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Amazon didn't cave, this was just miscommunication with a few shills weighing in to create FUD. There was always going to be a way to opt-out. Amazon wants to

by yajoe 14y ago

Amazon didn't cave, this was just miscommunication with a few shills weighing in to create FUD. There was always going to be a way to opt-out. Amazon wants to make customers happy. How to think of LCD ads: http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=4490562 http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=4490562 How ads work: http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=4490590 http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=4490590

tzs 14y ago
How is this not caving? Amazon explicitly confirmed to both CNET and Engadget that there would be no option to opt out of the ads. Then a bunch of negative stories appear, and now Amazon says there will be a way to opt out. That's pretty much a textbook example of caving.
- yajoe 14y ago
  I know about the stories and how looking at them for narrative looks like a change in POR, but who from Amazon confirmed it? They never named names because controversy sells more eyeballs. And because of them we had to make opt-out more prominent. It makes me wonder about all the other stories I read. I'm on the engineering team that makes KSO, and we have had opt-out throughout the release.
- honestcoyote 14y ago
  I don't see it as caving because removing ads for cash is already the case at Amazon. For existing ad supported Kindles, you can pay to have the ads removed. The cost, for my mom's older subsidized Kindle 3 model, is $20. So the newer, more expensive Fire's will be a bit cheaper to go ad-free. Interestingly enough, there's an option I hadn't noticed before for activating ads on my unsubsidized Kindle. However, I don't get any sort of cash or freebie for doing so.
- f055 14y ago
  I find all these stories weird, since on the day of the keynote I went to check buying options for Kindle Fire and there was definitely a way to buy it without "special offers", at $15-20 more the original price. What gives?
  - deleted 14y ago
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by yajoe 14y ago

tzs 14y ago

How is this not caving? Amazon explicitly confirmed to both CNET and Engadget that there would be no option to opt out of the ads. Then a bunch of negative stories appear, and now Amazon says there will be a way to opt out. That's pretty much a textbook example of caving.

yajoe 14y ago
I know about the stories and how looking at them for narrative looks like a change in POR, but who from Amazon confirmed it? They never named names because controversy sells more eyeballs. And because of them we had to make opt-out more prominent. It makes me wonder about all the other stories I read. I'm on the engineering team that makes KSO, and we have had opt-out throughout the release.
honestcoyote 14y ago
I don't see it as caving because removing ads for cash is already the case at Amazon. For existing ad supported Kindles, you can pay to have the ads removed. The cost, for my mom's older subsidized Kindle 3 model, is $20. So the newer, more expensive Fire's will be a bit cheaper to go ad-free. Interestingly enough, there's an option I hadn't noticed before for activating ads on my unsubsidized Kindle. However, I don't get any sort of cash or freebie for doing so.
f055 14y ago
I find all these stories weird, since on the day of the keynote I went to check buying options for Kindle Fire and there was definitely a way to buy it without "special offers", at $15-20 more the original price. What gives?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]