Amazon has launched a new Kindle initiative and product, whereby they run full screen screensaver ads and homescreen footer banner ads on e-reader hardware in exchange for a $25 discount. The WiFi-only “Kindle with Special Offers” runs $114, versus the original $139 ad-free Kindle 3. As Harry McCracken points out, the one time savings runs only about 18%; he wonders if this product might more appeal to those interested in the deals themselves rather than the small discount.
Like Harry, I suspect this is a bit of an experiment on Amazon’s part. And why we’re not seeing this Kindle rev launch at the $99, or lower, price point. Can Amazon generate a large enough stable of advertising partners to keep this going, will a sizable percentage of readers take action on the ads, assuming an even more sizable quantity of Kindle purchases.
Business Insider suggests advertising subsidies represent the future of gadgets. However, there’s really nothing new to see here other than being able to choose between an ad-free or ad-supported variant for a discount. Those of us with TiVos, Garmin GPSes, and Xboxes are already quite familiar with the advertising model. Although the individual benefit ($) is harder to quantify. (Heck, I ended up with a free PC about ten years ago when these guys couldn’t sustain their business.)
So, as the headline asks, will you rent Amazon Kindle ad space for $25?
In a word, Yes.
As long as they don’t display when I am reading, I like the idea.
$25 off for a device that shows ads… forever? I might be willing to put up with that for a free Kindle, but a $25 discount doesn’t seem like enough of a bargain. For all we know all Kindles will cost $114 in a few months anyway.
The Borders book store that’s going out of business in my neighborhood is selling off Kobo eBook readers for $70. If the user interface weren’t so awkward and the screen refresh rate so low, I’d probably pick one up at that price… without any on-screen advertisements.
I agree, those screensavers are boring anyway, wouldn’t mind an ad so at least they change every so often. Ditto for the bottom ad at home. As a user, I’m so use to ads that I automatically ignore them.
I figure there’s some price point to where this would be acceptable for a lot of people. I don’t think $25 is it, though.
I’m not really anti-ad guy but I really don’t like ads cluttering up my screens (iPhone, iPad, etc.). I’d rather pay a little extra for the ad-free version.
Yeah, ads are easy to tune out and the current screensavers don’t do anything for me. But the upfront discount isn’t sweet enough so I’d pay the $25 for an ad-free experience. Guess it doesn’t matter in my case since I’m hanging onto my second generation 3G Kindle… while I await some sort of Android-powered Kindle 4 tablet that streams Amazon Unbox in addition to providing Kindle functionality.
This is just the first stop on the way to free. I wouldn’t actually buy this one (already have one of course) for just a 25$ savings, it should be more like 79-99$ (like the nook now) for it to make SOME sense to MORE people
Absolutely no way. I do the best that I can to shield my elementary age kids from inappropriate ads. While many of the ads might be OK, I don’t want the kids subjected to Abercrombie & Fitch or otherwise unsuitable material. The older kids have curious minds, and the younger kids have touchscreen-itis.
Of course, they are subjected to lots of ads elsewhere, but if I can pay the $25 to not get ads, then it is worth it.
Hell no, but I’ll buy the cheaper kindle, jailbreak it, and remove the ads. Does that make me a bad person?
Assuming I can’t jailbreak and remove the ads, it would need to be half-off for me to consider the ads. $25 isn’t close to sufficient.
What I do like is that there is the option. Lots of other products don’t give us the option (Tivo, I’m talking to you).
That’s not the number. I am not sure what the number is, but my gut tells me that if they offered a wifi Kindle at 50-60 bucks I’d be in. 3G/wifi with ads? Maybe 80?
I’d rather pay full price and have the ads earn me credits towards books. Maybe a $5 amazon gift card a month or something.
Is this Amazon trying to show that ad-subsidized will fail? Because a $25 discount on a $140 gadget is something, but not all that much of a difference. (If it took the price down to $99, breaking the $100 barrier makes it feel like a more compelling discount.) But if you’re spending $115 on a reader, what’s an extra $25 to keep it ad-free?
do e-ink devices need screen savers? I didn’t realize that was an issue.
It’s not a screensaver in the traditional sense to prevent burn-in. When the Kindle is in standby mode, it periodically flips through images of famous authors/works – just because they can due to the super low power requirements of e-ink drawing.
Not sure why so many people are opposed to this. Screensavers are useless anyway, so why not get a discount? A small ad on a bottom of home screen is more annoying, but I thought most people by now know how to tune out ads.
I agree that Amazon is probably experimenting with the price point and business model and we might see results when Kindle 4 and Kindle Tablet come out.
P.S. If anyone with 2nd or 3rd gen wants a black lighted cover, Amazon Warehouse has them for $16.99 and $14.99 respectively (http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2835707). Just ordered one for a coworker (have Prime).
I was excited for a second… but the 2nd generation cover doesn’t have the light. Think I’ll stick with my sleeve.
The whole concept of the kindle “screensaver” is and always has been stupid.
The device should obviously display the active book’s cover. Just like a real book when you set it down.
Meh. Don’t care one way or another. The ads on the Tivo at the bottom of the menus don’t really bother me either.
But Amazon should probably look at Tivo’s take for those ads cuz I suspect it ain’t gonna be a whole lot.
Wow! I only have to pay $25 to get rid of (some) advertising whist I use the internet?! WHAT a bargain!
Then, again…
I gotta say, I’m planning on downloading basic disaster preparedness & medical info (Wilderness First Responder texts, survival info, PDFs of topo maps, et cetera — cause anything you can send to a printer you can convert to .PDF using “GhostScript”) and then having a Kindle 3 with my go bag/72-hour emergency kit, as well as when I’m outdoors-ing. It’s massive time between recharges makes it in some ways a more reliable emergency communications device than a cell phone.
Nutshell: I’ll be straining to pull ads through 3G (if at all) and the Kindle’s 3G just isn’t rapid enough to put up with that… especially if I don’t have time to waste.
As Randolfo(?) above pointed out, $25 isn’t even worth attempting to hack it into ad-free status.
Mmm… No. As a dedicated late adopter, I’ll just wait for the price drop and continue living happily off the discarded toys left in the wake of the Herd.
I love the people who say wait for the price drop. you don’t get it this was a brilliant idea rather then just lowering the price $25 they put it out as a special version with ads you will never really notice so that even if they make little on the ads it’s still a profit on the kindle after the price drop.