News Amazon to sell cheaper, ad-supported Kindle

You'll save $25, but will have to tolerate ads on your screensaver.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2011/04/12/amazon-to-sell-cheaper-ad-supported-kindle/1

 

Yeah, they're going to need to give me a bigger discount than that to make me put up with ads....

 

Buy cheap ad-supported Wifi Kindle.
Flash with normal Kindle firmware.
???
Profit!

 

I wonder how long it'll take before standard firmwares ome out for this this making it in to a "standard" Kindle, if they truly are idential hardware wise? Even if it wasn't identical, I can't see it mattering too much anyway.

 

I'd like a kindle, but for that amount of money I could buy a lot of normal books

 

You would soon be cursing yourself for not spending the tiny amount extra for the annoyance free version if you went for this.

 

I agree with this, for the sake of 25 bucks you would be best going for the ad free version.

 

I can't see $25 making much of a difference to sales, tbh.

PS: It's Bezos not Bazos, btw.

 

Ad free is worth much more to me than £15.

 

This.

 

while i agree that a bigger discount is needed i dont really see the problem if ads will be small and besides as long as there are no ads within the ebooks then surely its not much of hindrence

 

$25 off $139 is $114, and I think $99 would have been a much more convincing price point. Still, $25 is a bit of money, and I would go for this if I wanted to buy a Kindle. From the description of the ads they sound like they won't interfere with the core reading experience, so I don't see why people would pay another $25 for the ad-free version.

 

How about the standart wikipedia connection for europe...that'd boost sales

 

They wouldn't have released this if there weren't scores of people willing to put up with the ads. A $25 savings is about an 18% discount, nothing to sneeze at. That said, I'd be more inclined to purchase the regular wi-fi version.

 

Yup, I'll pay the $25 premium, and plan on it soon. Birthday is coming up later next month and I planning on making a Kindle my birthday present. I think the $25 discount is just because they know people are going to make an end run around the ads at some point soon.

I do wonder if the way it is set up on Amazon's side is if they see the MAC/Serial connecting to them on an ad supported kindle that they'll either push down ads or disallow it if they see the firmware changes to a non-ad version. Do you feel me?

Anyway, makes me wonder how they'll "lock in the ads".

$139 for an ad free one is just fine for me, thanks.

I am sure Amazon will sell at least a few. If the only difference is the firmware and maybe a bit of software on Amazon's side to support/enforce it...doesn't sound like they can go wrong. Well, unless it generates a lot of negative press/feelings. Otherwise even if they only sell 1 in 50 as ad supported they can probably generate enough revenue over whatever period of time to make it pay for them.

 

I'd never buy an ad supported product, isn't there a TV that displays ads on the TV guide pages.

On free stuff like web sites (Hello Dennis) yeah ads are a necessity, but on my own hardware? No way!

And I bet they'll be feeding ads based on what you're reading, or is in your library.

 

That's nice, now drop the price back to where it was pre christmas on both models and we'll talk

 

ad support for saving only $25 no thank you, at a minimum it would have to be $50 or more to even be partially worth wild.

 

I own a kindle. Based on how they say the advertising is done I see no problem at all.
Personally I got the 3G version which isn't mentioned, so I would've ended up going for the full-fat version anyway. But if I was buying a second (which I'm considering - if you own 2 and link them to the same account, both have the same books on - useful for if your wife wants to read the book you've just read), I would get this one.
The ads really won't interfere with your enjoyment.
When you buy custom PC, do the ads bother you that much? You just don't read them. Would you pay a pound more for a non-ad version of custom PC? I wouldn't.
Good idea IMHO

 

They should f**king pay you for the privilege of beaming adds to your book.

Imagine reading an actual paper book and some w**ker kept coming up to and trying to sell you something.

And they want YOU to pay THEM for this bullsh*t.

Never.