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The author bought the ad-supported version of the Kindle and is now shocked — shocked — that the device is displaying ads. This post really does add zero, if n

by _pius 13y ago

The author bought the ad-supported version of the Kindle and is now shocked — shocked — that the device is displaying ads. This post really does add zero, if not negative, value to Hacker News.

jamesbritt 13y ago
Possible value: People can see in advance what the ads look like and decide if it would be too annoying. I bought a Kindle reader a year ago; went for the cheaper ad-supported version. At first it was annoying, but now I don't care. I don't look at the screen if I'm not using it so I don't see the "screen saver" ads but briefly. There are some smallish banner ad type things on the pages that list what material is on the device, but they too have become essentially invisible to me. What surprises me is that none of the ads seem relevant to either whats on the device or my purchase history with Amazon. Most important, when reading I see no ads. I wonder if it's the same thing on the Fire? Can you turn off the screen when not in use? I expect it goes blank fairly quickly to save power. For someone who is considering buying a device it's helpful to know what to expect. That said, stuff like this just sounds silly .. Instead what I paid for is an obscene device that would be more appropriately called a "Personal Advertisement Consumption Assistant" (PACA), because that is exactly what it is. It is crippled with Amazon's custom Android, which again is simply the Amazon home page inundating you with ads. ... when you know in advance there will be ads shown. Plus, the Amazon product page says this: Special Offers and Sponsored Screensavers display on Kindle Fire tablet lock screens and do not appear while you are using the device. If it's so painful just turn the damn thing over on its face.
- _pius 13y ago
  All good points. I guess what bothered me is that the post manages to be nearly contentless, intellectually dishonest, and moralistic all at once. These kinds of inane blog posts really just shouldn't be submitted to HN.
  - jamesbritt 13y ago
    nearly contentless, intellectually dishonest, and moralistic all at once A trifecta of fail. :)
Edmond 13y ago
Maybe you were quite careful when making your purchase, I wasn't. I only wanted a relatively cheap starter tablet which I thought was what I was getting. I didn't expect to receive a device primarily meant to serve me ads, sorry if this is a naive expectation. As far as what should or not be posted to HN, I believe that is why there is an up/down voting system. Your tone is unnecessarily condescending.
- _pius 13y ago
  I only wanted a relatively cheap starter tablet which I thought was what I was getting. That is, in fact, exactly what you got. I have the same device, albeit not ad supported. In other words it's exactly the same as yours except there are no ads on the lockscreen. (sidenote: I'm really not a Kindle fanboy of any kind, but responding to your extreme post is making me sound like one!) I didn't expect to receive a device primarily meant to serve me ads, sorry if this is a naive expectation. Come on, you have to know you're wildly exaggerating when you say it's primarily meant to serve you ads. As far as what should or not be posted to HN, I believe that is why there is an up/down voting system. We're in total agreement here, that's why I flagged it. Your tone is unnecessarily condescending. I wrote it that way because you either went to the trouble of writing an alarmist, link-baity post like this without even doing the most cursory research (i.e. reading the product page) or you knew the post was intellectually dishonest and you said, "the hell with it" and tried to score some traffic for your blog with it anyway. I see this type of thing get submitted more and more here, but usually I bite my tongue in the interest of civility. Today, I didn't. Sorry you were the unlucky author I called out; you're far from the only person to do this.
- jamesbritt 13y ago
  I didn't expect to receive a device primarily meant to serve me ads, sorry if this is a naive expectation. The product page says the ads only appear on the lock screen. They do not (or should not) appear when actively using the device. Is this not true? I'm genuinely curious because it would suck big time if you are shown ads outside of the limitations the product page describes.
  - 13y ago

by _pius 13y ago

The author bought the ad-supported version of the Kindle and is now shocked — shocked — that the device is displaying ads. This post really does add zero, if not negative, value to Hacker News.

jamesbritt 13y ago

Possible value: People can see in advance what the ads look like and decide if it would be too annoying. I bought a Kindle reader a year ago; went for the cheaper ad-supported version. At first it was annoying, but now I don't care. I don't look at the screen if I'm not using it so I don't see the "screen saver" ads but briefly. There are some smallish banner ad type things on the pages that list what material is on the device, but they too have become essentially invisible to me. What surprises me is that none of the ads seem relevant to either whats on the device or my purchase history with Amazon. Most important, when reading I see no ads. I wonder if it's the same thing on the Fire? Can you turn off the screen when not in use? I expect it goes blank fairly quickly to save power. For someone who is considering buying a device it's helpful to know what to expect. That said, stuff like this just sounds silly .. Instead what I paid for is an obscene device that would be more appropriately called a "Personal Advertisement Consumption Assistant" (PACA), because that is exactly what it is. It is crippled with Amazon's custom Android, which again is simply the Amazon home page inundating you with ads. ... when you know in advance there will be ads shown. Plus, the Amazon product page says this: Special Offers and Sponsored Screensavers display on Kindle Fire tablet lock screens and do not appear while you are using the device. If it's so painful just turn the damn thing over on its face.

_pius 13y ago
All good points. I guess what bothered me is that the post manages to be nearly contentless, intellectually dishonest, and moralistic all at once. These kinds of inane blog posts really just shouldn't be submitted to HN.
- jamesbritt 13y ago
  nearly contentless, intellectually dishonest, and moralistic all at once A trifecta of fail. :)

Edmond 13y ago

Maybe you were quite careful when making your purchase, I wasn't. I only wanted a relatively cheap starter tablet which I thought was what I was getting. I didn't expect to receive a device primarily meant to serve me ads, sorry if this is a naive expectation. As far as what should or not be posted to HN, I believe that is why there is an up/down voting system. Your tone is unnecessarily condescending.

_pius 13y ago
I only wanted a relatively cheap starter tablet which I thought was what I was getting. That is, in fact, exactly what you got. I have the same device, albeit not ad supported. In other words it's exactly the same as yours except there are no ads on the lockscreen. (sidenote: I'm really not a Kindle fanboy of any kind, but responding to your extreme post is making me sound like one!) I didn't expect to receive a device primarily meant to serve me ads, sorry if this is a naive expectation. Come on, you have to know you're wildly exaggerating when you say it's primarily meant to serve you ads. As far as what should or not be posted to HN, I believe that is why there is an up/down voting system. We're in total agreement here, that's why I flagged it. Your tone is unnecessarily condescending. I wrote it that way because you either went to the trouble of writing an alarmist, link-baity post like this without even doing the most cursory research (i.e. reading the product page) or you knew the post was intellectually dishonest and you said, "the hell with it" and tried to score some traffic for your blog with it anyway. I see this type of thing get submitted more and more here, but usually I bite my tongue in the interest of civility. Today, I didn't. Sorry you were the unlucky author I called out; you're far from the only person to do this.
jamesbritt 13y ago
I didn't expect to receive a device primarily meant to serve me ads, sorry if this is a naive expectation. The product page says the ads only appear on the lock screen. They do not (or should not) appear when actively using the device. Is this not true? I'm genuinely curious because it would suck big time if you are shown ads outside of the limitations the product page describes.
- 13y ago