WHY??? - Page 2

franklekens · 09-03-2012, 04:25 PM

That's very nice of them, but it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. For one, it doesn't make "menus shorter and easier to navigate", *and* it doesn't make for conformity. On the Kindle Touch the menu to switch wireless on/off is currently available in the first level menu, not on the second level menu as it is on the K4. Ditto for the K3 (but I guess that's no longer in development).

Maybe collecting marketing data is the real motivation behind it. But my guess is they just haven't thought it through very well.

Like the texts for *all* their menu options, by the way. Every option says "turn on", which sounds like an instruction to the user and seems to imply that this option is currently turned off, when the option is turned on already. (And vice versa for turn off.) You get used to it soon enough, but its interface madness if you ask me.

tubemonkey · 09-03-2012, 06:58 PM

Because of this change, I keep my K4 in airplane mode. Since Amazon discontinued its Special Offers program last April, I have no incentive to turn wifi on more than once or twice a month to load new books or a few games.

My K4 now displays the same screensavers as the non-ad versions do; plus a banner saying:

Quote:

Please connect wirelessly to download the latest Special Offers

...and I won't do it, because there are no Special Offers. It's a fiendish plot by Amazon to lure my poor defenseless K4 into its evil clutches.

Blossom · 09-03-2012, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Because of this change, I keep my K4 in airplane mode. Since Amazon discontinued its Special Offers program last April, I have no incentive to turn wifi on more than once or twice a month to load new books.

My K4 now displays the same screensavers as the non-ad versions do; plus a banner saying:

...and I won't do it, because there are no Special Offers. It's a fiendish plot by Amazon to lure my poor defenseless K4 into its evil clutches.

It's annoying though for us who send books to our Kindles and use the Sync feature. I'm always having to go back and forth. I can't leave WiFi on due to huge battery drainage.

A few of their ads caught my eye lately. One was Microsoft Office 2010 for $99. The other was a book I forgot was coming out.

booklover6 · 09-03-2012, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Since Amazon discontinued its Special Offers program last April, I have no incentive to turn wifi on more than once or twice a month to load new books or a few games.

My K4 now displays the same screensavers as the non-ad versions do; plus a banner saying:

...and I won't do it, because there are no Special Offers. It's a fiendish plot by Amazon to lure my poor defenseless K4 into its evil clutches.

Because of this I am attempting to put my own screen savers on. I may not succeed at that but I have succeeded in removing all the ads, at least for now. My banner says please connect...and I have a generic letters screen saver. Will play more.

Solicitous · 09-03-2012, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Because of this change, I keep my K4 in airplane mode. Since Amazon discontinued its Special Offers program last April, I have no incentive to turn wifi on more than once or twice a month to load new books or a few games.

My K4 now displays the same screensavers as the non-ad versions do; plus a banner saying:

...and I won't do it, because there are no Special Offers. It's a fiendish plot by Amazon to lure my poor defenseless K4 into its evil clutches.

Sorry forgive my ignorance (and perhaps being an Aussie and we dont get special offers) but I thought the Kindles with Special Offers were still being sold, so what program did they discontinue??

tubemonkey · 09-04-2012, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Sorry forgive my ignorance (and perhaps being an Aussie and we dont get special offers) but I thought the Kindles with Special Offers were still being sold, so what program did they discontinue??

They are, but it's really a misnomer to call them such. When these Kindles were first introduced in Apr 2011, there were two types of offers on them; regular ads and Special Offers. Regular ads were available to anyone with an Amazon account and Kindle ownership wasn't required.

The second type of offers were the Special Offers. These offers required ownership of a Kindle with Special Offers in order to take advantage of them. If you didn't own such a Kindle, you couldn't redeem the offer. This program lasted a year and was discontinued in Apr 2012.

Now, the only offers on these Kindles are just regular ads; even though Amazon still calls them Special Offers. Besides being available on these Kindles, they're also available online.

Joykins · 09-04-2012, 08:54 PM

I used to get a lot of AmazonLocal offers with my kindle but now it appears to be all ads. Did those offers stop too?

Joykins · 09-04-2012, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franklekens

That's very nice of them, but it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. For one, it doesn't make "menus shorter and easier to navigate", *and* it doesn't make for conformity. On the Kindle Touch the menu to switch wireless on/off is currently available in the first level menu, not on the second level menu as it is on the K4. Ditto for the K3 (but I guess that's no longer in development).

Maybe collecting marketing data is the real motivation behind it. But my guess is they just haven't thought it through very well.

Like the texts for *all* their menu options, by the way. Every option says "turn on", which sounds like an instruction to the user and seems to imply that this option is currently turned off, when the option is turned on already. (And vice versa for turn off.) You get used to it soon enough, but its interface madness if you ask me.

I agree that it doesn't make much sense and is confusing. I'm hoping another release gives the former functionality back.

tubemonkey · 09-04-2012, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joykins

I used to get a lot of AmazonLocal offers with my kindle but now it appears to be all ads. Did those offers stop too?

I'm glad they stopped them. Sometimes, I had over a dozen Local ads cluttering things up.

Joykins · 09-05-2012, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'm glad they stopped them. Sometimes, I had over a dozen Local ads cluttering things up.

I was getting some good deals on favorite local restaurants! I miss them!

Blossom · 09-05-2012, 10:55 PM

I get the local deals by email. Just go to Amazon Local and subscribe to the area of your choice. No need to miss out.

booklover6 · 09-06-2012, 08:31 AM

Well my attempt to remove the ads was quite temporary. They're back. I'll just live with it, since I am not willing to jump through all the hoops necessary to remove them permanently. At least my non SO Kindle has custome screen savers instead of dead authors, now.

tubemonkey · 09-06-2012, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joykins

I was getting some good deals on favorite local restaurants! I miss them!

AmazonLocal is still available. The KSO was just one of the places they advertised in. You can still see the offers on your computer and have them emailed to you.

Go here and choose your city:

AmazonLocal

twobob · 09-06-2012, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I very much doubt that was the motivation. It's much more likely, I think, that they felt that "Airplane Mode" is what people are used to seeing on their mobile phones.

I agree with this in essence but also because when on a plane it provides peace of mind.

POM that you actually DID turn it "Off", like really off not a bit "Off"

POM that you're not going to plunge into the ground ("Thank You," tomorrow's, prescient, no doubt doom-filled, e-paper deliveries) as you roam into the fateful range of an ever-keen cell-tower.

"Was that my Kindluuulllll?!?!!!aaaaarrrrggghhh!!!"

ALTERNATIVE ENDING

Spoiler:

09-03-2012, 04:25 PM	#16
franklekens Evangelist Posts: 407 Karma: 3421956 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: various Kobo's, Onyx Note2, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Keyboard	That's very nice of them, but it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. For one, it doesn't make "menus shorter and easier to navigate", and it doesn't make for conformity. On the Kindle Touch the menu to switch wireless on/off is currently available in the first level menu, not on the second level menu as it is on the K4. Ditto for the K3 (but I guess that's no longer in development). Maybe collecting marketing data is the real motivation behind it. But my guess is they just haven't thought it through very well. Like the texts for all their menu options, by the way. Every option says "turn on", which sounds like an instruction to the user and seems to imply that this option is currently turned off, when the option is turned on already. (And vice versa for turn off.) You get used to it soon enough, but its interface madness if you ask me.

09-04-2012, 08:54 PM	#22
Joykins Wizard Posts: 1,612 Karma: 9211856 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: kindle Oasis 2018, kindle 4 NT, kindle PW2, iPhone, iPad mini	I used to get a lot of AmazonLocal offers with my kindle but now it appears to be all ads. Did those offers stop too?

09-05-2012, 10:55 PM	#26
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	I get the local deals by email. Just go to Amazon Local and subscribe to the area of your choice. No need to miss out.

09-06-2012, 08:31 AM	#27
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,545 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre 1, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle, Kobo Libre Colour	Well my attempt to remove the ads was quite temporary. They're back. I'll just live with it, since I am not willing to jump through all the hoops necessary to remove them permanently. At least my non SO Kindle has custome screen savers instead of dead authors, now.

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