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This move is sure to upset the Hacker News and tech enthusiast crowds. After all, who wants to pay full price for a product that continues to deliver ads to you

This move is sure to upset the Hacker News and tech enthusiast crowds. After all, who wants to pay full price for a product that continues to deliver ads to you? The tacit contract across the web is that free == ad supported, while paid == no ads. However, I'm not so sure if the average consumer (the target audience for the Kindle) will even think twice about this. Consider cable TV; People happily pay for cable TV subscriptions which still include commercial ads. They (arguably) don't get in the way of the end-user experience, yet they subsidize the costs for TV programming. Likewise, the ads on the Kindle are limited to the lock screen and kept out of the way of the actual user experience. Also note that Amazon has deliberately chosen to not offer a higher-priced version without ads. Without an option to pay more to remove ads, the consumer will never have to debate whether or not the annoyance of the ads is worth $30 dollars to them. Instead, the ads become a fact of life and are accepted without question by the end users. Even better, it widens the Kindle advertising demographic to include those with the most disposable income who would otherwise pay to remove the ads. Smart move.

cryptoz 14y ago
A few years ago I was absolutely positive that the Chromebooks would be $50 and mostly ad-supported. When they turned out to be $300 with no forced ads I was shocked and totally turned off the idea. Cheap computing with ads seems like a pretty solid model for vendors going forward (well, not MS or Apple) and I'm surprised it has taken this long to really get going.
- protomyth 14y ago
  A lot of the PC users I deal with believe if a device is showing you ads, then it has a virus. Computing devices are pretty much in the same category as other electronics for a lot of people. I pay for it, I don't want to see ads. // a humorous take http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/04/13 http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/04/13
  - fierarul 14y ago
    >Computing devices are pretty much in the same category as other electronics for a lot of people While you see them as thin clients I presume?
    - protomyth 14y ago
      Not sure your meaning other than maybe I should have said "consumer electronics" such as TVs and stereos.
- netcan 14y ago
  An interesting approach might have been adwords for apps. Apple came out with "get users comfortable paying for apps & take a 30% cut" model which suits them as a company. But, realistically a lot of apps don't make their money from directly selling the app. A lot of apps might be willing to bid against each other for users. I'm not sure how big a market this is but it could be substantial.
brown9-2 14y ago
The ad-supported price is not really the full price if you can pay $30 post-purchase to disable the ads, is it? Sounds like instead of selling two flavors up front (ad-supported and no-ads for $30 more) they've just pushed the second option behind the purchase barrier.
- endianswap 14y ago
  I'm confused, where do you see an option to pay $30 post-purchase to disable the ads? The previous model offered this as an option, but one of the points from the article was that they've haven't announced any such offer for this generation's model.
mtgx 14y ago
It's not really "full price" when a "retina display" tablet with 32 GB of storage goes for half the amount the same storage iPad goes for ($300 vs $600).
TheGateKeeper 14y ago
I remember a day when cable tv had no commercials. You paid, as opposed to programs coming in over the air, and therefor didn't need to see commercials. I wish it were still this way.
- arien 14y ago
  I think the slight difference is that, in the case of cable TV you have to endure the commercials until they finish to access the content that interests you. In this particular case of the Kindle, ads are only on the lock screen and you simply need to unlock the device to access the content. Not as intrusive or dominating, a bit more tolerable. Of course, having the option to turn them off permanently is always nice.
jcampbell1 14y ago
My guess is Amazon will later offer an option to remove the ads. Amazon will gladly trade $40 in cash today to lose $30 in future ad revenue and satisfy a customer's wishes. They just didn't announce this upfront because they want the headline price be $199, rather than have the media say stuff like it is $240 compared to the $199 google tablet.

cryptoz 14y ago

A few years ago I was absolutely positive that the Chromebooks would be $50 and mostly ad-supported. When they turned out to be $300 with no forced ads I was shocked and totally turned off the idea. Cheap computing with ads seems like a pretty solid model for vendors going forward (well, not MS or Apple) and I'm surprised it has taken this long to really get going.

protomyth 14y ago
A lot of the PC users I deal with believe if a device is showing you ads, then it has a virus. Computing devices are pretty much in the same category as other electronics for a lot of people. I pay for it, I don't want to see ads. // a humorous take http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/04/13 http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/04/13
- fierarul 14y ago
  >Computing devices are pretty much in the same category as other electronics for a lot of people While you see them as thin clients I presume?
  - protomyth 14y ago
    Not sure your meaning other than maybe I should have said "consumer electronics" such as TVs and stereos.
netcan 14y ago
An interesting approach might have been adwords for apps. Apple came out with "get users comfortable paying for apps & take a 30% cut" model which suits them as a company. But, realistically a lot of apps don't make their money from directly selling the app. A lot of apps might be willing to bid against each other for users. I'm not sure how big a market this is but it could be substantial.

brown9-2 14y ago

The ad-supported price is not really the full price if you can pay $30 post-purchase to disable the ads, is it? Sounds like instead of selling two flavors up front (ad-supported and no-ads for $30 more) they've just pushed the second option behind the purchase barrier.

endianswap 14y ago
I'm confused, where do you see an option to pay $30 post-purchase to disable the ads? The previous model offered this as an option, but one of the points from the article was that they've haven't announced any such offer for this generation's model.

mtgx 14y ago

It's not really "full price" when a "retina display" tablet with 32 GB of storage goes for half the amount the same storage iPad goes for ($300 vs $600).

TheGateKeeper 14y ago

I remember a day when cable tv had no commercials. You paid, as opposed to programs coming in over the air, and therefor didn't need to see commercials. I wish it were still this way.

arien 14y ago
I think the slight difference is that, in the case of cable TV you have to endure the commercials until they finish to access the content that interests you. In this particular case of the Kindle, ads are only on the lock screen and you simply need to unlock the device to access the content. Not as intrusive or dominating, a bit more tolerable. Of course, having the option to turn them off permanently is always nice.

jcampbell1 14y ago

My guess is Amazon will later offer an option to remove the ads. Amazon will gladly trade $40 in cash today to lose $30 in future ad revenue and satisfy a customer's wishes. They just didn't announce this upfront because they want the headline price be $199, rather than have the media say stuff like it is $240 compared to the $199 google tablet.