Ad-Supported Kindle?

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Loomings

I would be embarrassed to give one. I would be really disappointed to get one as a gift.

To me the product in reading should be books. An ad-supported device turns the user's attention into the product and I feel that even a small part of my attention is worth much more than 25 dollars. This is also why I use as much ad-blocking software as possible and don't watch commercial television. The product in the TV business is the viewer's attention and mental energy which is sold to advertisers. I read to enjoy having 100% of my mental energy to myself.

Pretty much my view exactly on this. It's fine if people decide to accept the deal, that's their choice, but I would never make that decision for someone in the form of a gift. "Here, I volunteered you as an ad viewer to save me $25 on your present." It's tacky, I think.

If someone thinks they'll really enjoy the special offers, that's one thing, but anyone who is ok with $114 but feels a significant financial pinch from $139 shouldn't be spending money on an ereader, imo. I don't mean that as a put-down; I've been in such financial circumstances in the past.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

anyone who is ok with $114 but feels a significant financial pinch from $139 shouldn't be spending money on an ereader, imo.

That is correct and there really aren't many people who will sign up for the ads just to save $25.
Which why the KSO is really going to sell on the strength of the deals.
Its not as if Amazon is hiding their intent: look to the product page and see what Amazon's sales pitch looks like.

Let's just wait and see what buyers/recipients of the first KSOs have to say by august. Cause the first month I'm pretty sure there's going to be a lot of excitement over the $50 Roku and the $1 albums...

The real test is going to be long-term customer satisfaction and there are really two sets of customers here; the KSO users *and* the deal providers. On a short-term basis the former are likely to be very happy with their "free" Kindles. The latter? Therein lies the rub...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Loomings

I would be embarrassed to give one. I would be really disappointed to get one as a gift.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll scratch you off my list.

[obs20]

It would make sense if I used audio books but I never use them.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

If someone thinks they'll really enjoy the special offers, that's one thing, but anyone who is ok with $114 but feels a significant financial pinch from $139 shouldn't be spending money on an ereader, imo. I don't mean that as a put-down; I've been in such financial circumstances in the past.

The only group of people I can think of who would very reasonably consider that $25 as substantial are students. A teenager might have $100 in birthday money and the ability to scrounge up another 20, but not another forty-plus-shipping. A college student on a tight budget might find that a $25 discount moves the Kindle into her price range for the year, especially if she's already counting on a number of Gutenberg books that'll be useful for her classes.

Neither of these groups is likely to be buying much from the ads.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

...but anyone who is ok with $114 but feels a significant financial pinch from $139 shouldn't be spending money on an ereader, imo.

I can't agree. Every eBook I've read since I got my device 16 months ago has been free. My jetBook Lite paid for itself in only 3 months.

In my experience, the person without much money for books is the perfect candidate for an inexpensive eBook reader.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Again, KSO isn't about growing the Kindle install base as much as using Kindle to get into the online ad and digital coupon distribution businesses.

I don't completely agree with that. I'm sure they're not expecting to sell boatloads of the Kindles at $114 (for all the reasons already mentioned here), but if they're not trying to expand their base at least moderately, then this move makes absolutely no sense at all. Almost no one who already has a Kindle will be lining up to get one of these. Even if you can make a mathematical argument for it (e.g., over time the special offers pay for the Kindle, and more) that doesn't seem to be the reaction they're getting. Rather predictably, people are annoyed at the idea of being exposed to advertising. With some exceptions (and I realize that there are people on MR who like the special offer idea) I think the people they're going to get are the budget conscious for whom that extra $25 breaks some psychological barrier to purchase.

It just seems to me that people will be thinking about the reading experience first, and the special offers second, most of the time.

[Catlady]

If you look at the ad-supported Kindle now, they've already removed the Roku offer that had been there. And the offers they list are described as examples--not necessarily offers that will all be on the thing the moment it's released.

I really think those who are counting on the special offers are going to be disappointed.

[Worldwalker]

I'm wondering if the difference between the pro-ad and anti-ad people is the whole connectivity thing in the first place.

I have a Sony 505. It doesn't have WiFi, doesn't have 3G, doesn't connect to anything without a cable, and basically works like a paper book (or 2,500 paper books). As has been mentioned in the WiFi thread, there are some people who want exactly that: an ebook reader that doesn't try to be a tablet, that just displays the books they already own. And there are people with Kindles, etc., with WiFi, 3G, or some other means of connecting to the Internet and to the company bookstore. They not only display books, they let you buy books, check your email, and whatever else; they're quasi-tablets. I think there's a mental distinction between "electronic book" and "multi-use device which can function as an electronic book." When a device lets you visit the company store and buy more books, it's starting to move into category 2. When you can check your email, read MobileRead, etc., it's firmly into category 2. (when ebook reading is only a small and somewhat under-supported part of what it can do, you've got an iPad)

So the category 1 fans aren't going to want something that's in category 2 because it's breaking the whole idea of "just like a pbook" that is why they have an ebook reader in the first place. That's why they don't buy Kindles or iPads. Pushing ads to them, no matter how good the deals offered, is a solidly category 2 thing, and they're not interested.

Take me: I think the deals sound great. I want in on a few of them. But I want them in my email, to be responded to via my computer, not on my ebook reader. My PC is my communications hub, and I want my 505 to be about books, not about ads.

So, basically, we have two types of people here -- I'll call them book people and tablet people, for convenience -- and it's no more likely that book people will suddenly become tablet people than that tablet people will suddenly become book people. It's two different areas of focus, two different sets of needs for a device, and therefore two different responses to the matter of a Kindle with built-in ads.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I really think those who are counting on the special offers are going to be disappointed.

I think you're right. I would take the word "examples" to mean that they're examples of offers people will actually get, but that doesn't mean they'll get them immediately. The way I see it, users will get, at most, two offers at a time: one on the home screen, and one in the screensaver (assuming that Amazon doesn't put one ad in both places). So I don't think there's any way you're going to be taking advantage of all the offers right out of the gate. Who knows how long it'll take for some of them to appear?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

So I don't think there's any way you're going to be taking advantage of all the offers right out of the gate. Who knows how long it'll take for some of them to appear?

"...in the initial weeks..."

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

If you look at the ad-supported Kindle now, they've already removed the Roku offer that had been there.

Still there.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Still there.

Where are you looking? I'm on this page, and when I click on the "learn more" link, I get a popup which says:

Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers
Receive special offers directly on your Kindle. Examples include:
$10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
$6 for 6 Audible Books (normally $68)
$1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store (choose from over 1 million albums)
$10 for $30 of products in the Amazon Denim Shop or Amazon Swim Shop
Special offers and sponsored screensavers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen—they don't interrupt reading.

No Roku; the "10 for $30" offer is there instead.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Where are you looking? I'm on this page, and when I click on the "learn more" link, I get a popup which says:

No Roku; the "10 for $30" offer is there instead.

Kindle with Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers

Amazon Introduces New Kindle Family Member: Kindle with Special Offers for $114

[Catlady]

Well, I think the page I'm looking at is the one that most people see--not the press release or the help pages.

Anyway, since the info is different in different places, doesn't that in itself indicate again that these are just EXAMPLES, and not actual offers? You really don't know what you're going to get, you don't know what the fine print is on any of the offers, you don't know the time frames for any of the offers--all you really know is that you'll save $25 on the Kindle purchase.

The rest of it is just a crapshoot.