. Unless you're an Amazon Prime member you spend part of that $25 in the s/h costs. And to save that s/h costs (unless you are doing the free trial period) you pay an annual fee of almost $80.00 so where is the real savings?

I may be wrong but doesnt Amazon have free shipping on orders over $25? If they cant give someone free shipping on an order thats $114 then thats just a shame.

Originally Posted by emellaich

I'm not sure what the concern is about ad-supported stuff. As precedents consider:
- Network TV
- Comic Books (as mentioned)
- Radio
- Paperbacks (I remember those louis l'amour westerns had card stock ads for collectors editions)

And in this case they said there wouldn't be any ads in the books themselves. Just in the screensavers and the bottom of the home screen.

And I am really looking forward to one type of in-book ad. Right now I buy the first book in a series, and I have to go to wikipedia to find the series list, and the order of the remaining books. Then I head to Amazon to buy the next book. I would love it, if the back of the book had an ad/link to 'click here to download the next book in the series'.

Go ahead Amazon, tease me some more about those comics. Put them on the Kindle and Ill buy them, but they arent on there are they? No. Whats their excuse anyway?

Now as for this ad-supported Kindle, I dont want it. Im not in the least bit interested. Why? Im still annoyed that I cant make my own screensavers, Im not about to allow them to force some on me that are actually ads.

[ps249]

Its going to be funny to watch the kindle go down like a led zeppelin !

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by ps249

Its going to be funny to watch the kindle go down like a led zeppelin !

hardly. i think it would go further down in price in the future, but amazon isn't pointing a gun to your head and making you buy the ad-supported kindle. you still have a choice. or just buy another reader that is better suited to your purposes.

[kjk]

Interesting story from just last week:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/04/...y-ad-business/

Amazon’s job postings show a focus on online advertising, wrote Ben Schachter of Macquarie Group in a report Friday. Schachter said in an interview that Amazon could be a display-ad power broker on the level of Google, Yahoo and Facebook because of “the fact that Amazon has so much customer data” and because the company is “proven as a technology pioneer.”

Be interesting to see how they apply this to their Android market as well.

[crich70]

The Kindle 3 currently costs $139.00 (wi-fi) and without the Amazon Prime you have s/h costs as well. Amazon Prime costs almost $80.00 a year. So if such a thing as the ad feature existed on the K3 it wouldn't be much of a savings really. So if they took off $25.00 for the reason talked about in the thread you would still not save much. 3G is even more expensive. Almost $200.00 so $25.00 off with s/h added on would still have you saving less than $25.00.

Originally Posted by russellmz00

huh?

"Price: $114.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping."


last year i paid around $115 from woot for a sony pocket reader (refurb). so this deal doesn't sound too bad, especially if i can get a $20 gift card for $10 later on. and like mentioned above, how bad can the ads be if it's eink? no seizure-inducing flashy ads in eye blinding colors possible. the worst case would be commercial interruptions, but the product page reads: "Special offers and sponsored screensavers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen—they don't interrupt reading."

[Avarwen]

Originally Posted by theGsayeth

They won't drop it to $99 until a Christmas rolls around. $99 is that golden price, they drop it there and EVERYONE will be buying. This is just a toe in the water.

I doubt it will be around Christmas unless they have the kindle 4 coming out. These will sell but I doubt it will be a ton of them. Most people will likely opt for the wi-fi or 3G Kindle. Then there are people who are waiting for the Kindle 4 to come out. The only way they will get people who haven't already bought one and are still on the fence is to take it down to $99.

Originally Posted by crich70

The Kindle 3 currently costs $139.00 (wi-fi) and without the Amazon Prime you have s/h costs as well. Amazon Prime costs almost $80.00 a year. So if such a thing as the ad feature existed on the K3 it wouldn't be much of a savings really. So if they took off $25.00 for the reason talked about in the thread you would still not save much. 3G is even more expensive. Almost $200.00 so $25.00 off with s/h added on would still have you saving less than $25.00.

It's $145 for wi-fi and $195 for 3G when all is said and done.

[Worldwalker]

I've got something of a weird point of view on this:

The ads look worth having (hey, I'm a sucker for a discount) ... but not on my ebook reader. My reading time is "me time", free from the constant hammering to BUY! BUY! BUY! I want to keep it that way.

But given the offer -- "here, we'll give you $25, and in exchange we can harass you to BUY! every time you try to read a book for the next ... um, forever (or at least until your Kindle breaks)" -- no how, no way.

By the way, don't knock Amazon Prime; it's is a great deal for some people, like me. I live about a gallon of gas (depending on traffic) away from the nearest worthwhile bookstore. So you figure I'm spending $5-$10 (again, depending on traffic) just to go to a bookstore, or quite a few other stores for that matter. If my Prime membership saved me one trip a month I'd be ahead of the game, and it's saved me a lot more than that. It's been worth pre-paying my shipping just to avoid the trips. Pre-paying my shipping has turned out to be a really great deal ... and, by keeping me safely away from the temptations of the Harbor Freight just one exit away from the Borders, and other dangerous places, it's probably saved me money on stuff too.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

My reading time is "me time", free from the constant hammering to BUY! BUY! BUY! I want to keep it that way.

Agreed. Just because we're inundated with ads in other areas doesn't mean we can't set personal limits. As this thread illustrates, people's limits vary. I wouldn't accept it at any price, including free. Whether other people decide to accept it is their business; I won't tell them they shouldn't. Well maybe a little, for the sake of discussion (don't encourage that kind of business; the price will come down anyway), but they don't have to listen to me.

[astra]

Originally Posted by crich70

The Kindle 3 currently costs $139.00 (wi-fi) and without the Amazon Prime you have s/h costs as well.

What is s/h cost?

[tubemonkey]

Here are some of the initial offers for this new Kindle:

• $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
• $6 for 6 Audible Books (normally $68)
• $1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store
• Buy one of 30 Kindle bestsellers with your Visa card and get $10 Amazon.com credit
• 50% off Roku Streaming Player (normally $99)

I'm in the market for the following items either for myself or for gifts:

• Kindle 3 - $25 savings
• Roku XDS - $50 savings
• Audible books - $62 savings
• Music - $8 savings
• eBooks - $10 savings
• Gift Cards - $10 savings

Do the math: $50 + $62 + $8 + $10 + $10 = $140 = FREE KINDLE and $26 left over.

I'm getting one - I love free when it's stuff I was getting anyway.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by astra

What is s/h cost?

i think it's shipping/handling? but the kindle is eligible for free shipping if you ship it to the US. that's why i no longer paid s/h costs on mine, and it arrived pretty quickly too.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

$25 discount isn't enough discount to interest me

Yeap.
Actually, with ad, only a free kindle would interest me.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Yeap.
Actually, with ad, only a free kindle would interest me.

Amazon is giving me a free one plus an extra $26

[astra]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i think it's shipping/handling? but the kindle is eligible for free shipping if you ship it to the US. that's why i no longer paid s/h costs on mine, and it arrived pretty quickly too.

I thought so too, but crich70 includes this "s/h" into kindle price if you don't have amazon premium. That's what I don't understand. Shipping and handling is free. You don't need

Amazon Prime costs almost $80.00 a year

So, I assume it must be something else.