Content Amazon.com to sell cheaper Kindle e-reader, but you'll have to see on-screen ads!

[nimblem]

Originally Posted by bZkindle

Not a single one of the books I have read contain ads, on the front/back cover or anywhere in between.
If amazon started pushing ads to peoples kindles, there would be hell to pay!
Which is to say: that's not gonna happen.

Really? Cause just about every book I pick up (hard copy and some on the kindle) have an advertisement for the authors next or previous books. Some books even have leaflets that fall out for discounts if you buy one of the authors other books. Where do you get your books that don't contain this?

[Barty]

Originally Posted by billmilo

I know I can find a way to block the ads, so I'd buy it.

I really doubt it.

I'm sure amazon will make those ads very difficult to hack. It seems hacks on the kindle are pretty limited on what they can do.

Look for example at how many people are annoyed that 3.1 doesn't show locations without pressing Menu, but no one has figured out a hack for this. Nor have I seen a hack that changes any aspect of the home screen.

You could get a replacement firmware like duokan, but you give up all the kindle features that make a kindle a kindle.

It's not like with iThings, which has a whole store of hacks and unauthorized apps that let you do all sort of wacky things.

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by nimblem

Really? Cause just about every book I pick up (hard copy and some on the kindle) have an advertisement for the authors next or previous books. Some books even have leaflets that fall out for discounts if you buy one of the authors other books. Where do you get your books that don't contain this?

At a local bookstore. Not so much anymore since I've gone digital.
Yes, they always contain a list of some of the authors/publishers other books (if that's what you mean) and amazon already has something comparable in place with the 'also recommended' bit after the last page of a book.
This is a little different than graphic/text ads to 'enjoy coke'.
I've never bought a book that had a flyer pop out of it.
Maybe it's because I read mostly non-fiction or classics, I don't know, but I've never seen that.

[nimblem]

hmmm... Maybe I get them because I read things that have supporters... (for lack of a better term) as in buying a book about kiddos with autism that is issued through Autism Speaks. There is always something in the books that want you to buy this or that, and subscribe to their mailing list... etc. Kind of annoying.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by nimblem

Really? Cause just about every book I pick up (hard copy and some on the kindle) have an advertisement for the authors next or previous books. Some books even have leaflets that fall out for discounts if you buy one of the authors other books. Where do you get your books that don't contain this?

Or other books from the publisher...

[Frida Fantastic]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Gawd awful! I read to avoid the world of advertising - hate ads. No sale.

Agreed 100% Advertising at the back of the book is expected and smart on the part of the author + publisher, but ads on the bottom are just freaking distracting. I'd eat the $25 to have some ad-free reading time, thank you very much.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by bashfulbanshee

Agreed 100% Advertising at the back of the book is expected and smart on the part of the author + publisher, but ads on the bottom are just freaking distracting. I'd eat the $25 to have some ad-free reading time, thank you very much.

The ads are only in the screensavers and at the bottom of the home page. There aren't any ads in the books. Therefore, no distraction.

[WalkingDistance]

I kinda wish my Kindle 3(G) would give me deals like that on Amazon gift cards ...

I'm not sure about the $99 price point you guys are suggesting. Yes, it would get rid of the psychological block for consumers, but will the ads alone be enough for Amazon to get back that $40?

Also, I think the $10 for $20 gift card incentive to buy this new kindle is a great strategy for increasing the incentive to buy this ad-Kindle. I also think some of the money earned from the ads will go into subsidizing the gift card costs. PLUS let's say that you spend that gift card on ebooks. A part of that money will go back to Amazon and will in return strengthen their ebook store.

My point is, I'm almost 100% confident that Amazon has people punching in numbers, statistics and such, in order to maximize profits; whether it's from selling more books (because there'll be more kindles) or whether from selling more kindles.

PLUS this strategy will also further strengthen Amazon's market share of ebook readers and ebook store.

In my opinion, it was only a matter of time before Amazon started advertising, and I think they're doing it in a very carefully, calculated way. I also think it's very intelligent on their part :P

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by WalkingDistance

I'm not sure about the $99 price point you guys are suggesting. Yes, it would get rid of the psychological block for consumers, but will the ads alone be enough for Amazon to get back that $40?

I don't know if they'd get back the $40 from ads alone, but I think they'd sell a lot more Kindles at $99 than they would at $114, and I think that's the upside for Amazon. Selling more Kindles means selling more e-books.

Let's say (and I'm picking a random number) that every Kindle owner buys 15 books a year. Let's further assume that those are all $10 bestseller-type books.

10 Kindles at $1140 + 150 books at $10 = $2,640.

Now, let's say they sell just 2 more Kindles if they charge $99 for them:

12 Kindles at $1188 + 180 books at $10 = $2,988

That's a 13% increase. And that's a pretty modest Kindle sales increase, compared to what would probably happen. A $99 Kindle would get a lot of people up off the fence.

I think the math would work out pretty well for Amazon.

[Barty]

They'll get there -- the $99 price point. But for now, there's still money left on the table from people willing to pay more.

[WalkingDistance]

That's an interesting point.

I have a feeling that Amazon has to look at the bigger picture. They know that people who already have Kindle 3s won't get the adKindle. They won't sell to their full potential regardless of the price.

They may be saving the $99 price point (or lower) for a new-version-to-come or something.

I know it's a bit stupid saying "amazon knows amazon knows" all the time. But I really think that the $114 price is very strategic and thought out. They may have done a survey of sorts.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by WalkingDistance

I have a feeling that Amazon has to look at the bigger picture. They know that people who already have Kindle 3s won't get the adKindle. They won't sell to their full potential regardless of the price.

I can see what you're saying, but I don't think they're anywhere near market saturation with the Kindle 3 yet. I think the Kindle 3 has sold well enough, but there are still a lot of people to sell to.


[QUOTE=WalkingDistance;1491805]That's an interesting point.

I have a feeling that Amazon has to look at the bigger picture. They know that people who already have Kindle 3s won't get the adKindle. They won't sell to their full potential regardless of the price.

They may be saving the $99 price point (or lower) for a new-version-to-come or something.

Originally Posted by WalkingDistance

I know it's a bit stupid saying "amazon knows amazon knows" all the time. But I really think that the $114 price is very strategic and thought out. They may have done a survey of sorts.

It really doesn't sound to me like they did a survey. It sounds more like they said, "Well, we have to give them a discount on this version to get them to buy it rather than the 3G Wifi, but it's basically the same thing, so we can't charge that much less for it, so let's make it $25 less than the Kindle 3 Wifi, rather than $50 less."

It sounds to me like they recognize that the ads will turn some people off, so they need to discount it, but they might be underestimating how much it'll turn people off.

Or not. I don't know. It's entirely possibile they'll sell like hotcakes. That doesn't seem very likely to me, but it's possible.

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The ads are only in the screensavers and at the bottom of the home page. There aren't any ads in the books. Therefore, no distraction.

There are no billboards in the middle of the highway either.
One could argue whether the ones at the side of the road are distracting or not. (meh, perhaps not the best analogy but you know what I mean)
It seems to me like everything in the 'plugged-in' society is, to some degree, distracting. ADD has become a way of life.
Better to live it with less links to click on.

I'd worry about creep too with something like this:
first it's just ads on the screensavers and then the next thing you know, starbucks is paying authors for product placement!
Hyperbolic I know, but still- ad-creep!

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by bZkindle

There are no billboards in the middle of the highway either.
One could argue whether the ones at the side of the road are distracting or not. (meh, perhaps not the best analogy but you know what I mean)
It seems to me like everything in the 'plugged-in' society is, to some degree, distracting. ADD has become a way of life.
Better to live it with less links to click on.

I'd worry about creep too with something like this:
first it's just ads on the screensavers and then the next thing you know, starbucks is paying authors for product placement!
Hyperbolic I know, but still- ad-creep!

I'm certainly not planning on buying one of the ad-supported devices, and I'd be concerned if it went any further than that, but I don't think their ad format is bad in itself. I'd rather buy one than not, if I had $120 to spend on a reader, but not $140.

[Frida Fantastic]

Originally Posted by bZkindle

There are no billboards in the middle of the highway either.
One could argue whether the ones at the side of the road are distracting or not. (meh, perhaps not the best analogy but you know what I mean)

I'd consider the ad screen savers and ads on the home screen distracting enough. I guess it's a personal thing. My mind already got frazzled looking at the home screen before I set up the collections. Like "Gah! Was I reading? What was I reading? Should I be reading?" Kind of like reading something on the internet and not remembering why you have that tab open.