Ad-Supported Kindle?

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I haven't seen any outpouring of emotion; I've seen a lot of skepticism, which I share.

And $25 is just not enough of a discount for a lifetime of ads.

Same here.

I'm not enough of a consumer to want a coupon-generating device. I never even check the email address I signed up for Living Social with.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

Same here.

I'm not enough of a consumer to want a coupon-generating device. I never even check the email address I signed up for Living Social with.

trust me, you don't want to...I really regret signing up for that deal with my personal email addy.

[grumpy3b]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Loonies say "aint".
Us groundhogs, politely, say "is".

I've seen it both ways.
It's been cleaned up for mainstream economic and political use.
So I guess the version you use depends on the context; as a Heinlein quote with A, as a re-statement of the laws of thermo, with I.
Either way it is good shorthand to remind folks that it is literally a law of nature that everything has a price.

I'm also fond of "Cold Equations" as shorthand for "the universe doesn't care".
Lots of succint wisdom to be found in the SF classics.

haha I like that "the universe doesn't care". its funny because its true!

Law of nature? We don't need no stinking laws, they are just too confining! I say lets start with our own laws of nature. Really who asked any of us about these so-called laws? Let's vote them out for better and more fun laws!

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by kjk

trust me, you don't want to...I really regret signing up for that deal with my personal email addy.

This is why there are rent-a-servers and catchalls. Never give some random company any email address you can't just delete/block if they sell it to the spammers, or get hacked by spammers, or are spammers. A domain name will cost you about ten bucks a year, and you have all sorts of options for hosting and forwarding your email, depending on how much you want to pay, from free on up. It's worth it for the peace of mind.

[stickybuns]

If I were to purchase an ad-supported Kindle, I would be more interested in a modest, *guaranteed* discount than ZOMG!Amazing! once in a blue moon discounts.

"Get X% off Kindle books for the lifetime of your Kindle w/Special Offers"

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Gifting a KSO should be no problem as long as you know the recipient likes deal-hunting.
Make no mistake, there are people who regularly troll outlet stores and would by thrilled to get a KSO.

You betcha. I love good deals and I know lots of others who do too.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

You betcha. I love good deals and I know lots of others who do too.

Plenty of folks believe in "saving money regardless of the cost!"

Amazon is trying a clever flanking of the market, here.
Not sure how big of a market KSO will find but it it finds a home with the extreme coupon-ers it'll add another couple million Kindles to the installed base and a *lot* of Word-of-mouth.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Not sure how big of a market KSO will find but it it finds a home with the extreme coupon-ers it'll add another couple million Kindles to the installed base and a *lot* of Word-of-mouth.

Following up on this line of thought, it occurs to me that the Kindle has a 30-day money-back guarantee. So Amazon will (assuming that everyone gets the same offer on the same day) be obligated to routinely offer attractive deals. If they stop after a while, the last 30 days' customers will turn their devices back in for a refund.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Following up on this line of thought, it occurs to me that the Kindle has a 30-day money-back guarantee. So Amazon will (assuming that everyone gets the same offer on the same day) be obligated to routinely offer attractive deals. If they stop after a while, the last 30 days' customers will turn their devices back in for a refund.

I don't see Amazon stopping the good deals so soon after implementation. The whole point of doing this is for the ads, not for selling cheaper Kindles.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Following up on this line of thought, it occurs to me that the Kindle has a 30-day money-back guarantee. So Amazon will (assuming that everyone gets the same offer on the same day) be obligated to routinely offer attractive deals. If they stop after a while, the last 30 days' customers will turn their devices back in for a refund.

But as a practical matter, how many people would really do that?

I think it's likely that a lot of their offers will be one per customer, so they may keep offering them, but only new buyers will be able to take advantage.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I think it's likely that a lot of their offers will be one per customer, so they may keep offering them, but only new buyers will be able to take advantage.

That model won't sustain itself.

[theGsayeth]

I know there is another thread I started in the Kindle specific forum section, but I'll post my commentary here as well.

I think the introduction of this adverkindle is a delaying tactic. I think they know the magic number is $99, but they're holding off on that price for as long as possible. The market and variety that exists today is forcing them to every so slowly lower the cost of their device, just a matter of WHEN.

[fjtorres]

The real magic number is zero-plus.
With the plus being a contract of some kind.
But manufacturing capacity just isn't there for Amazon to supply enough Kindles to make money at zero. Or $49. Or $99. The screens are the bottleneck.
As long as demand is matching supply at current prices they can't drop prices; why stoke demand you can't meet?

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.
When Amazon makes its next push into the reader business (late summer, methinks) we'll know it. But KSO isn't it. Its just a side bet.

[stonetools]

When Amazon makes its next push into the reader business (late summer, methinks) we'll know it. But KSO isn't it. Its just a side bet.

The Amazing Amazon Tab, coming in August...

[Loomings]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Also: would you be embarassed to give a "deal-Kindle" as a gift?

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.


I'll grant that it doesn't sound that bad now but what if it was wildly successful? Amazon would quickly figure out to to sneak in more and more invasive ads and sell my attention to other companies. I'm sure they already have plans. Once they start to get feedback on which ads work they will cleverly tweak them to maximize the amount of browsing and shopping that is done on the Kindle.