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Amazon Announces Ad-Supported Kindle For $114 (That’s $25 Off)

8 points by ez77 16y ago

foobarbazetc 16y ago
Why would anyone want this?
- MatthewPhillips 16y ago
  $25 savings.
  - bruceboughton 16y ago
    So $25 is the value you place on your attention over the lifetime of owning a Kindle? That's kind of low, isn't it?
    - MatthewPhillips 16y ago
      My attention? I'm not sure what you mean. I don't mind ads. Some times they are valuable to me. I know there are a lot of rabid anti-advertising people on the internet but I'm not one of them.
- vmind 16y ago
  I think as it is only shown when selecting a book or on the screensaver, and not during main usage, quite a lot of people.
- blub 16y ago
  I really dislike how ads have managed to insinuate themselves everywhere. I wouldn't use this even if it were free.
  - foobarbazetc 16y ago
    Yeah, but at least if it were free, Amazon have an excuse for showing you ads. They're putting a $25 value on your eyeballs, for the lifetime of the product. That's an insult disguised as a discount.
- pstack 16y ago
  Because, it'll eventually have enough sponsorship that it can be free and once it's free, public schools can utilize it and even get discounted text books for the students. This chapter of General Earth Sciences is brought to you by Monsanto -- Growth for a Better World!
al_james 16y ago
I don't think its enough of a discount to be honest. I would not even consider it for $25. $50 maybe. I would have thought amazon could get $50 / user for these ads over the lifetime of the device.
rradu 16y ago
$25 just isn't enough of a discount for something that was already pretty well-priced. I don't mind ad-supported sites / apps especially if it means I don't have to pay for them, but to put ads on an entire device that I own -- that's a no no for me.
- MatthewPhillips 16y ago
  $25 sounds generous to me. Google's revenue per user is $24 a year, and that's extremely high for an ad-only site. Facebook by comparison generates $4 per year per user. $25 is a lot considering usage is likely to drop after a year and might be replaced after 2.
  - rradu 16y ago
    It might make sense for Amazon, but as a consumer I don't find it a compelling discount.
MichaelStubbs 16y ago
So for $25 less, they get to display advertisements for (presumably) the lifetime of the device? No thank you, that's a terrible deal! Though the hacker in me wonders how long it would take someone to remove/disable the ads. Modified firmware, maybe?
- pstack 16y ago
  Dealing with ads seems like a small price to pay for someone who could truly benefit from the device and not otherwise own one, but if you can afford $114 for an e-reader, you can probably afford $139. If it was free (and once they get enough sponsors, perhaps it will be), it could potentially benefit a great number of people and at that price, it's hard to argue with it (even if you and I would not personally want to trade $139 in return for advertising).

8 points by ez77 16y ago

foobarbazetc 16y ago

Why would anyone want this?

MatthewPhillips 16y ago
$25 savings.
- bruceboughton 16y ago
  So $25 is the value you place on your attention over the lifetime of owning a Kindle? That's kind of low, isn't it?
  - MatthewPhillips 16y ago
    My attention? I'm not sure what you mean. I don't mind ads. Some times they are valuable to me. I know there are a lot of rabid anti-advertising people on the internet but I'm not one of them.
vmind 16y ago
I think as it is only shown when selecting a book or on the screensaver, and not during main usage, quite a lot of people.
blub 16y ago
I really dislike how ads have managed to insinuate themselves everywhere. I wouldn't use this even if it were free.
- foobarbazetc 16y ago
  Yeah, but at least if it were free, Amazon have an excuse for showing you ads. They're putting a $25 value on your eyeballs, for the lifetime of the product. That's an insult disguised as a discount.
pstack 16y ago
Because, it'll eventually have enough sponsorship that it can be free and once it's free, public schools can utilize it and even get discounted text books for the students. This chapter of General Earth Sciences is brought to you by Monsanto -- Growth for a Better World!

al_james 16y ago

I don't think its enough of a discount to be honest. I would not even consider it for $25. $50 maybe. I would have thought amazon could get $50 / user for these ads over the lifetime of the device.

rradu 16y ago

$25 just isn't enough of a discount for something that was already pretty well-priced. I don't mind ad-supported sites / apps especially if it means I don't have to pay for them, but to put ads on an entire device that I own -- that's a no no for me.

MatthewPhillips 16y ago
$25 sounds generous to me. Google's revenue per user is $24 a year, and that's extremely high for an ad-only site. Facebook by comparison generates $4 per year per user. $25 is a lot considering usage is likely to drop after a year and might be replaced after 2.
- rradu 16y ago
  It might make sense for Amazon, but as a consumer I don't find it a compelling discount.

MichaelStubbs 16y ago

So for $25 less, they get to display advertisements for (presumably) the lifetime of the device? No thank you, that's a terrible deal! Though the hacker in me wonders how long it would take someone to remove/disable the ads. Modified firmware, maybe?

pstack 16y ago
Dealing with ads seems like a small price to pay for someone who could truly benefit from the device and not otherwise own one, but if you can afford $114 for an e-reader, you can probably afford $139. If it was free (and once they get enough sponsors, perhaps it will be), it could potentially benefit a great number of people and at that price, it's hard to argue with it (even if you and I would not personally want to trade $139 in return for advertising).